Project Owners Should Not Over-Rely On Title Insurer Review of Payment Applications

Real estate developers and property owners sometimes make a mistake by entirely outsourcing supervision of the monthly draw process to the title insurer hired by their lenders. But I counsel people against the over-rely on title insurer strategy. One of the big risks for Illinois project owners and developers is having to pay for the same work twice. I will not dwell on this point now because it is addressed in Read More

The AIA Document B152-2019 Interior Design Agreement: Important FF&E Changes

Compared to its widely-used B152-2007 predecessor, the new B152-2019 Interior Design Agreement contains many changes. The new B152 differs more, textually, from its predecessor than most updated AIA Contract Documents I have seen recently. Take Furniture, Furnishings, and Equipment, for example. The phrase and its “FF&E” abbreviation appeared just 21 times in the B152-2007. By contrast, the B152-2019 contains Read More

Arbitrator-Directed Arbitration: A Proposal To Improve Construction Arbitration

This article first appeared in the Construction Law Newsletter, Volume 35, Number 5 (May 2019), co-authors Mark C. Friedlander and Jeremy S. Baker Arbitration was once the darling of the construction industry, with parties intentionally sacrificing the safeguards of litigation, and its expensive and inefficient procedures, in favor of fair, quick, and cost-efficient dispute resolution. Many in the industry, Read More

This Is a Great Time for Design and Construction!

Written by Jeremy S. Baker - Chicago River facing West I was floored by Steve Burrows’ absolutely brilliant keynote at Digital Build Week 2019. I first heard it as a podcast, at the gym. I stopped my workout and furiously scrambled to take notes. Steve Burrows is a visionary engineer with a long career. He is someone you should know. His speech “This is the Greatest Time in History to be in Construction” Read More

Why Diligent Project Owners Should Never Lose Mechanics Lien Claims

Written by Jeremy S. Baker - You are a project owner or real estate developer. You want to avoid lien claims. But how? Yes, the Illinois Lien Act – first passed in 1825 – contains arcane and confounding rules. But here is the truth: real estate developers and project owners should never lose lien claims … IF they follow the Lien Act, as they make periodic payments on their design and construction Read More

Jeremy Baker to Present at AIA Chicago Zoom Webinar April 7th 12pm CST

Mechanics liens are a powerful tool to help architects secure payment on Illinois projects. In turbulent economic times, AIA contract type liens can be particularly useful to architects concerned about their clients’ willingness – or ability – to pay for design services. Liens can sometimes motivate project owners and lenders to pay architects and their subconsultants. Architects who meet certain short deadlines, and Read More

POSTPONED – ABA SPEECH: Seeing the Big Picture: Construction Management Under the 2019 AIA CM Contracts – Part 2: Construction

20/20 Foresight: Effective Project Management & Strategies Forum on Construction Law Annual MeetingApril 22-24, 2020 | Seattle, WASheraton Grand SeattleCo-Sponsored by the Construction Management Association of America VIEW BROCHURE Read More

POSTPONED – ANATOMY OF INDEMNITY AND COPYRIGHT CLAUSES: WHAT ARCHITECTS NEED TO KNOW

Unfortunately, today's presentation has been postponed due to COVID-19. I hope everyone is taking care of themselves and their loved ones. Click here for more on the AIA Chicago website. Read More

Jeremy Baker to Present at AIA Chicago Lunch-and-Learn March 18th at 12pm CST

Jeremy Baker from Baker Law Group LLC (previously a Partner at Schiff Hardin LLP), will present an hour lunch-and-learn that will closely examine two heavily-negotiated and important contract clauses: 1) indemnity, defense, and hold harmless clauses; and 2) intellectual property, copyright, and licensure clauses. Jeremy will examine contract language frequently-requested by the architect’s client (project Read More

FCPA Primer for International Design Agencies

Written by Jeremy Baker in May 2015. Originally posted on https://www.schiffhardin.com/ - Introduction to FCPA Settlements Design professionals tempted by the lure of overseas work need to understand the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). FCPA compliance is an important loss prevention issue. While exchanging gifts and things of value is a way of life in many countries, U.S. anti-bribery laws Read More