Illinois Construction Law Blog : Illinois Construction Lawyer & Attorney : Foran Glennon Palandech & Ponzi Law Firm : Chicago IL

We first wrote on the travails and accomplishments of Mr. Schultz back in 2008. The case involves the Illinois Drainage Code and will be important to any land owner, particularly farmers.

The case was granted leave to appeal and has now been argued in front of the Illinois Supreme Court.

As in the previous court, Mr. Schultz argued the case himself. Video of the argument can be found here. 

If you listen to the argument, you'll see that the attorneys for the Halpin's are arguing that the appellate court essentially re-tried the case at the appellate level and that the appellate decision was against the manifest weight of the evidence and that the appellate court abused its discretion.

This will be an important decision for developers and those who represent them.  We may end up seeing confirmation of the appellate court's constitutional concern:

"The law does not favor the expropriation of private property for the public good without just compensation.  Even less attractive is the expropriation of private property for the private benefit of an adjoining property owner."

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With the economy in tatters and so many people losing their jobs and looking for work it’s refreshing to hear about people taking charge of their destiny and succeeding. NPR ran a story on Morning Edition this morning about John Morefield (find it here). Morefield is a Seattle Architect who has been the topic of other blogs recently. (The picture at the left is from the Kelsey Keith article at Flavorwire.)

After being laid off from two separate jobs in one year as projects for the firms he worked for went away, Morefield took to offering advice with a booth at a local farmer’s market with a sign that read “Architecture 5¢”. The task wasn’t a gimmick, it was an honest way to try an develop a business and clientele in a market that has turned sour… and its working.

Morefield’s website “architecture5cents.com” is taking off and the booth has generated numerous contacts and business as homeowners walk by and drop a nickel in his can for some free advice about their building and architecture concerns.

The target audience is the individual homeowner, but good advice and a good idea can lead to a host of possibilities. It’s even been adopted to a certain fashion by lawyers in both print and … blogs.

While we’re generally prohibited from offering specific advice to people by ethical rules and codes of conduct, legal blogs and information sources offer a host of targeted answers and commentary on topics that are relevant to everyone… especially in the construction industry.

Even more poignant is the ability to help out in a tough economy. Every nickel from Morefield’s virtual website is donated to the Ballard Food Bank.

With so much talk about a stimulus package and infrastructure dollars headed our way, its easy to lose sight of the traditional word-of-mouth methods for marketing and face-to-face discussions that can help build a business. But there is no substitute for human interaction.  

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Above the Law is the host of this week’s Blawg Review. In true ATL form, nothing is sacred.

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We'd like to welcome the attorneys at Cole Schotz to the Construction Law Blogosphere. 

The attorneys of their construction practice group have launched the Real Estate and Construction Law Monitor.

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The good people over at Construction Lien Blog, have a posting that let us know about a social networking website called Construction Exchange.

The website is populated with a bevy of information and individuals who participate in a host of informational exchanges from Q&A style discussions, to information about projects and bidding.

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            We're constantly in wonderment over the different building initiatives and collaborations that can occur when good people get together for something important and worthwhile.  This recent article at Quad-Cities Online reports on one of those projects in the making.

            Apparently, the fine developers at Artspace are again eyeing Illinois for a project, this time in Rock Island.  As part of the growing trend across Illinois' different towns to revitalize downtown areas as a place for community and commerce to interact, Rock Island's own District project is well on its way.

These initiatives are bringing construction work to many areas, and as public interest projects and artistically centered and planned locations, are allowing architects to have some free reign in progressive and green design.  We think an Artspace project in Rock Island would make a fine addition to their downtown, which already merits a visit in its own right and includes some delectable treats like The Blue Cat Brew Pub, and Lagomarcino's vintage confectionary just across the Mississippi river.  And, we'd be remiss to not mention that the area is home to a true Illinoisconstructionblog "must-see", Saarinen's John Deere Corporate Headquarters.

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