Dyanna L. Street

 

Dyanna L. Street Featured as a Leader of the MSBA Construction Law Section

Minnesota Lawyer



Making inroads

Nearly a quarter of the MSBA Construction Law Section - and both section leaders - are women

By Barbara L. Jones


It's a sign of the times in both the construction industry and the legal profession when the two major officers of the state bar association's Construction Law Section are women.

For the second year in a row, Minneapolis attorney Deborah J. Mackay is the president of the section and Minneapolis attorney Dyanna L. Street is the treasurer.

Construction law isn't a man's world, both lawyers said. Although a woman is definitely in the minority at a table full of builders and their lawyers, women are becoming more and more prevalent in construction law practices, section meetings and in the industry in general. Of the Construction Law Section's 350 members, 81 lawyers, or about 23 percent, are women.

The increasing number of women contractors means it's important that there are more and more women lawyers, Mackay told Minnesota Lawyer. The Minneapolis firm of Faegre & Benson, where Mackay works, now has five women lawyers in its construction section out of a total of 16 attorneys. "There are more senior women now who are doing construction law," she said.

Street, who is one of two women in the 15-member construction group at the Minneapolis firm of Fabyanske, Westra, Hart & Thomson, agreed. "We see more and more women in positions of power in these companies," she explained. "Sometimes I have been sought out by women who feel more comfortable working with a woman lawyer or want to support women. It's an easier network to build now."

Any lawyer has to win the trust of the client and perhaps it takes a little bit longer for women construction lawyers with male clients, said Mackay. "Maybe there's a little more resistance, but it has always worked out."

Building a niche

Both Mackay and Street found that a construction law practice encompasses a variety of contract and tort issues, allowing them to build multiple skills.

"Construction law is a broad commercial practice that involves disputes between parties to construction projects: owners, contractors, sub-contractors and design professionals," observed Mackay, adding that the practice also involves workers' compensation and liability claims.

Both lawyers came to construction law because they wanted to litigate. The British-born McKay came to Minnesota in 1989 after being educated at the University of Cambridge in England. She graduated from Hamline University School of Law in 1995 and started working at Faegre. She became a partner in the construction group in 2003.

Street, a 1994 graduate of William Mitchell College of Law, also wanted a litigation practice. She wanted to concentrate on and become an expert in a smaller field, and construction law stood out as a way to make that happen in a boutique-sized firm. She has been with the Fabyanske firm since 2001.

Insurance is the cornerstone

Mackay says that her practice focuses on the disputes that arise from the complicated relationships and unique duties created by construction contracts.

Resolving construction disputes almost always involves the question of insurance coverage and bonding liability, both lawyers said.

Street said she spends a lot of her time on questions of insurance coverage for claims of defective construction against contractors and subcontractors, especially on questions of coverage.

McKay noted that the insurance market has become expensive since the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and many companies have narrowed the scope of their coverage.

"There are lots of complex coverage issues because not every type of defective work is covered. You have to look at the facts of each case and the policy language," said Mackay.

Both women said that the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) Construction Law Section, formed in 1990, does a lot of good. Last year, the section donated $10,000 to Habitat for Humanity when one of the houses under construction burned down.

At the monthly meetings the section members discuss important construction issues and sometimes take a field trip, as they did to view the light rail construction project.

The leadership commended section members for their active participation in the monthly meetings and other section business. It has many active new lawyers who find the section a good way to learn the law, as did MacKay when she first joined.

Street noted that since the construction law bar is relatively small, lawyers tend to encounter each other repeatedly at section meetings as well as in their cases. "We try to set aside our clients when we walk into the door for the meetings," she said with a laugh.

Mackay also noted that being a construction lawyer has taught her an important lesson about home improvement projects.

"I always hire a professional," she quipped.

Reprinted with the permission of Minnesota Lawyer - Dave Seawell

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Founded in Saint Paul in 1981, Fabyanske, Westra, Hart & Thomson, P.A. has offices in downtown Minneapolis. With over 35 attorneys, the firm serves clients in the finance, real estate and construction industries, and in the areas of commercial litigation, financial restructuring, bankruptcy, tax and business planning.