Notes from the editor

• Pages: 4-5
• Date: 01 October 2024
• Author: Christopher M. Burke

Published in The Construction Lawyer Volume 43, Number 4, ©2024 by the 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.

Forum on Construction LawThe Construction Lawyer Fall 2024

4

By Christopher M. Burke

Christopher M. Burke is senior partner at Varela, Lee, Metz & Guarino, LLP, in Tysons Corner, Virgina.

This serves as my inaugural Editor’s column for The Construction Lawyer, and being the journal’s Editor

for the next two years is something I undertake with equal parts excitement and humility—excitement for

the opportunity to work closely with very talented Forum leadership, a fantastic editorial team, and the

dedicated authors who put in the heaviest lifting to make The Construction Lawyer such an informative

and reliable publication. And, humility knowing that over the Forum’s nearly five decades of existence,

there have been a relatively small number of persons entrusted to serve as Editor of The Construction

Lawyer. I am so pleased to be one of those individuals and will put in the work to maintain the quality of

the journal during my tenure.

This being my first column, I thought it might be useful to share some information about me both

professionally and personally. I have been practicing solely construction law since my graduation

from law school in 2002, and within that space have been exclusively focused on dispute resolution,

arbitration, and litigation. I started my career with Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP in McLean,

Virginia, and then was one of the “Day 1” partners when Varela, Lee, Metz & Guarino, LLP (also in

McLean, Virginia) opened its doors in 2014, and it is where I have practiced ever since. Over the course

of the last 22 years, I have litigated disputes all over the country and internationally, and I have had

the fortune to travel to some amazing places for hearings and preparatory work–-among others, Japan,

Ireland, Singapore, Chile, and—last but certainly not least—New Jersey. Of course, I am allowed to kid

about New Jersey because it is where I was born and raised and remains the place that I carry with me

when I pronounce certain words like “water” and “poem.” While I could kind of hear my own accent

with “water,” it was not until very recently that I learned that most people say “poe-ehm” and not

“pome.” Very strange.

Outside of my career, I live in Arlington, Virginia, with my amazing wife Christine (a company-side labor

and employment attorney), two fantastic children (ages 16 and 12), and our dog, Bruce (named after

Bruce Springsteen, whom I have seen in concert over 30 times). Like all families, the kids keep us busy

with sporting events, music lessons, and for the past few years, a healthy dose of teen and tween drama,

but we have also had the opportunity to take some time away from the grind to visit new places and

experience new things. Some highlights over the last couple of years have been trips to Montreal, Costa

Rica, London, and Philadelphia (which was my son and me for WrestleMania 40 . . . that’s right).

Before turning to the content of this edition of The Construction Lawyer, I would like to extend my most

sincere appreciation to Lauren Catoe, who served as Editor from 2021–2024 and with whom I worked as

Associate Editor during that time. Lauren was an excellent leader with a great temperament and fantastic

sense of humor. She steered The Construction Lawyer out of the COVID-19 pandemic (with its attendant

logistical hurdles) and into the “digital-only” age all in three years. She was such a pleasure to work with,

and I promise I will wait three more issues before asking her to write an article (okay, maybe two more

issues). I will also shout out Susan Lorimor with ABA Publishing, with whom I have been working for the

past two years and who makes editorial transitions like this one run so smoothly. Susan is such a pro and

handles all aspects of publication with aplomb.

NOTES FROM THE EDITOR