The Construction Section of the Washington State Bar Association, in partnership with Stoel Rives, will present its annual full day seminar (via webinar) on June 12.  Co-chaired by Bart Reed (Partner at Stoel Rives), Brett Hill (Partner at Ahlers, Cressman & Sleight), and Ron English (Retired General Counsel of the Seattle Public Schools), the webinar will concentrate on various alternative procurement approaches, including public-private partnerships, design-build issues, and developments in general contractor/construction manager (GC/CM) contracting.  Karl Oles, a Partner in Stoel Rives’ Construction and Design Group, will provide highlights from the “Bertha” design-build tunnel project and the related litigation.

In recognition of the tremendous impact wrought by COVID-19, the webinar will include a presentation on how the coronavirus has impacted and will continue to impact the construction industry.  The popular Judicial Panel, consisting of the Honorable Beth Andrus (Court of Appeals, Division I, Seattle), the Honorable Jim Rogers (Presiding Judge, King County Superior Court, Seattle), and the Honorable Catherine Shaffer (King County Superior Court, Seattle), will share perspectives on how the pandemic has changed trial and appellate practice and how the courts and law practice will continue to evolve to address and manage the impacts.

Adhering to tradition from past years, the webinar will include an update on recent appellate cases of interest to construction law practitioners and a survey of the 2020 Washington legislative session.  Rounding out the program will be Chris Soelling’s entertaining and informative “ethics hour,” with musings on how COVID-19 has impacted mediation and settlement discussions.

At the conclusion of the webinar, attendees will be invited to participate in a BYOB social hour, which could very well devolve into a crash course in remote video conferencing etiquette.

To register for this year’s WSBA Construction Section CLE webinar, please follow this link.