Favorite Highlights and Session Takeaways from the 2025 ABA Forum on Construction Law Annual Meeting – Austin, TX: “Return of the Contractors: Transforming the Construction Landscape”.

By: Emily Price – Chief Legal Officer, Dynamic Trades, Inc.

I had the pleasure of attending my first in-person ABA Forum on Construction Law Annual Meeting this year in Austin, Texas last month. It did not disappoint! Before diving into my personal session takeaways, I wanted to share a few personal highlights from the trip.

Favorite Session:
Workshop D- “Surviving the Amazing Race: Navigating Subcontractor Relations with Contractors,” stood out to me overall for its real-time, three-way discussion from Owner, GC, and Subcontractor perspectives. It was practical, engaging, and provided great strategies for more effective contract negotiations!

Favorite Quote:
“As an architect, my favorite projects were ones that were never built” - Overheard during the excellent D2/3/5 lunch session on the challenges of terminating a designer in a design-build project – this got a good chuckle from the room!

Favorite BBQ:
Terry Black’s Barbecue was so tasty and worth every minute of the wait!

Cutest sighting in Austin:
Lots of turtles basking in the sun along the Lady Bird Lake trail on a morning run. Too cute!

Now that we’ve got some of the fun stuff out of the way, let’s jump into my personal key take-aways from the plenary sessions at Austin:

Plenary 1: Construction Management at Risk
Some important tips to avoid contingency disputes in the CM setting are: 1) separating owner and CM contingencies to limit fighting over funds, and 2) incorporating shared savings provisions to incentivize careful use of savings by both sides. Good teamwork upfront during contract negotiations (including price escalation discussions) is also key in mitigating GMP and price escalation issues or disputes down the road.

Plenary 2: Surety Secrets
We were reminded in this session to always follow termination procedures exactly as outlined in the bond and contract documents, because deviating from these steps could give the surety a defense to liability due to improper termination. Also, I know it may sound like a no brainer - but be sure to very carefully read your bond for these important procedures that you’ll hopefully never need to follow!

Plenary 3: Delegated Design
One good recommendation to help successfully administer design-build subcontracts is to use a peer review process to identify issues and double check design work (particularly for high-risk scopes like retaining walls). Just don’t assign the peer review to a design subcontractor’s competitor! 

Plenary 4: GC vs. Engineer Disputes
Negligence claims against a design professional can be successful for a contractor (compared to 3^rd party claims). Before pursuing a negligence claim it’s important to address these four questions:

1. Was reliance foreseeable?
2. What is the standard of care?
3. Does the economic loss rule bar purely financial damages?
4. Are there any disclaimers that bar or limit the claim?

Plenary 5: Turning Excuses into Compensation

Know the distinction between damages for delays and damages for disruption: delays extend time; disruptions increase costs without affecting schedule. Also, careful and detailed documentation is key in proving and presenting claims effectively!

Plenary 6: Navigating Ethical Issues when Parties Change Mid-Project:

This engaging final session included fanny-pack giveaways for audience participation and ended with a good list of ethical practices to avoid conflict issues:

1. Proactive conflict checks
2. Engagement letters and closure procedures
3. Thorough vetting of closed files
4. Carefully documenting informed consent
5. Ongoing ethics training

Well, that’s a wrap on Austin from my end! If you didn’t make it to the meeting this time around, hopefully you feel encouraged to consider joining next time!