Thoughts on construction law from Christopher G. Hill, Virginia construction lawyer, LEED AP, mediator, and member of the Virginia Legal Elite in Construction Law
Over the course of now over 500 posts and a few years, I have had the opportunity to guest contribute to several sites, among them The Advocate’s Studio and Small Firm Innovation. I truly appreciate each of these opportunities.
This week, I am lucky to be posting for the fourth time at Small Firm Innovation where this month’s theme is “Spring Cleaning.” By checking out the theme page at SFI (@sfinnovation if you want to get updates on Twitter), you will see posts about cleaning out everything from your writing to your website. My post is a bit more “earthly” so to speak. My theme is keeping up with the clutter.
As I sit here and contemplate the almost 1 year of Construction Law Musings, I realized that I have not ever really explained why I like what I do. If you had asked me in law school if I was looking to be a construction lawyer, I likely would have looked at you as if you were from another planet. I knew I wanted to get into court but that was about it.
The fact is, I basically fell into construction without much planning ahead. I worked at the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia out of law school representing the Virginia Department of Corrections. After close to 5 years of helping out the VDOC and fielding inmate law suits, I decided to take the plunge into private practice. I worked at Meyer, Goergen & Marrs, a small firm here in Richmond, VA that represented many construction suppliers, general contractors and subcontractors. After almost 4 years there, I moved to DurretteBradshaw, PLC and then to my present solo practice at The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill, PC. Here I practice almost exclusively in the area of construction law and construction risk management.
However, it was not until relatively recently when I began to participate fully in the AGC of Virginia, and the national AGC that I really began to love what I do. I found out that I enjoy my clients. I like hanging out with folks that are businessmen, and mostly self made. I like to represent people I like. I am able to fully commit to these folks because they are generally pragmatic and task oriented, much as I am.
I also like the fact that I can get into court, but at the same time temper this with risk management through contract review and doing what I can to keep my commercial construction clients out of harms way. While the use of AIA forms is good for certain projects (and the ConsensusDOCS are another great set of forms), they are not for every situation and so I get to be creative.
In short, I enjoy what I do, and hope that you do too.
I hope that you will comment below and let me know about your law practice and what makes it enjoyable. If you have any questions, please contact me and I will happily respond. In the meantime, please subscribe to keep up with this and other Construction Law Musings.
Well, it’s the end of another year. 2022 brought a sense of relative normalcy after quite a bit of COVID-related and other turmoil in 2020 and 2021. The Virginia General Assembly passed a pay-if-paid ban that will kick in with the coming of 2023. The second post-COVID construction law seminar was enjoyed by all that attended and much was discussed and learned.
Here’s wishing all of you that read Construction Law Musings a happy and fulfilling 2023. I look forward to working and interacting with you in the New Year.
As always, I welcome your comments below. Please subscribe to keep up with this and other Construction Law Musings.
We are nearing the end of another year and looking forward to the next. Most of the Hills are home for the holidays (my oldest and her husband are celebrating in Pittsburgh) for some Christmas cheer while Musings takes some holiday R & R.
I wish you all Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill, PC, and Construction Law Musings. To all of my friends, colleagues, and most importantly, family, I hope you have a safe, warm, and wonderful holiday.
Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to a great 2023 with you, my readers.
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Thank you once again to those in the Virginia legal community who elected me to the Virginia Business Legal Elite in the Construction Law category for the 16th consecutive year. The 16 consecutive years of election to the Legal Elite in the Construction Category span my time as a solo construction attorney. The fact that you all have continued to elect “100%” of the lawyers at The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill, PC for the last 12 years is most gratifying and only confirms that my decision to “go solo” over 12 years ago was a good one. To be included in this list of top construction attorneys is both humbling and gratifying. For the complete list of the Virginia construction lawyers that were elected along with me, see the 2022 Virginia Business Legal Elite in Construction Law.
So without further ado, thank you to all of you who voted for me. I truly appreciate your continued confidence and support of my construction law practice. Your yearly votes always prod me to learn and continually improve to meet your expectations and keep my practice at this high level. I also couldn’t do this without the great support from friends and family (not to mention clients), so my gratitude goes out to these great folks.
Thanks again,
Chris
As always, I welcome your comments below. Please subscribe to keep up with this and other Construction Law Musings.
