Focus on the role of lawyers in the construction industry

In today’s world, the image of in-house lawyers as problem generators, distant from the business and only appearing when disputes are in the terminal stages or already in court, is a thing of the past.

This is even more evident in the construction and infrastructure sector, where it is increasingly necessary for legal teams to be close to projects, understand the business and be visible and accessible to technicians on site.

For this reason, the in-house lawyer’s role has had to adapt and begin to cover the entire life of the projects, participating in the pre-contractual phases through prior negotiations, reviewing the specifications and intervening in the signing of the contracts. During the execution of the work, they should provide permanent support in the development, acting preventively in resolving conflicts and closing the project and claims.

All of this has also led to an evolution in the profile of lawyers, leaving the offices and visiting the construction sites, studying and understanding the technical aspects to bring everyday problems closer to the law, trying to break down language barriers and starting to think in a multidisciplinary way to achieve the final objective.

Does this mean that the in-house lawyer must become a multitasking machine and move entirely away from how the profession has been practised until now? No. Businesses still need traditional legal services, boards of directors make business decisions requiring lawyers’ intervention, companies still engage in M&A, commercial traffic is still conducted through contracts, and companies still have conflicts with their stakeholders.

It is the right balance between both worlds that companies need today. In-house lawyers, especially in the construction sector, must know how to blend these characteristics and advice, sometimes with a hard hat on their head and sometimes with a book in their hand. Even when the hard hat and the book do not seem very compatible, a modern in-house lawyer must know on each occasion what type of advice to apply depending on the needs of the problem in question.

All these are the challenges that the current role of lawyers represents, forcing us to broaden our areas of knowledge, train permanently in new subjects and be attentive to the changes in the industry because our way of working must adapt to these changes. The success of a modern legal department that goes hand in hand with the business depends on this.