Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Current Students

CASH PRIZE! Writing Competition –Construction – Contracts – Employment

Posted: October 7, 2020

CASH PRIZE! Writing Competition –Construction – Contracts – Employment

The Construction Law Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association invites all 2L’s and 3L’s to
showcase their writing skills and compete for two prizes, awarded to the best submission on this
year’s topic. The goal is to encourage students to explore the practice of construction law and its
connection to other practice areas.

First Place: $1,000
Second Place: $500

Submissions will be accepted beginning September 1, 2020, are due by October 31, 2020.
Winners will be announced on November 20, 2020 and will receive their prizes at the Construction
Law Section meeting on December 11, 2020, at 12:00 p.m., at the MSBA offices in downtown
Minneapolis. (Alternative arrangements will be made if meetings are still remote or a winner is
unable to attend the meeting.) The winning submission will also be considered for publication in
a future issue of Bench and Bar, the magazine of the MSBA. Good luck!

WRITING TOPIC:
For this year’s writing topic, please explore the implications of the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic on construction law in 1,000 words or less as follows:
The challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic are unprecedented, and the construction
industry in particular has been and will be impacted in ways that are immediately being felt, and
in ways that are as yet unknown, including in the following areas:

    • Employment: site safety and liability; workforce planning (including furloughs and
      layoffs)
    • Contracts: interpretation or enforcement of specific contract clauses (force majeure,
      liquidated damages, termination/suspension); types of industry players involved (material
      suppliers, contractors, owners)
    • Project funding and development: lending sources; types of projects being funded or
      defunded
    • Finance: overall industry financial health and legal impacts; bankruptcy; fraud; availability
      of stimulus resources
    • Insurance: coverage issues (business interruption coverage, exposure coverage); worksite
      exposure

For your submission, consider the impacts in one (1) of the above areas. Please research and cite
to at least 3 appropriate sources, including case law, statutes, construction industry publications
and form contracts, local ordinances, pending legislation, and other reputable sources. The best
submissions will identify a particular effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and examine its potential
implications for stakeholders in the construction industry.
Send submissions to Abby Ward, MSBA Section Manager, by email at: award@mnbars.org.