Heads up Westlaw, LEXIS, FindLaw and all you other law-related databases. There is another giant in the field of legal research. Last night, Google launched a new feature on Google Scholar that makes 80+ years of US federal caselaw and 50+ years of US state caselaw searchable and readable. Here’s what you may find: 
I received an email this morning with the following warning: "The following message is intended for construction audiences only. Do NOT watch this clip alone or in the dark. Please wait 30-minutes after eating before watching this clip. DO forward this video on to a friend or colleague."
https://youtube.com/watch?v=MFZI7N_AEBE%26hl%3Den%26fs%3D1%26color1%3D0x2b405b%26color2%3D0x6b8ab6
A couple of
I know that title sounds odd. Before you start flooding my email box with comments about the practicality of Building Information Modeling (BIM) or the utility of social networking like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn in the construction industry, consider the life of the personal computer:
Were you around in the 1980s during the microcomputer wars between Commodore
Yes, he actually said that … Marketing Awesomeness! "Nametag Scott" is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, blogger and consultant. Here is a short video about how Scott Epstein got into the nametag-writing-speaking-marketing business.
What does Best Practices for Marketing Awesomeness have to do with Best Practices Construction Law? Not much … yet everything! Take a minute and watch what
I know it’s a gamble to think that my wife or kids would be reading Best Practices … but in case you do … my birthday is right around the corner … and I want one of these:
Gadgets like the Canadian-based ecobee Smart Thermostat are coming to America! ecobee has partnered with Brady & Associates, as
“Intellectual property is an extremely important and valuable asset that is often overlooked or ignored in the construction industry.” So said Brian Hickey and Edward Benes at the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry’s annual meeting in April in New Orleans.
In their joint presentation entitled When the Colors Run Together: Recent Development in
That’s not exactly how the headline reads … but close enough. The actual title is BIM Promotes Sustainability: Practitioners are Finding Paths to Green through Interoperable Software. As reported by McGraw Hill Construction, this article demonstrates the practical utility of Building Information Modeling (BIM) on a construction project … a green one! MH reports about the
Earlier this week, I read an article in the Daily Commercial News about the future of building information modeling:
The advent of building information modeling will have a major impact on project-delivery methods, says Ottawa contractor Doug Burnside, president of Dolyn Developments Inc.
“I think we are going to see more design-build projects as
My roomie from law school, Rick Klau, sent me a note this past weekend. Actually, he tweeted it! (You, too, can follow me at www.twitter.com/matthewdevries). I was excited to hear where Rick was visiting.
"Best Practices…" you ask, "Why are you posting about your old law school roommate? This is a construction-related blog!"
The best answer
That’s a pretty old looking contract … hanging in the historic courthouse in downtown Arthur, Nebraska. Good thing our standard form construction contracts are not that old!
Last week, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) held its national convention in San Francisco, California. Although “construction manager” (CM) contract documents had been released in 2007 and 2008, AIA