Shaaron Bangs earns her living by protecting the little guy in the construction industry ~ the subcontractors who lay the pipe, string the wires and frame the building.

Often, when it comes to getting paid, negotiating contracts or going to court it's the smaller contractors who suffer the worst, said Bangs, a partner in Crawford & Bangs, a legal firm specializing in construction law.

The firm's founder, Bill Crawford, was himself a heating and cooling subcontractor in the construction industry before getting a law degree and opening up a practice. At a time when new construction in Southern California is suffering and law firms that practice construction law are downsizing or going out of business "Crawford & Bangs has been steadily growing, taking on three new lawyers in the past two years.

"If you had asked me two years ago about how much our company has grown, I'd tell you quite a bit," Bangs said. "But the construction industry has teken a real hit, and I believe that we've done very well by maintaining any level of growth."

Crawford and Bangs is a litigation firm, but also helps subcontractors and general contractors negotiate contracts, bank loans and mitigate disputes before they end up in court.

Crawford & Bangs is active in drafting construction industry legislation designed to protect subcontractors.

Story Courtesy of San Gabriel Valley Tribune, photo by Nancy Newman-Bauer