Business Law for Engineers

PREFACE WHEN a teacher of railroad engineering writes a book on law,some justification ought to be expected from him. The author was admitted to the Bar of New Mexico, and practised law there, serving as local attorney for the A. T. S. F. R. R. and as City Attorney of Socorro. He was later admitted to practice in Massachusetts. He also spent several years as a civil engineer in water works, sewerage, and railroad construction. The purpose of this book is not to make every man his own lawyer, but rather to give the engineer a sufficient understanding of important fundamental features of law, so thathemayhavesome idea ofwhen or how to act himself and when to seek expert advice, as well as to enlarge his horizon and perhaps encourage him to further study of law. Many en- gineers will find that there is some chapter which covers ground concerning which they are better informed than the author or than most practising lawyers. They will, nevertheless, probably find other chapters with which they are less familiar, and which may prove interesting. This book can treat any of the subjects of Part I only briefly, and it is hoped that it may be judged by the good it contains rather than criticized for omissions. The entire ground of law cannot be covered in the space available. The preparation has extended over several years, partly in trying to avoid the plight of the business man who once apologized for a long letter he had not time to write a short one. Some variation in the style will be noted in passing from Part I to Part II. In the latter, the words Contractor, Engineer, Owner, Company, City, and Board are capitalized, as these parties seem to be more clearly distinguished by this means. The important documents which constitute the subjects treated in Part II, as Advertisement, Proposal, Contract, Bond, Specifications, and Information for Bidders, are also capitalized for a similar reason. The system of paging is unusual, and was adopted to give flexibility in revision.