Thomas Jefferson ArticlesRSS feed for this section

Harvard Class About Crusader Castles Reminds That Mechanics Lien Laws Are Unique

By on February 13, 2013

I took a trip to Cambridge, Massachusetts earlier this week to visit a student there – my mother.  She’s a masters student at Harvard’s Divinity School (and former Zlien executive) and she and her professor invited me to sit in on a lecture on Monday morning in a class about “Crusades, Plagues and Hospitals.”  The [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Happy July 4th! What America Has To Do With The Mechanics Lien

By on July 4, 2012

It’s the 4th of July, and that means sunshine (hopefully) across the nation as friends and families take a break from the middle of the year and celebrate something that binds us all together: our homeland. It’s also time for us to publish our standard July 4th post, which discusses the mechanics lien’s unique American [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

This July 4th, Celebrate A True American Invention: The Mechanic’s Lien

By on July 2, 2011

July 4th is a celebration of America’s independence from Britain, and a celebration of our country in general.  One of the special features of America relevant to our industry – the construction industry – is the invention of the mechanic’s lien instrument.  Now used in countries like England, Canada and Australia, the mechanic’s lien is [...]

Read full story • Comments { 1 }
Invention of Mechanic Lien: Thomas Jefferson

A Short History Of The Mechanic Lien

By on November 15, 2010

Since launching my first law blog in 2005, and this construction lien blog in 2007, I’ve talked a lot about mechanic lien laws.   I’ve never addressed where these laws originated, and why our United States has some of the most unique lien and security laws in the world. So I hit the books, reading cases [...]

Read full story • Comments { 35 }