At the 2001 Annual Meeting of the American College of Construction Lawyers, after outgoing President Bob Rubin introduced incoming President Jim Groton with a gracious introduction, Jim replied:

"Bob, that was a much nicer introduction than the one you gave me a few years ago at one of Bob Peckar's dispute resolution conferences in New York. You were the master of ceremonies, and you introduced me before my talk as ‘the Billy Graham of dispute resolution,' which pleased me very much. Unfortunately, after I finished my presentation you got up and said: ‘After hearing Jim's spellbinding speech, I have to amend my previous remarks about Jim: I have decided that he is the Elmer Gantry of dispute resolution.'

"I have to confess that, knowing what a charlatan Elmer Gantry was, I was a bit miffed at Bob's closing remark; but then l rationalized it by thinking: ‘How can I expect a Jewish boy from Brooklyn to understand the relative merits and demerits of a couple of Southern Evangelists?'"

(Printed in History of the American College of Construction Lawyers (2002), page 164)

In a playful tongue-in-cheek address in Biblical language to the American Bar Association's Forum on the Construction Industry titled "Two-Minute History of Construction Law (King James Version)" Professor Tom Stipanowich, a prominent construction industry and dispute resolution scholar, undertook to describe how construction law has developed during the past generation, with humorous references to some of the principal lawyers involved in that history. The following excerpt from his talk refers to Jim Groton's role in the development of construction dispute resolution (parenthetical explanations were added by the authors of Bruner and O'Connor on Construction Law, where the address was reprinted).

IN THE BEGINNING there was Overton [Currie of Atlanta]. And there was Max [Greenberg of New York], and Gil [Cuneo of Washington D.C.], and B.C. [Hart] and Phil [Bruner of Minneapolis], and Milt [Lunch of Washington, D.C.], and Bob and Ken [Cushman of Philadelphia] of the House of Cushman, and others too numerous to be mentioned, hereafter collectively known as the MIGHTY MEN of OLD. And the Law pertaining to the Built Environment was without form, and the faces of they that labor were devoid of understanding.

And the MEN of OLD...gave names to all the creations, the Causes of Action, and the Theories of Damages for every party that moveth on and under the land:

for Delays of Seasons, of Days, and of Years;

for the Differing Conditions of the Field;

for Default and for Convenience;

Eichleay and Modified Eichleay;

in Total Cost and in Quantum Meruit.

And Overton saw that it was good. Especially Quantum Meruit.

And their Scribe was Justin [Sweet of the University of California-Berkeley], and all who knew him were filled with wonder at his understanding.

Now one of their number, James, son of Groton, was then dwelling in the Land of Suther[land, Asbill and Brennan of Atlanta]. And he heard a voice saying, "Go, ye therefore among the Builders and the Others and learn of their Ways." And he saw before him a figure bearing a burning DART [Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Task force of the American Arbitration Association] and a voice, which sounded suspiciously like Cecil B. DeMille proclaiming, Hear now the Commandments of the New Order:

1. Thou shall value Interdependence over Independence.

2. Thou shall be Proactive and Preventative in all thy Work.

3. Thou shall strive for Win-Win Solutions, and for Alternatives which best achieve these Ends.

4. Thou shall listen to the counsel of your Client, and remember that there are other Values besides Legal Ones.

5. Thou shall treat Change as an Ally, and not be fearful of him or her.

And James took these Commandments down to his Brethren, and said, "Ye who worship the golden gavel, take heed. A New Day is at Hand."

(Originally printed in Construction Law Magazine, August 1994):