Within construction law, there is a growing subpractice where the Faegre Baker Daniels lawyers have perhaps a unique focus among American lawyers. It is in the area of automation and technology construction: the place where computers meet construction.

Our lawyers work in a realm that straddles the worlds of "sticks and bricks" construction and technology. A typical project involves "construction" in the traditional sense but also significant aspects of technology and computers. That is why Faegre Baker Daniels has been instrumental in developing a new legal discipline to fill that void – the "technology construction lawyer." This discipline combines aspects of construction and computer law into a single expertise comprehensive enough to handle the unique challenges that arise when technology collides with traditional construction. The "crossover" issues include the following:

Intellectual Property 

Technology contractors, end users and their lawyers should appreciate the importance of intellectual property issues when contracting to provide or receive certain technological and/or integration services.

Warranties

Contracts involving automation and technology can create problems on express and implied warranties that typically don't arise in traditional construction projects. A technology construction lawyer can help a technology contractor avoid creating the type of warranties that can later give rise to a significant claim. Similarly, a technology construction lawyer can advise an end user how to best ensure that it can receive and enforce the warranties that are most important to the project.

Specifications

Specifications also are an area of heightened concern for technology contractors and end users, especially since technology is ever-changing and specifications for a project accordingly shift even more than with traditional construction specs. Technology contractors and end users (and their lawyers) should pay special attention to these issues.

Faegre Baker Daniels currently serves as general counsel to the Philadelphia-based Control and Information System Integrators Association, or CSIA, a group of 200 engineering firms from around the world that are engaged in the automation of advanced manufacturing and process facilities.