Matt DeVries of the Best Practices Construction Law Blog is one of the editors for the document, and he posted about the release of the 2009 Construction Law Update on his blog here. If you’d like to get your paws on a copy of the publication, you can email him.

A big thanks to Matt for contacting me to contribute the Louisiana update for the publication.

What’s new in Louisiana?    Check out the PDF of the Louisiana portion of the Construction Law Update here.

A native Virginian, John has lived in the four corners of the country and just completed a three-year stay in the crescent city where he attended law school, and recently worked for Wolfe Law Group as a legal clerk.

John is returning home to the D.C. area this summer to take the Maryland bar, and open his own practice in the state.    We’re very happy for his success at Loyola, and while disappointed he’ll no longer be working with us everyday, very excited for his future in law.

Congrats and Good Luck!

Since we love Daylite so much, you can expect we were tickled pink when they selected our firm for a case study.   It was announced on their blog here.

You can click here to check out the Wolfe Law Group case study.   They even say great things and show a great picture of our office pups, Oscar.

Before logging into our admin page, I stumbled upon another businesses FB page and saw the “become a fan” button replaced with “like.”. It confused me for a few seconds, but then I just passed it off as someone knowing a little more than me about Facebook, and knowing how to change the call to action on the fan pages.

Low and behold the change was made on my page, too…and system wide.

With all of this said, let’s take this Facebook change our for a spin. No need to become a fanatic for Wolfe Law Group or anything. After all, we’re just a law firm. Borrrr-ing.

But, you can at least like what we do, eh? That ain’t so hard.

http://fb.wolfelaw.com

We apologize for these problems.

Our tech folks assure us that the issues has been resolved.

The Chinese Drywall problem, however, presents a lot of practical and scientific challenges.   As engineers scratch the surface of these claims, they find more and more questions about the drywall and its damages.

Scott Wolfe has presented to the Louisiana Engineering Society and the American Society of Civil Engineers on precisely these questions, and specifically to answer this question:  What Are You Looking For?

Scott’s presentation breaks down the search into three categories:

(1)  Is it There?    This is the most basic question posed to engineers; simply determining whether the home does or does not have contaminated drywall.

(2)  How Deep Are The Damages?   This question inquires as to just how deep into the home the damages go.   Does it affect the wiring?  Does it affect the building studs?  Not only does this have relevance to the next category of inquiry, but is also has relevance to determine who is liable for the losses.   A prime example of how this affects liability concerns builders and the New Home Warranty Act.  If the damages go so deep as to create a structural defect, the NHWA will have broader applicability.

(3)  What Type of Damages and How To Remediate.  The final question requires determination of how to fix the problems, and to identify what type of damages the problem caused.

Here is the Keynote presentation used during these talks, brought to you by SlideShare:

Here’s a screen shot from our moment of fame:

The presentation summary is as follows:

Slides from presentation given to the Washington Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division at their Express CLE #13 in Bremerton, WA. The presentation focused on the problems attorneys face when trying to reconcile ethic rules with how they use the Internet. The presentation reviews rules pre-existing the web, and how they may be applied to web situations, as well as new rules passed in states like Louisiana, Florida and New York that specifically address the Internet.

View the slideshow at SlideShare.net here.   We’ve also embedded it below.

I’m happy to report that the Toolkit’s availability has really opened up.   How open?   Well, you can view or download the book for free at the Legal Content site, JDSupra.   Go ahead and peruse the book over there for free by clicking here.

If you’re itching to get a hard-copy of the publication, it’s still available at Lulu.com.   The cost for the hard-copy has dropped to just $15.00.    If you come by the New Orleans office on Prytania Street, I can provide you a copy for free.

What’s in the collections toolkit?   The formal book summary is as follows:

A manual for use by contractors of all sizes to learn about the collections process and help them develop good collection practices. The toolkit includes: (a) a summary of collection laws; (b) common collection mistakes and pitfalls; (c) common construction contract provisions to avoid overdue accounts; (d) collection letter templates; (e) when its time to hire an attorney; and (f) guide to litigating a collection action. The toolkit focuses on Louisiana laws and forms.

Not only does the book provide raw explanations of laws applicable to contractors in collecting amounts due, it also provides you with useful forms including a generic collection letter, a demand for payment on NSF Checks and a mechanics lien.

Almost everyday, a client or fellow attorney will meet at our offices and ask me about our choice to use Macs.   I go through the motions of explaining how the computers are just better, that we never have tech problems, that it’s generally more pleasant to use, etc. etc.

Our exclusive use of Apple computers at the office actually does make our office more efficient – and as a result, we get more done for our clients.   Apple advertises itself as selling computers that just work, and as a result of that cleaner and faster operating system, me and the attorneys and staff here are able to manage the case loads and draft documents quicker than they could on a PC.

While most law offices are powered by PCs, the Mac is not foreign to the law.

Two popular blogs tout the relevance of the Mac in the legal profession:  Esquire Mac and The Mac Lawyer.    And Apple themselves, of course, argue that the Mac Means Business.

I frequently read these blogs to get introduced to new software and products, and to get ideas about how other law firms are using Macs in their practice.   If you’re frustrated with your PC, subscribe to these blogs and start exploring a new world of computing.

If you’re a client and in the construction business, there’s plenty there to help you learn about Macs in the business world.   If you’re in the legal field, you’ll be doing your clients a great service.