Justin Sweet: An Anthology of Construction Law Writings |
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To construction lawyers throughout the United States and around the world, Justin Sweet is an icon. He almost single-handedly advanced the discipline of construction law as a subject to be taught in law schools. For over 50 years, through his influence as a professor and as an author, he has nurtured and nourished that discipline ever since.
A true celebration of Justin Sweet's work over five decades, this commemorative hardcover volume recognizes him as one of the leaders in building a law education program in the area of construction law as well as an author of intriguing, thought-provoking, and rich articles of interest for construction practitioners as well as scholars. The format of the book is, by design, a historical archive of his selected works.
As his former student Deborah S. Ballati says in the introduction to this collection, " ... I was reminded what a wonderful writer Justin is, of his sense of wisdom and foresight, and how much all of us owe him for making this area of practice a specialty within the profession and in law schools." Justin Sweet: A Compendium of Construction Law Writings demonstrates that wisdom on every page, and celebrates the importance of the construction bar.
The chapters in this volume bring together some of Professor Sweet's best and most thought-provoking articles on construction law topics:
Chapter 1: These articles demonstrate Justin Sweet's unique creativity in presenting construction law and process topics with a dramatic range of styles, tones and approaches. For example, in one article he writes a play featuring Frank Lloyd Wright to discuss the effects of design-build and construction management on architects and in another he playfully writes about unearthing of a previously undiscovered Shakespeare manuscript that points out the need for fairness and equity in applying contract terms.
Chapter 2: Timeless analysis is a Justin Sweet hallmark, and the articles included here are well-considered pieces on standard contracts and the language used in contracts. The first article demonstrates his writing as both timeless yet prescient. In this analysis of the AIA documents from 1991, he criticized the form for lacking a termination for convenience clause. This clause was subsequently added by the AIA in both 1993 and 2007. In the same article, he also predicted that competitors to the AIA would emerge to broaden their documents process to include other central elements of the industry. The introduction of ConsensusDOCS, spearheaded by the AGC, delivers on Professor Sweet's prediction.
Chapter 3: As a pioneer in the academic side of construction law, Professor Sweet has acquired a broad perspective on comparative legal systems. These articles consider criteria to evaluate contract forms for international use, the differences between the American legal system and those in other countries. The final, and previously unpublished article, he interweaves his personal experience as a law professor and construction law scholar with analysis of Tecom v. United States (2005) to show that [i]n all of life everything is connected.
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Chapter 4: In addressing professional issues, Justin Sweet examines the role of the architect in worker safety and the community of interest of all construction participants. The second article is styled as an honorarium to an Italian legal scholar to espouse one of his core beliefs: the laudable role of the project architect as adjudicator of project disputes
Chapter 5: In a chapter titled Provocative Essays, seven of Justin Sweet's most thought-provoking and profound essays challenge conventional thinking about subjects that might have been considered resolved.
Chapter 6: In his four years of writing his "A View From the Tower" articles, Justin Sweet offered insights, ideas, literary and cultural references, and scholarly analyses on construction law topics, while at the same time he meant to inspire thoughtful discussion of issues of interest to construction lawyers and their clients. Now, for the first time, all of Professor Sweet's "From the Tower" articles are reprinted here in their entirety.
In his final "View From the Tower" article, Professor Sweet discussed the symbolism of architecture, ranging from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, to Frank Lloyd Wright's remarks about the Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wisconsin. He stressed the need for architects and their clients to be clear in whether the project is intended to be "merely functional" or "a symbol." As Deborah Ballati concludes in her introduction to Chapter 6, "I dare say, in his body of writings, including all the material in this book, Professor Sweet has, for the construction bar and the discipline of construction law, provided more than enough function, form, and symbolism to fill decades. For that, we should all be grateful."
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