Lexis Practical Guidance Debuts New Construction Practice Area on Lexis+

The U.S. construction industry is forecast to continue experiencing steady growth in the next five years, in spite of near-term challenges and rising interest rates. One analyst report projects the sector to reach $1.3 billion in market value this year and record a compounded annual growth rate of 5% from 2022-2026.

With this steady growth comes plenty of ongoing legal work for lawyers in every segment of the legal profession — private practitioners in firms of all sizes, in-house counsel, and government lawyers.

For example:

• Government investigations in the construction industry are on the rise, especially with respect to matters related to the False Claims Act and “high hazard” investigations by the Department of Labor, according to Construction Executive

• Litigation has increased in both the value and number of disputes, with the average construction dispute value rising from $30.7 million to $54.26 million last year, according to the 2021 Legal Asset Report.

• “Green construction” is accelerating, with project owners and builders both looking to their legal counsel for assistance with guiding them through the various regulatory requirements at the state and local levels. In addition to new mandates to create buildings that operate cleanly, there is also a rising focus on the practices and materials that contractors use during the construction process itself.

To help assist legal professionals who need fast access to information and tools in this growing sector, the award-winning team at Lexis Practical Guidance has created a new practice area with a comprehensive set of legal resources curated for lawyers who practice construction law.

The new Construction Practice Area expands the current offering and consolidates all construction-related legal resources from Lexis Practical Guidance in one place. These resources and tools help lawyers across all types of organizations to work more effectively and efficiently by obtaining fast answers to the most critical legal tasks in front of them.

This all-in-one Construction Practice Area provides quick, practical, on-point information in response to legal questions, without the need to wade through irrelevant material. It provides guidance on the most critical tasks that construction practitioners undertake, including all stages of the construction process: pre-project planning; contract drafting and negotiation; project management and risk allocation; mechanic’s liens; construction finance; and dispute resolution.

The new practice area covers issues relevant to both public and private projects and was built to assist practitioners who are advising owners, developers, contractors, subcontractors, design professionals and construction lenders. Specific tools and content include the following:

• Articles drafted by construction law experts that keep professionals up to date on the latest trends in the industry.
• Checklists that provide quick reference guides on how to complete more than 30 legal tasks, including the drafting and negotiation of construction and design contracts.
• Practice Notes authored by respected peers that provide guidance on a wide range of core construction matters, such as preliminary planning, contract drafting and negotiation, project delivery and payment methods, mechanic’s liens, project finance and public-private partnerships, project completion, risk allocation, alternative dispute resolution, and litigation strategies.
• Resource Kits that aggregate a suite of Practical Guidance resources related to a specific topic within construction law, including a First Year Associate Resource Kit, an Owner and Contractor Agreement Resource Kit and state-specific mechanic’s lien resource kits.
• State Law Comparison Tool, a robust information resource that allows practitioners to compare laws across multiple states on discrete issues, such as the licensing of construction professionals, Little Miller Act claims, prompt payment act claims for public and private projects, indemnification provisions and contingent payment provisions.

There are a number of content features in the new practice area that are exclusive to Practical Guidance and not available from LexisNexis competitors. For example, American Institute of Architects (AIA) forms are so ubiquitous in the construction industry that any legal practitioner who prepares construction contracts must understand them; only Lexis Practical Guidance provides access to AIA sample forms, along with drafting guidance for the most frequently used forms. In addition, Lexis Practical Guidance offers nine self-drafted construction and design agreements for practitioners to use; LexisNexis’ major competitor offers none.

Other exclusive content offerings from the new Construction Practice Area include state-specific construction clauses, extensive content from other practice areas covering project finance, public-private partnerships and employment law issues, and robust construction dispute resolution content.

The new Lexis Practical Guidance Construction Practice Area is available on Lexis+, a groundbreaking all-in-one platform from LexisNexis that combines superior research and data-driven insights. Lexis+ provides legal professionals with all of the tools and resources necessary to practice with confidence and efficiency: Legal Research; Advanced Legal Analytics; Brief Analysis; Legal News Hub; and Practical Guidance.

Learn more: www.LexisNexis.com/LexisPlus.