The Oklahoma Bar Journal March 2025

form of lenders, sureties, architects, engineers, specialty trades and many others. Where negligence claims are at issue, insurers, agents, adjusters and experts are also often part of the process. As noted above, lawyers and their clients must also contend with multiple legal hurdles, which can increase stress. A common example occurs when a party is required by statute to perfect a claim, but work is not complete, and/or the contrac tual close-out process has not been finalized. 1 Indeed, the general con ditions to the parties’ contract may contemplate such circumstances and instruct the parties to proceed with perfecting any such claims while going through the contrac tual claims resolution process. 2 But even when handled as amicably as possible, recording a lien or perfecting a bond claim can, and often does, exacerbate the parties’ negative feelings and make resolution more difficult, even though it has little to do with the underlying dispute. In other words, a lien may upset a proj ect owner, or a bond claim may upset a general contractor, but the real issue is whether the money claimed in the lien or bond claim is owed. That does not change,

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL