{"id":899890,"date":"2022-04-28T14:09:57","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T20:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=899890"},"modified":"2022-04-28T14:10:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T20:10:02","slug":"mechanic-lien-and-thomas-jefferson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/mechanic-lien-and-thomas-jefferson\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction Law History Lesson No. 1: What Do Thomas Jefferson and Mechanics Liens Have in Common?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

David K. Taylor | Buildsmart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction law is NOT boring, at least that\u2019s what I tell my daughters. In these series of posts, I will explore some of the VERY interesting historical facts about construction law that can be used at your next motion hearing, family gathering, social event or fellow lawyer meeting.  While these anecdotes may not keep your kids or significant others from rolling their eyes, hopefully they can provide a small respite from your (yes, I admit) sometimes boring life in construction law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fact: if there is anything state court judges hate more than discovery disputes, it\u2019s dealing with mechanic\u2019s liens<\/a>. You see their judicial eyes roll up. How many times has an owner uttered sheer astonishment when their lawyer says that they may have to pay twice for materials or labor on a project?\u00a0 How is that even possible in the good old U.S. of A? No matter what side you are on, to spice up a brief or oral argument when lien statutes are at issue, make a note to \u201cget patriotic\u201d by mentioning one of our founding fathers: our third president, Thomas Jefferson. Why? Because TJ, as he is affectionally called, actually is the founding father of United States lien law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To encourage construction in the new capital city of Washington, the federal government, as well as the new state of Maryland, were trying to convince mechanics (back then that meant \u201claborers\u201d) to do work and provide \u201ccredit\u201d to get the new capital built. The history books show that TJ worked with the Maryland General Assembly to establish the United States\u2019s (and the world\u2019s) first set of unique construction lien laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, don\u2019t go too far out on a lien limb because TJ, despite his many attributes, did not conceive the basic idea of a lien. There were already lien-like privileges in some civil law countries such as France (which TJ loved) and Spain, and some historians trace their roots to the mighty Roman Empire (please do not buy a lien history book for your favorite construction lawyer\u2026if they even exist). Also, remember that despite the Louisiana purchase, since Louisiana had been controlled by both Spain and France, the French Napoleonic Code had been adopted.  With knowledge about some of these civil law concepts, what then occurred was the encouragement and colonial arm twisting of landowners (\u201cthou must be joking\u2026\u201d) to pass legislation to provide to builders and suppliers rights against the land itself, along with their basic breach of contract rights against the entity that hired them to do the work. Pretty much all states eventually followed Maryland\u2019s lead, and in Texas and California, mechanic\u2019s liens are a constitutional<\/em> right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result was the \u201cbuilders\u201d that built our great capital and our country know they have statutory legal rights even if the entity that hires them \u201ctakes the money and runs.\u201d While these days debtors prisons are out, when payments for work do not properly \u201cflow down,\u201d like ants at a picnic, there are many claims and little opportunity to recover spent money and materials.  These rights have become even more important in these modern days when many commercial (and residential) prime contractors do not self-perform and subcontract out 100% of the actual work. As the great philosopher Tom Cruise famously said, \u201cShow me the money!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, since liens are against common law, most case law and judges agree that lien laws have to be strictly interpreted: 100% compliance is generally the rule versus the exception. While many states have attempted to update and modernize lien laws, the next time you pull out your state\u2019s lien statutes, take a look at the legislative history of a few specific statutes and you will see references to the 1800s and case law from the early 1900s. It also goes without saying that lien laws differ in every state, so be very, very careful if you represent a client in a lien law issue in an unfamiliar state. Local counsel who knows the nuances and ins and outs of sometimes ambiguous lien laws is many times a must.      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what\u2019s the bottom line and why refer to Thomas Jefferson in your next brief, at the dinner table or in front of a state court judge who may just want to move on and handle a discovery versus lien law dispute? You can, first of all, liven things up. When have you been able to \u2014 no matter what side of the lien table you are on \u2014 stand up and talk about the founding of our country and the laws that began in the early 1800s by one of the most revered presidents in United States history? If you represent a lien claimant, how dare the owner try to get out of paying a laborer\/supplier? How\u00a0un<\/em>patriotic and ashamed TJ would be. If you represent the owner, you can cite the common law and state that even TJ, also a renowned lawyer and landowner, made sure that the \u201ct\u2019s\u201d and \u201ci\u2019s\u201d of this purely unique statutory scheme must be enforced and followed. Either way, sometimes even judges need some entertainment in the middle of a long, tedious, and sometimes boring motion docket, and fathers need to know that sometimes their kids do not think that they are the most boring lawyers in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes – please call Advise & Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David K. Taylor | Buildsmart Construction law is NOT boring, at least that\u2019s what I tell my daughters. In these series of posts, I will explore some of the VERY interesting historical facts about construction law that can be used at your next motion hearing, family gathering, social event or fellow lawyer meeting.  While these… Continue reading Construction Law History Lesson No. 1: What Do Thomas Jefferson and Mechanics Liens Have in Common?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10772],"tags":[9895,184],"class_list":["post-899890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mechanics-lien-law","tag-advise-consult","tag-mechanics-lien-law","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nConstruction Law History Lesson No. 1: What Do Thomas Jefferson and Mechanics Liens Have in Common? 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