Event Description
Deadline to Register: June 19, 2018
Join us for the
Annual Construction Law Symposium. Prior to the CLE, the Section will be
hosting a breakfast where you can mingle with colleagues. After the breakfast,
the Section will conduct a brief Annual meeting which will conclude with the Officer and Council
Elections.
8:00-8:45 Check-in & Breakfast.
Join your colleagues for a hearty breakfast and networking prior to the event.
8:45-9:00 Construction Law Annual
Meeting and Elections
9:00-10:00 Successful Indian Country
Construction- Negotiating Effective Tribal Contracts and Navigating
Disputes | Sara Van
Norman
Even otherwise-experienced construction attorneys
need to build up their knowledge and skills to advise contractor clients on
tribal deals. This means developing not just legal know-how, but cultural
competency. This presentation will cover fundamental Indian law
principles; tribal construction contracts; pros and cons of various dispute
resolution options; and examples of what not to do.
Sara represents
tribes and their business partners throughout the country, focusing on
construction; tribal finance; environmental, utility, and right-of-way issues; treaty
rights; and tribal governance. She has handled diverse matters, from
complex, reservation boundary litigation, to multi-year disputes over oil and
gas pipelines, to numerous, large tribal construction projects. Sara started
out her legal career as a paralegal at Faegre & Benson, where she also
edited Pat O'Connor and Phil Bruner's magnum opus, Bruner & O'Connor on
Construction Law. After that, she attended the U of M Law School, graduating cum
laude in 2004, and returned to Faegre for several years as a construction
associate. Sara then spent a decade practicing at Jacobson, Magnuson, Anderson
& Halloran, a boutique Indian law firm in St. Paul. Last year, she moved
over to the Davis Law Office in Minneapolis, where she runs her own tribal
practice
group.
10:00-10:10 Break
10:10-11:10 21st Century
Transportation- Transforming the Future of Mobility thru Connected and Automated
Vehicles
| Kristin White & Janelle Borgen
Minnesota has entered the foray into connected and
automated mobility technologies with the Governor’s Executive Order on connected
and automated vehicles (CAV). Minnesotans now face the monumental task of
understanding this technology’s implications for government, communities
experiencing transportation barriers, transportation, the automotive industry,
business, labor, technology, advocacy groups, and educational institutions. This
presentation will discuss the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s new CAV-X
office efforts to engage public and private partners and stakeholders to advance
recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature, and to discuss the safe
innovation and testing and deployment of connected and automated vehicles in
Minnesota to ensure greater access and benefits for all. Kristin White is
the Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV) Innovation Director in the Minnesota
Department of Transportation’s new CAV-X Office, where she oversees policy, strategic planning, research, and deployment
of these technologies. Kristin formerly served as Associate Legal
Counsel for MnDOT, managing the agency’s environmental, construction, and other legal
matters, and as Assistant Director for the Office of
Environmental Stewardship. Previous to MnDOT Kristin worked
for the U.S. State Department in Japan and,
after earning her law degree from Hamline University, she
worked in patent law and for the City of Minneapolis. Kristin
currently serves on the Minnesota State Bar Association Environmental, Natural Resources,
and Energy section council and is a board member of the Minnesota Humanities
Center. Janelle Borgen is an ITS Manager with over 20X years
of experience. Currently with WSB and Associates, Inc., Janelle is
responsible for WSB’s ITS and CAV activities. Janelle obtained a
Bachelor of Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota, Institute
of Technology. In addition to her engineering degree, Janelle studied
Human Factors in the Human Factors Research lab while attending
Graduate school and formerly worked for the Swedish Department of
Transportation in Traffic Safety. At the time, the Swedes had
just announced their Vision Zero Program in Traffic Safety, the first program
of this kind in the world. She served as the technical lead for
MnDOT’s Autonomous Bus Pilot project and is currently serving as
a subject Matter Expert in traffic operations for MnDOT’s Statewide CAV Strategic Plan
project.
11:10-12:10 Cyber Security in
Construction – Keeping Others Out of Your Pocket | Heidi Fessler & Julie
Velasquez
This seminar will focus on how you can protect your
company, and the disbursement of funds, from the efforts of hackers and Cyber
criminals. We will discuss some of the ways used by hackers to enter into
your system as well as ways you can protect yourself from falling prey to the
attacks. In addition, we will share some best practices that you can
implement right away to strengthen your defense.
Heidi Fessler is counsel in Barnes & Thornburg’s
Minneapolis office where she concentrates her practice on data related issues
including data security and data breach incident response, internal
investigations, risk management, litigation readiness planning, information
governance policies and strategies. She also assists clients with program
training and implementation and information management technology
selection.
Julie Velasquez is counsel with the National Commercial Services
division of First American Title, where she works with underwriters across the
country to assess, manage, and mitigate construction-related risks covered under
title insurance policies, as well as managing selected operations for
construction disbursing. She also brings many years of risk management
experience previously functioning a director of one of Thrivent Financial’s
commercial loan portfolios, specializing in church loans, responsible for the
underwriting, closing, and operations of that
portfolio.
Speakers:
Kristin
White |
Associate Legal Counsel | Minnesota Department of Transportation
Sara Van
Norman | Parnter | Davis Law Office
Heidi
Fessler | Of Counsel | Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Julie
Velasquez | Counsel, Vice President and
Manager, Construction Risk Mitigation and Funds Control | First American
Title
CLE Credits:
3.0 Standard CLE Credits approved | Event Code: 258935
Cost:
Construction Law Section Members: $40.00
Non-Section
Members: $50.00
Law Students: Free
Remote Participation:
Remote participation is available.
Want more
information about the Construction
Law Section ?
To register with a check, please mail in this
registration form.
Need to cancel? Please see our cancellation policy.
Questions? Contact Kara
Haro| 612-278-6329
If you need reasonable accommodations to participate in this
event please notify Kara Haro at 612-278-6329 or kharo@mnbar.org. Please provide
notification at least 72 hours prior to the meeting to allow sufficient time to
make arrangements for accommodations at this event.