Construction Law and Real Estate Investing with Josh Strub

Construction lawyer, Josh Strub, joins me on today’s episode for a discussion about construction law and so much more. A skilled lawyer with both private practice and in-house experience, Josh is currently a partner at Margie Strub Construction Law and an adjunct professor at Western University. His degrees in both law and civil engineering, along with his varied experience, render Josh an expert in the construction law field, and he shares a vast amount of his knowledge, wisdom, and advice during our conversation here today.

Josh begins by discussing why and when companies would need a construction lawyer, some often overlooked factors to consider when buying land for construction, and details about his firm, including some of its current challenges. He also delves into the unique value proposition his firm offers, what he does with his money, his real estate investment categories, and his advice for new or younger lawyers. Our conversation draws to a close with Josh sharing his indicators of success for his firm over the next 5 years.

Construction Law and Real Estate Investing with Josh Strub

Download the full transcript here

Highlights:

Everybody that’s entering into a construction project should make sure that they have appropriate legal, or at least contractual, advice at the outset before they sign on the dotted line.
Because they are a small and lean firm, Margie Strub is a lot more flexible than other firms and can make sure that they can keep clients’ interests as the absolute top goal in everything that they do.
Josh and his wife’s approach to their finances is to basically avoid discretionary spending wherever possible and save or invest all excess cash.
Josh’s advice to new or younger lawyers is to keep an open mind, take on risks and challenges and meet them head on, and, when they need help, to never be afraid to ask for it.
When aiming for success, take care of your clients first, your employees second, and then your own wellbeing.

Quotes:

“I know that this is a little bit self-beneficial, but I would say hire a construction lawyer as early as possible.”

“You never need a construction lawyer to do anything. It’s a question of risk.”

“And so together by combining those skill sets and levels of experience, plus our strong ability to work together as a team…I believe that we can offer our clients superior value to frankly anyone that I’m aware of in the space.”

“They should always lean on their network and continue to try and grow their network, which growth will help them again grow their knowledge experience, but also of course grow their network for future referral opportunities, which is, of course, important.”

“You will be successful if the clients are happy and the staff and the team is happy, so they’re definitely connected.”