Plenary VI: Ethical Issues in Electronic Data Transfer

No data is 100% secure. That is what Adam Cohen of Berkeley Research Group in New York City and James R. Hankle of Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, started with as their premise for the ethics seminar at the Midwinter Meeting.

Lawyers must be able to deal with data management in 2016. We have to be aware of how to use the technology, but we also have to be aware of the risks of how data is stored. Every one of us is at risk, so read the materials that Adam and James put together to understand your obligations.

To those of you who attended the Midwinter Meeting, thank you for attending.

To everyone, we hope that you will attend the Annual Meeting from April 28 to April 30 at the Nashville Omni Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.

Force Majeure by...Yogi Berra?

Sandy Kaplan of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP of San Francisco and David Senter of Nexsen Pruet in Greensboro, North Carolina, spoke in the first plenary session of Day 2 of the Midwinter Meeting about force majeure events. Sandy and David incorporated various witticisms from baseball legend Yogi Berra to help teach the key points in drafting and negotiating the contract clauses for force majeure events.

Stoned Superintendents! Harassed Receptionists! Undocumented Workers!

It's Labor-Palooza! Albert Brannen of Fisher & Phillips in Atlanta and Michael A. Schwartz of Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia provided an intriguing update on labor laws relevant construction contractors. 

As many of us know, marijuana legalization in some form -- whether for recreational use or medical use -- is happening in many jurisdictions. So, can employers still test for it and fire an employee for use? Should employers have testing programs for employees immediately after they are involved in accidents on the job? Or on the road?

Bert Brannen covered these issues and more. Labor law affects all of our clients, so knowing something about it to help with issues is important.

D1 Lunch and Learning about Builders Risk Policies

The Division 1 Lunch at the Midwinter Meeting was filled with excellent stories. Those of you who attended got to share great war stories regarding trials, depositions, expert engagements, and even a criminal case featuring three hung juries followed by a very quick cab ride to the bus station!

Once we finished our fellowship, we split up and went into the two different workshops. The Workshop I attended features Dan King of Frost Brown Todd, LLC in Indianapolis and Steve Niparko from Aon Risk Solutions in Denver. They discussed the genesis of builders risk insurance coverage, how it applies, and what the purpose of these policies is.

With insurance seemingly ever-present in the construction industry, an understanding of what these policies cover is vital for construction litigators.

How to deal with Ex-Employees when a Project Goes to Litigation

Division 1's Tom Dunn of Pierce Atwood, LLP in Providence, Rhode Island, and Daniel Terrell, in-house counsel for PLH Group, Inc. of Irving, Texas, walked attendees through the practical litigation issues involved when a key employee on a project leaves the company. The seminar was sponsored by the Construction Litigation Committee of the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association.

Not only did the presentation deal with communication issues involved with opposing counsel contacting the employee, but it also dealt with trade secrets and other proprietary information that the employee may have accessed.

When key employees leave, what should your clients do?

The Owner Wants to Audit My Records!

Paul Ficca of FTI Consulting and Scott Fitzsimmons of Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald LLP walked attendees of Workshop B at the Midwinter Meeting through the issues that will help you guide your clients through an owner's audit of project records. 

Cybersecurity and Construction

Jeff Birnbach from The Sylint Group in Sarasota, Florida, and Janice Mock from Nossaman LLP in San Francisco kicked off the CLE portion of our Midwinter Meeting by discussing the fact -- not the theory, but the fact -- that you and/or your clients will probably be hacked at some point in the near future. Whether the hacking comes from people trying to get passwords, e-mail spoofing, phishing, or mirror attacks that bring down your website, everyone is susceptible.

Indeed, one of the major takeaways from this seminar was this: change your passwords regularly. As the slide behind Jeff mentions, 90% of people use the hardly secure password of "1234" for multiple passwords. Even people who take precautions and have different passwords tend to use only 5 different username/password combinations.

So, don't be *that* person. Change your passwords regularly. And, ask someone who attended this meeting how all construction contractors are conduits for phishing scams and targeted hacks.

The Forum on Construction Law Welcomes Fred Haise

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Nelson Forensics, the Forum enjoyed hearing from Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise today at the Midwinter Meeting in San Francisco. Mr. Haise kicked off our meeting as the Keynote Speaker at the Westin St. Francis Hotel with incredible stories about the explosion on Apollo 13, his experience as a NASA astronaut generally, and his current nonprofit endeavors.

One incredible story he told related to the amount of computing power that his fellow astronauts had available to them for use in running the space craft. On board, the computing systems had only 1/2 megabyte of storage and memory. At Mission Control, the whole program was being run off computers with just 4 megabytes.  

Mr. Haise is a native of Biloxi, Mississippi, and his accomplishments and awards are legion.  This list from his NASA biography (which has not been updated since 1996) shows this.

He was awarded the Presidential Medal for Freedom (1970); the NASA Distinguished Service Medal; the AIAA Haley Astronautics Award for 1971; the American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Awards for 1970 and 1977; the City of New York Gold Medal in 1970; the City of Houston Medal for Valor in 1970; the Jeff Davis Award (1970); the Mississippi Distinguished Civilian Service Medal (1970); the American Defense Ribbon; the SETP's Ray E. Tenhoff Award for 1966; the A.B. Honts Trophy as the outstanding graduate of Class 64A from the Aerospace Research Pilot School in 1964; the NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1978); the JSC Special Achievement Award (1978); the Soaring Society of America's Certificate of Achievement Award (1978); the General Thomas D. White Space Trophy for 1977 (1978); the SETP's Iven C. Kincheloe Award (1978); the Air Force Association's David C. Schilling Award (1978).

Again, thank you very much to our good friends at Nelson Forensics for making a donation to Mr. Haise's charity to allow us all to hear this incredible man speak.

Mid-Winter D1/D13 Dinner Social

Divisions 1 and 13 are pleased to announce they will be teaming for their social event in San Francisco at the Mid-Winter meeting this year.  

After the Welcome Reception we will be venturing down to the Pier 23 Restaurant on the waterfront for heavy hors d’oeuvres and some great comradery – so join us! 

Sign up early and see you all soon!!

Nick Holmes

Division 1 Chair

Apollo 13 Astronaut (Fred Haise) -- Keynote Speaker at Midwinter Meeting (1/21-22/2016) in San Francisco

Don't miss the Forum's Midwinter Meeting in San Francisco!  Beyond all the fabulous construction law programs, here is a preview of other events.  Registration - http://bit.ly/1OPWmmb

“Houston, we have a problem.”  Fred Haise, one of the astronauts on Apollo 13 will be our keynote speaker to start the program, bright and early on Thursday morning, January 21, 2016.  In that our theme for the Midwinter meeting is "Livin’ on the Fault Line:  Cutting Edge Solutions for Seismic Events that Threaten Your Construction Client," what could be more apropos than having Fred Haise describe how he and his co-astronauts faced and conquered that Apollo mission’s crisis.

In addition to Fred Haise, we are equally thrilled to have Carla Christofferson, AECOM’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel, speak at our diversity breakfast on building diverse teams.

The meeting is the Westin St. Francis, Union Square, in San Francisco on January 21-22, 2016. Register Here:

But great speakers and programming is not all.  We are having a Sunset Wine Tasting on the top of the St. Francis for our welcome reception on Thursday evening.  Later on Thursday is the Forum After Dark event at Slide, a former San Francisco speakeasy. 

On Friday, January 22, 2015, there is the Women’s Networking Luncheon & Reception at the Westin and, afterwards, the Escape to Alcatraz twilight tour of the infamous prison island in the Bay.  Last but not least is the Saturday Napa Valley Getaway, an unforgettable tour of one of Napa’s hidden gems, MadoroM Vineyards.

Be sure to register and reserve your room at the St. Francis right away!

#FCLSanFran #ABAConstruct

Register Now For the Forum's Midwinter Meeting in San Francisco, CA (Jan. 21-22, 2016)

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN
FOR THE FORUM'S MIDWINTER MEETING

Please join us at the Forum's 2016 Midwinter Meeting "Livin’ on the Fault Line:  Cutting Edge Solutions for Seismic Events that Threaten Your Construction Client,” at The Westin St. Francis, Union Square, in San Francisco, CA on January 21-22, 2016.  When something goes wrong on a construction project, this program and its materials will provide you with answers and solutions to assist your construction client through the crisis.  Whether your client suffers a cybersecurity attack, the loss of a key project manager, an owner audit, or a variety of other challenges, you will be prepared.

“Houston, we have a problem,” has become a catch-phrase for an impending disaster. Our kickoff speaker literally lived through the moment when it was first spoken. Apollo 13 astronaut, Fred Haise, will describe for us how that crisis was met and provide steps for facing a crisis, whether in space or down here on earth! In addition, Carla Christofferson, AECOM's Executive Vice President and General Counsel, will address building diverse teams.

You will have the opportunity to taste local wines, both during the Sunset Wine Tasting and Welcome Reception at the top of the St. Francis on Thursday evening and on the Napa Valley Getaway on Saturday (ticketed event). A Forum After Dark event on Thursday will be available for night owls. Friday afternoon, you can Escape to Alcatraz for a twilight tour of the infamous island prison in the Bay (ticketed event).

San Francisco is always an incredible location for the Forum's meetings, so be sure to register for the Midwinter Meeting and reserve your room at the St. Francis right away!

DOWNLOAD THE BROCHURE

#FCLSanFran #ABAConstruct