Meet the Editor: Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction

The Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction serves as the technical reference and resource for construction lawyers engaged in public and private practice, as well as for design engineers, construction engineers, and executives responsible for successful project administration. Founding editor Amarjit Singh, Ph.D., P.Eng, C.Eng, F.ASCE shared his unique perspective on legal issues and dispute resolution and how it affects civil engineers. Singh is a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

ASCE Publications: What differentiates this journal from others?

Amarjit Singh: This journal distinguishes itself from other law journals on the same subject in that it focuses on engineering and construction, where some of the most expensive disputes occur. It is different from other ASCE journals in that it focuses exclusively on legal issues and the conflicts that arise particularly in construction engineering. Articles are accepted from both an engineer's perspective and lawyer's perspective.

ASCE Publications: What are the big issues facing construction from a legal or dispute perspective?

Amarjit Singh: The same old thing: contradictory specifications and drawings, inability to spell out every detail, and parties, ready at the drop of a hat, to protect their interests in court. The biggest issue is that disputes cannot be prevented. But perhaps they can be mitigated.

ASCE Publications: What changes in your field have you seen during your tenure as editor? 

Amarjit Singh: While disputes are among the oldest of phenomena in human history -- with humankind being characterized by conflicts and disputes, big and small -- engineers are becoming more aware of the issues causing workplace disputes. As such, they are seeing the importance of minimizing or eliminating these disputes, employing good sense on both sides. We are seeing a greater interest in legal issues in general, interpreting contract clauses, and in particular, applying alternate dispute resolution techniques. There is also an increased interest in calculating claims using lost labor productivity calculations, and in strictly interpreting contract documents. This bodes well for the industry as we seek to take the entire industry to a higher level altogether.

ASCE Publications: What are the biggest challenges facing researchers today/in the coming years?

Amarjit Singh: A major challenge is an insufficient amount of time being devoted in the undergraduate curriculum to developing skills and knowledge that students will really use in their lifetime and career. Hence, the biggest challenge is overcoming turf battles at universities, which mold the minds of students and future researchers. Teaching practical knowledge that will really help practitioners in the built environment is somewhat lagging. And, funding in the area of dispute prevention is also far too little, even though it is one of the larger expenses on many projects.

ASCE Publications: What drew you to Civil Engineering?

Amarjit Singh: Civil engineering is the "king" of all engineering. Believe it or not! Civil engineering and construction contribute more to the GDP than any other type of engineering. When you look at E&C projects, it is apparent that electrical, mechanical, and other engineers serve as subcontractors to the civil engineers, resulting in civil engineering occupying a premier position. What-with visibly tall buildings, large airports, ports and harbors, elaborate highway and road networks, and bridges and tunnels, civil engineering is the defining face of the earth anywhere you go. Many of the wonders of the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds were/are civil engineering projects. Their foundations, rooftops, building envelope, and intricate structures are testimony to civilization, pomp, and glory past and present.

ASCE Publications: What drew you to being an editor?

Amarjit Singh: I recognized the lacunae in civil engineering journal offerings when there was no journal on legal affairs and dispute resolution -- when legal issues and disputes were the big white elephant in the room that no one wanted to acknowledge. Having seen, up front, so many legal battles, disputes, and conflicts during my years in the construction industry, and witnessing the severe impact these have on clients, contractors, and stakeholders, I wanted a forum for the discussion and dissemination of these issues with an aim at mitigating them.

ASCE Publications: What key features do you look for in an article submitted to your journal?

Amarjit Singh: Articles should address a specific issue or problem, have an adequate methodology, and sensibly analyze and discuss results. The article should show how it meets its objectives and how it has practical implications. In the end, if the writers give us a good story, we will be interested in it. Whether authors are writing a scholarly paper, a feature, a case study, or forum piece, or any other article type, we want to capture readers' attention. To embellish their statements and widen the readers' perspectives, we encourage endnotes, which are unique to our journal out of all ASCE journals. This is mainly because we focus on topics of law, and law articles in journals use endnotes more often than not.

ASCE Publications: What are your aspirations for the future of the journal?

Amarjit Singh: I hope to see the journal grow from year to year. Our aim is to make this journal the journal of choice for E&C disputes, both for readers and writers. With the number of disputes in the E&C industry, the journal can bring necessary information and lessons to avoid and mitigate disputes.

We hope to add a growing number of manuscripts each year by working with institutes and through annual workshops.

ASCE Publications: Any advice for new researchers starting out?

Amarjit Singh: The main advice is to get in there and read articles and case law on E&C projects. One learns a lot about construction administration by studying case law and contract law. In fact, the cutting edge of contract administration is in the appropriate adherence to law and sincerity to contracts. Subsequently, young researchers can pull out their pens and write articles for our journal. Much of journal writing in the legal affairs and dispute resolution field comes from thorough review of case law of which there is no scarcity.

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