Notes from the Editor

• Pages: 4-5
• Date: 01 April 2025
• Published date: 01 April 2025
• Author: Christopher M. Burke
• Subject Matter: Civil Law

Published in The Construction Lawyer Volume 44, Number 2, ©2025 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

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Forum on Construction Law The Construction Lawyer Spring 2025

4

NOTES FROM THE EDITOR

By Christopher M. Burke

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

Welcome to the spring 2025 issue of The Construction Lawyer! This issue features two articles focused

on the design side of construction projects and a third with an interesting look at the role of juries in

construction litigation. I am sure that you will nd all three articles interesting and worth your time.

Before introducing the articles a bit more, a detour—I’m writing this column the day before the 2025

Academy Awards, which got me thinking about the best legal movies of my lifetime. While I am sure

everyone has their own personal favorites, the “Chris Burke Mount Rushmore of Legal Movies” (which I

personally believe should serve as the official standard) is as follows:

A Few Good Men (1992). Probably the most quoted movie in the halls of law firms around the

country—but forget handling the truth, who hasn’t “strenuously objected” to something or wondered

why Lt. Weinberg caught that stray during Col. Jessep’s testimony? Criminally underrated Tom Cruise

performance.

The Firm (1993). More Cruise, this time as young Mitch McDeere, a first-year associate at a Memphis

law firm with an interesting client list. I loved the ending to this movie, which was so much better than

the book upon which it was based. Also, it might have the longest “Tom Cruise running” sequence in any

Cruise film.

My Cousin Vinny (1992). What was it about the early ’90s that made it such a feeding ground for legal

movie bangers? Probably the second most quoted movie in the halls of law firms, but underneath the

absurdity is some truly effective cross examination work and a primer on effective expert testimony.

A Time to Kill (1996). A gut-wrenching premise, but Matthew McConaughey’s closing argument is

probably the best ever from a legal film. More solid courtroom work from all involved.

It strikes me that—for folks of my generation and above—the above list rings very familiar and has

probably been the subject of multiple viewings. But for our younger readership, if you are not familiar

with the above movies, do yourself a favor and check them out. I promise these are not “old person”

movie recommendations! I’m still with it—I just watched Anora—and I loved it!

Back to The Construction Lawyer, in this issue we feature three articles. The first article is “Less than

Perfection: Demystifying the Standard of Care for Design Professionals,” by Andy Manuel, Luke P.

LaRocca, and David L. Zion; in this article the authors tackle the issue of litigating the “standard of

care” in design contracts and takes an interesting look at how contract language can impact claims and

defenses. The second article, “The Impact of BIM on Design and Construction—Legal and Practical

Perspectives,” by Kristine A. Kubes, addresses a still-developing field of construction design and law—

BIM Modeling. Kristine does an excellent job covering the challenges presented by a design that remains

a work in progress throughout the construction of a project. Finally, this issue’s third article is “Taking

Your Construction Case to a Jury: the Adequacy of Jury Instructions in Construction Disputes,” which

addresses considerations for construction disputes before juries and, more specifically, the critical import