Construction Industry Contracts: Legal Citator and Case DigestReview by: James F. NaglePublic Contract Law Journal, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Summer 1990), pp. 711-713Published by: American Bar AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25755613 .

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Book Review

Reviewed by James R Nagle*

Construction Industry Contracts:

Legal Citator and Case Digest

Published by Wiley Law Publications

Wiley Law Publications developed this book after attorneys and

other construction industry professionals identified and stressed

the need for an up-to-date construction contract citator that

would be supplemented periodically. The AIA Building Construc tion Legal Citator, first published in 1971 and revised in 1982, has not been supplemented since 1984. Wiley Law Publications

sought to fill the void with a current, ongoing construction contract citator and digest designed for use by attorneys, engi neers, architects, and construction firms.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to review a citator in the conventional sense. Consequently, much of this review merely describes the book's contents and summarizes how to use it rather

than critique its strengths and weaknesses. By doing so, I hope to

give the readers enough information to determine whether such a book would aid their practice.

The format of the book stems from the AIA Building Construc

tion Legal Citator. The construction contract cases have been

culled from numerous sources including WESTLAW searches, the Construction and Design Law Digest 1986, the A/E Legal Newsletter, and the AIA Building Construction Legal Citator, volumes 1 and 2. The editorial staff of lawyers at Wiley Law Publications reviewed and selected cases from every source.

*James F. Nagle is a Lieutenant Colonol in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. He is also chair of the Public Contract Law Committee, General Practice Section, American Bar Association. Mr.

Nagle received his S.J.D. and

LL.M. from the National Law Center, George Washington University; his J.D. from Rutgers University; and his B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University.

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Public Contract Law Journal

This book consists of two major parts?the Case Digests and

the Legal Citator. The Case Digests are drawn from decisions that

discuss and interpret construction contracts and include primarily American Institute of Architects (AIA) contracts. In addition,

Engineers' Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC) and Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) contracts are

reviewed in a few case digests. Also included are other private construction contract cases, plus a number of state and municipal contract cases. The book does not include cases in which the

federal government was one of the contracting parties (i.e., cases

in which the Federal Acquisition Regulations mandated the clauses and forms) but does include decisions from federal courts

on construction issues in which the jurisdiction stems from

diversity of citizenship or other matters. Despite this absence of

FAR cases, the book should be useful to attorneys practicing

public contract law at the state and local levels and can provide a

rich source of material for federal practitioners when the FAR

and its interpretative cases are silent or mixed.

The Case Digests portion is arranged under alphabetical

topical headings highlighting various aspects of construction contract law, such as acceptance, delays, final payment, and liqui dated damages. The cases can be accessed through the Detailed

Contents and Index or the Citator at the back of the book. The case digests for each topic are listed in alphabetical order by

jurisdiction, with the most recent first. Federal cases are listed

first, in reverse chronological order, followed by state decisions in

alphabetical order, in reverse chronological order within each state. Each case digest gives the full case citation.

The Legal Citator provides the user with a great deal of easily accessible information in one location and is set up by specific con

tracts and contract groupings from the AIA, AGC, EJCDC, or con

tracts very similar to these documents. Therefore, the Legal Citator

is first divided into groupings of AIA, AGC, and EJCDC cases. Be cause comparatively few cases involve AGC and EJCDC documents,

they are separated by specific document only. The AIA documents

receive the most attention and the cases are classified into groups of AIA documents, with AIA A201 listed as a separate category. Each

group of documents includes alphabetical headings often similar to those found in the 1987 edition of the AIA documents. For example,

A201, General Conditions, includes subheadings such as arbitration,

changes, and insurance and bonds.

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Many opinions specifically identify a document (for example, a

particular AIA form) around which a dispute revolved. Some

opinions do not mention a specific document but quote language from the contract used by the parties. Thus, the editors were able to identify the document or portion of the document used. The contract edition year and paragraph numbers that match the

quoted language but are not given specifically in the opinion have been added in brackets. In opinions that quote contract language, the editors determined that the contract used by the parties was

similar to an AIA contract. In addition, a small number of

opinions stated that the parties started with a specific AIA contract and modified it.

Given the way the opinions are written and after discussions with attorneys practicing in construction law, Wiley's staff decided

the Citator could best help the reader if it listed cases under the

following categories: (1) those involving AIA contract language or documents, (2) those involving provisions similar to AIA docu

ments, and (3) those involving modified AIA contract language. Thus, the Citator is organized as follows: 1. The Citator is divided into AIA, AGC, and EJCDC documents. 2. Within the AIA documents, a second level of division groups

cases into specific categories, e.g., acceptance, changes. 3. The AIA documents are further divided into the cases that

a. specifically involve AIA contract language or documents, b. involve provisions similar to an AIA document, and c. involve modified AIA contract language.

4. The cases under the subject headings are arranged alphabeti cally by jurisdiction, with the most recent case first. Federal cases

are listed first, in reverse chronological order, followed by state

decisions in alphabetical order, in reverse chronological order within each state.

Both the case name and the cite are included in the Legal Citator. This allows the user to go directly to a particular case in an official reporter without first locating the digest of that case. The boldface number following the case name and cite is the page number on which the digest of that case appears.

Obviously a great deal of tedious and comprehensive work went

into compiling this volume. If that work continues with periodic and

timely updates as are planned, this can be an invaluable research tool to those who need immediate access to cases from all jurisdictions that

have interpreted specific commonly used language.

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