Maslon's James Duffy O'Connor Elected Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers

Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand, LLP partner, James Duffy O'Connor, has been elected as a member of the American College of Construction Lawyers.

Founded in 1990, The ACCL is a national organization located in Austin, Texas of outstanding lawyers who have demonstrated skill, experience and high standards of professional and ethical conduct in the practice or in the teaching of construction law, and who are dedicated to excellence in the specialized practice of construction law.

The college provides advanced professional workshops and educational programs to its Fellows and identifies and contributes to the solution of major construction industry legal problems. It is a collegial forum for the exchange and development of ideas by experts in construction law.

Membership in the college is by invitation only upon nomination and election. Prospective members must be proposed for membership by a Fellow in good standing, seconded by at least two other Fellows who have personal knowledge of the nominee, and nominated by the Membership Committee. Their election by the Board of Governors is then ratified by the entire membership. The college typically inducts a limited number of new members each year. Each Fellow may nominate only one candidate for membership each year. There are restrictions on the number of Fellows that may be admitted from one law firm. To be eligible for election into the college, a lawyer must be admitted to practice law before the highest court of his or her respective state, territory or country and have been actively and continuously engaged in the full time practice or teaching of law for a combined total of at least fifteen years. Additionally, only lawyers who the Board determines meet the following qualifications and requirements are eligible to be elected Fellows: 

• Devotion of the majority of their professional time to the practice or teaching of construction law for a period of at least ten years immediately preceding nomination;
• Significant and outstanding service and contribution to the practice of construction law through teaching and lecturing, authorship of books, articles, program materials or other scholarly publications, and/or substantial participation in or leadership of professional or industry organizations and committees concerned with the practice or application of law in construction industry;
• Demonstration of the highest ethical and professional standards of practice.

A partner in the Maslon firm, O'Connor's practice is dedicated exclusively to construction law and construction-related areas, including contract formation, project development and close-out, defective construction claims, delay and disruption disputes, mold litigation and policyholder insurance suits involving construction failures. He has been active in the ABA Construction Industry Forum since 1993, serving as the Chair of the Forum's Contract Documents Division from 1997-98, as a member of the Governing Board from 1998-2001, and as Chair of the Technology Committee for the past two years. While serving as Chair of the Contract Documents Committee he published and co-edited the Forum's text on construction systems and building components: Sticks & Bricks: A Practical Guide to Construction Systems and Technology. As Group Leader of Maslon's Construction Law Group, he also developed a National Indemnity Project for general contractors. The only one of its kind in the country, the electronic product consists of indemnity agreements modeled upon a national template, and specifically modified to conform to the decisional and statutory laws of all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

Nationally recognized for their legal work on major construction projects and disputes, Maslon's construction lawyers have handled cases with claims totaling in excess of $2 billion, and have acted as lead counsel in dispute proceedings throughout the United States.

The Maslon Law Firm is a 77-attorney commercial law firm based in Minneapolis, with particular experience in the areas of business and securities matters, high-stakes litigation, and financial services law.