While in California, we pride ourselves on the rigidity of our cities' building codes and the sophistication of our construction techniques, we are also the primary market for mass produced housing built with an eye to the profit line. Earthquakes in San Francisco and Northridge left people homeless. Could California's post­earthquake destruction have been prevented? Can it be prevented before the next major earthquake hits here?

Even our freeways are not immune to dangerous construction shortcuts. Just last week, Cal Trans revealed the existence of faulty welds underpinning the Orange Crush interchange, executed by inexperienced subcontractors. Multiply that one problem by the potential for thousands of construction defects hidden within homes and condominiums that have mushroomed within the past two decades, and you could have a recipe for disaster.

Thomas E Miller literally wrote the book on the subject of Construction Defect Law. The first textbook, California Construction Defect Litigation and Land Subsidence Litigation, was written by Miller in 1986. Tom and his daughter Rachel Miller are co­-authors of the legal textbook, Construction Defect Law for the Western States. (The book addresses construction defect law in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Oregon and Washington.)

A pioneer in the field, Tom represented the developer in the Landmark 1981 case that was the first to apply the strict liability standard to homebuilding in California. Over the past 19 years, he has recovered over $300 million for his association clients. Miller also served as legal counsel for 100s of homeowners and homeowner associations after the devastating Northridge earthquake in 1994. Rachel and Tom are both founding members of the California Association of Community Managers, and were appointed to Senator William Lockyer's Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future of the California Home Building Industry.