Index to December 2007 Brickerconstructionlaw.com Newsletter

Feature Article

The Federal False Claims Act and Contract Disputes Act— The Perils of Making False and Fraudulent Claims
Andrew Balcar explains the history of the False Claims Act and the penalties for violating the False Claims Act and the Contract Disputes Act. One case study is included which highlights the high cost of submitting a false claim.

Monthly Columns

Construction-Related Legislation
The 127th Ohio General Assembly is underway. Keep up-to-date with pending construction-related legislation, updated daily.

What the Courts Are Saying . . .
The first case in December’s “What the Courts Are Saying,” is a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit on whether a city can mandate a certain percentage of city residents as workers on a road improvement project that is partially funded by federal money. Our second case comes from the Court of Appeals of Ohio for Trumbull County. The court was asked to determine if a county engineer had a prescriptive easement over a landowner’s property or if the landowner should have been compensated for a taking of property.

Holman, Gillis & Shevelow on Construction Documents: How the New AIA A201 Treats Differing Site Conditions
Doug Shevelow’s topic for this month’s “Holman, Gillis & Shevelow on Construction Documents” column is the new differing site conditions clause in the recently revised AIA A201-2007 General Conditions document. Doug explains the differences between this new provision and the old differing site conditions clause contained in the AIA A201-1997 document. This article talks about the changes in resolving a differing site conditions claim and the addition of a new section governing archeological sites and human remains discovered at a construction site.

ADR Corner: Federal and State Arbitration Statutes— Do They Both Apply to Construction Projects in Ohio?
In this month’s ADR Corner David Riddle, P.E., discusses the relationship between federal and state arbitration laws. Why does federal law apply when the project is in Ohio and all of the parties are from Ohio? A discussion of the history of the Federal Arbitration Act helps answer this question.

Upcoming Seminars
See information on upcoming construction seminars featuring Bricker & Eckler construction attorneys.