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Jim Archibald has been a construction lawyer with the firm for over 25 years, serving as the Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Construction and Procurement Practice Group from 2009 to 2014, when he was elected to serve on the Firm’s Managing Board. Jim has advised clients on public and private projects, including projects administered by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. General Services Administration, and the Army Corps of Engineers. He has extensive experience prosecuting and defending differing site conditions, extra work, delay, acceleration, impact, and inefficiency claims on private and public jobs. Jim also advises owners and design builders on heavy industrial projects, and has handled multi-million-dollar performance disputes and defaults arising out of these projects. View articles by Jim.

Businesses who employ in-house attorneys frequently assume that copying their lawyer on internal communications shields the communications from discovery because of the attorney-client privilege.  In 1981, the U.S. Supreme Court articulated the rule that the attorney-client privilege protects communications (a) between attorneys and clients (b) that are maintained in confidence and (c) that were made

How final is a final arbitration award? In Escapes! To the Shores Condominium Association, Inc., et al. v. Hoar Construction, LLC, and Architectural Surfaces, Inc., the plaintiff condo association argued that an arbitration award that didn’t resolve all claims against all parties in the trial court was not final enough to be appealed. The

Watch Your Stipulation! Award Confirmed Despite Arbitrator Exceeding Contractual Scope of AuthorityOnce parties agree to arbitrate, courts generally defer to the arbitrator’s judgment regarding resolution of a dispute. The prevailing approach in many states is to not set aside an arbitration award unless the arbitrator clearly exceeded his or her authority and to exercise every reasonable assumption in favor of the validity of an award. The

Does Your Construction Contract Involve Interstate Commerce? If So, Expect Your Arbitration Agreement to Be EnforcedWhether an arbitration agreement is enforceable is a frequently litigated matter in construction disputes. Federal policy strongly favors arbitration. Typically, the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) will preempt any contrary state law that might otherwise void an arbitration provision. On June 10, 2020, the South Carolina Court of Appeals reaffirmed this view when it overturned a