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Scott Wolfe is Louisiana Contributor for ABA 50-State Construction Law Update

Each year, the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Construction Industry conducts an annual meeting, and the Construction Law Update is distributed to its members. The document is a compilation of cases and legislation from the past year affecting the construction industry, broken down state-by-state.

Matt DeVries of the Best Practices Construction Law Blog is one of the editors for the document, and he posted about the release of the 2009 Construction Law Update on his blog here. If you’d like to get your paws on a copy of the publication, you can email him.

A big thanks to Matt for contacting me to contribute the Louisiana update for the publication.

What’s new in Louisiana? Check out the PDF of the Louisiana portion of the Construction Law Update here.

Collections Toolkit for Louisiana Contractors – View At JDSupra

In 2008, in response to a surge of questions I received from builders and suppliers about collection letters, liens and open accounts, I published the “Contractor’s Collections Toolkit” through Lulu.com. Until today, it was for sale for $139.

I’m happy to report that the Toolkit’s availability has really opened up. How open? Well, you can view or download the book for free at the Legal Content site, JDSupra. Go ahead and peruse the book over there for free by clicking here.

If you’re itching to get a hard-copy of the publication, it’s still available at Lulu.com. The cost for the hard-copy has dropped to just $15.00. If you come by the New Orleans office on Prytania Street, I can provide you a copy for free.

What’s in the collections toolkit? The formal book summary is as follows:

A manual for use by contractors of all sizes to learn about the collections process and help them develop good collection practices. The toolkit includes: (a) a summary of collection laws; (b) common collection mistakes and pitfalls; (c) common construction contract provisions to avoid overdue accounts; (d) collection letter templates; (e) when its time to hire an attorney; and (f) guide to litigating a collection action. The toolkit focuses on Louisiana laws and forms.

Not only does the book provide raw explanations of laws applicable to contractors in collecting amounts due, it also provides you with useful forms including a generic collection letter, a demand for payment on NSF Checks and a mechanics lien.