Comments from the Chair

• Author: By Arlan D. Lewis
• Pages: 4-4

THE CONSTRUCTION LAWYER4Fall 2020

Published in The Construction Lawyer, Volume 40, Number 4, Fall 2020. © 2020 American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion

thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.

CommeNts from the Chair

The Journey Ahead

By Arlan D. Lewis

Arlan D. Lewis is a partner with Blueprint Construction

Counsel, LLP. He is Chair of the ABA’s Forum on

Construction Law and is based in Birmingham, Alabama.

It is truly an honor to serve

as your Forum Chair. The

Forum has been a signicant

part of my professional life,

and I have developed many

lifelong friendships through

my involvement with this

incredible organization. I

am humbled to follow in the

footsteps of so many fantas-

tic construction lawyers who

have led this organization

over the past 45 years. Their

leadership has resulted in the Forum becoming the larg-

est organization of construction lawyers in the world and

recognized as a valuable resource to the construction

industry. Most importantly, through its focus on pro-

grams, publications, and people, the Forum is known for

building the best construction lawyers.

Shifting Sands

Undoubtedly, every Forum Chair has had to deal with

challenges in one form or another. In fact, challenges are

at the core of leadership. In addition to the typical range

of challenges, 2020 brought us the unique, worldwide

challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic

resulted in signicant disruptions to each of us on a very

personal level. We transitioned to working from home and

all that comes with it. Travel has been severely restricted,

and gathering with others for almost any business or

social activity was primarily forbidden.

The inability to gather in person had a signicant

effect on the Forum because we deeply value the per-

sonal connections and relationships fostered during our

three national meetings and other in-person events. We

had to make the difcult decision to postpone our 2020

Annual, Fall, and Regional meetings. As the sand contin

-

ues to shift beneath our feet almost daily, we eagerly look

forward to the time when we can gather in person again.

New Ways to Connect

Meanwhile, we’ve been challenged to develop new ways

to stay connected to you, our members, and to provide

CLE and other valuable resources amid this predicament.

For years, the Forum has looked for ways to connect with

members outside of our in-person events, and the pan-

demic presented an opportunity for us to intensify our

focus. The Forum was fortunate to have Kristine Kubes

at the helm to steer us through the initial blow of the pan-

demic and set us on a focused course as we continue to

work through the impact of these circumstances. I want to

thank Kristine for her servant leadership, resourcefulness,

kindness, and professionalism as we sought to keep the

Forum moving forward through the headwinds of a pan-

demic. With a wonderful sense of humor, Kristine often

reminded Forum leaders that we had to go beyond thinking

outside the box to “throwing away the box” and “building

the bicycle while we’re riding it!” This year has been quite

an adventure thus far, and there are certainly adventures

awaiting us as we move into the 2020–2021 bar year.

In response to the pandemic, the Forum developed

a virtual, non-CLE COVID-19 Leadership Roundtable

series to address the impacts on the construction indus-

try. The Roundtable was open to all construction industry

participants, including construction executives, free of

charge. Since its inception in April 2020, the Roundta-

ble discussions have attracted almost 5,500 registrants,

including approximately 2,500 non-Forum ABA members

and more than 860 non-ABA members. The Roundtable

has been highly successful in providing an opportunity

for the Forum to reach an audience beyond its member-

ship and demonstrate thought-leadership on critical issues

facing the construction industry. Likewise, to maintain

our commitment to address diversity and inclusion issues

in the construction industry, the Forum developed a free

monthly virtual Diversity & Inclusion Brunch featuring a

one-hour conversation with keynote speakers providing

insight into issues of diversity, inclusion, construction,

and the legal industry. If you have not been active in one

of the Forum’s 14 divisions, now is the time to do so. In

addition to providing useful substantive content for their

division members, they connect virtually for social and

other activities.

New Opportunities

As the Chair of the Forum, I am grateful to be surrounded

by an amazing leadership team made up of thoughtful,

intelligent, passionate, and committed construction law-

yers. I am also fortunate to have the support of our Forum

members and volunteers. The Forum could not function

without the hard work and sacrices of our volunteers,

and I have been amazed by their willingness to rise to the

challenges posed by this pandemic. I want to say thank you

to every single volunteer who has reinforced the Forum

Arlan D. Lewis