Lawyer for design professionals

I am looking for a lawyer to provide advise on whether to take on condo work and how to structure my contract to prevent being named in lawsuits unrelated to my work. Recommendations from other design professionals would be appreciated. Many lawyers are outlandishly expensive and conservative to the point of their involvement being a losing proposition. ($400/hr to tell me to not get out of bed in the morning is not helpful). I am a structural and facade engineer.

glass99

in Lawyers and legal service 11 years ago

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teissbk | 9 years and 8 months ago

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Certified architect design can in fact manage the idea and they can witness to any home and building issue. ____________________________________________ [http://www.digitekprinting.com/business-cards](http://www.digitekprinting.com/business-cards )

concord | 11 years ago

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Glass99\. As i said in my first post – everyone is brought into a lawsuit (no lawyer wants to be sued for ‘malpractice’ for ‘forgetting’ the responsible party). Many factors to considered including relationship with client etc. still there is no contract (if you find one let me know please) that will protect you from being name in a lawsuit if someone wants to name you. The only ‘safe’ way is to be someone else’s employee in which case the firm’s insurance will cover you, etc.

glass99 | 11 years ago

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bkhouse – you are absolutely correct that choosing clients carefully is important, and I do the best job with that I can. I make a big deal out of personal connection with clients. One of my problems is that I am frequently a small part of a large project where I don’t even know the majority of the players, and I am looking for ways to not get ensnared in other people’s disputes. Realistically, I will design a 5,000sft feature storefront attached to a 500,000sft curtain wall I have nothing to do with, and I don’t want someone knocking on my door if the curtain wall leaks. I also think that realistically I can write a contract which will protect me from this. And if its a condo its all the more critical.

bkhouse | 11 years ago

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if you read newsletters from insurance co’s they often say the relationship with the client is a major factor in whether a problem goes to court. pick your clients carefully.

glass99 | 11 years ago

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Concord – at my old firm, we were named in multiple lawsuits were we had little to no involvement. In every instance it cost $50k+ to extract ourselves from. In exactly zero cases did our structural engineering fail. In perhaps the most outrageous case, we were named in a lawsuit for the building next door. It was a parking structure we had literally no involvement with. Pretty much all of our contracts were through the architect, and I can assure you this offers no protection if the insurance companies are involved, they automatically bring the consultants in. Our lawyer was very nice and I understand well regarded in the profession , but was useless on account of being so expensive and un-educated on our particular line of work. If it costs your lawyer $100k just to get up to speed on the issue, you are better off just kicking in to the settlement.

concord | 11 years ago

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You cannot get indemnification from others for your own negligence – it is against public policy. What you get is insurance! What you can get is indemnification from other’s negligence. It appears you are a ‘structural engineer’. I would rather go thru the Architect route (another layer of professional standard and his own insurance). What are your really worried about? Just Design to code with factors of safety, etc. The architect in his own contract will, or should, make sure that the glazier is using the specified glass and installing it correctly so that there are no issues. Again, if an accident happens during construction then the issue will be ‘construction’ safety, etc. on the other hand, if the stairs collapse because it was not properly designed, no contract will protect you (what is the defense ”well, the contract says I have no liability even if I misdesign the stairs! not in NY). Your lawyer will confirm…

glass99 | 11 years ago

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Gennady – thanks for the recommendation. Is Kane O’Connor a specialist in professional contracts, or a construction attorney? Concord – I agree with you with the broad brush stuff about the impossibility of avoiding lawsuits and the value of a tightly written scope etc, but I have some peculiarities to my work that might benefit from some indemnity clauses (or something). I am a cheap-ass, and will not spend a dollar more on my lawyer than necessary. I would also like advise from someone on which types of contracts carry more protection/risk than others. For example, if I design a glass stair and my client is the architect, is it any different to if my client was the glazier/subcontractor?

concord | 11 years ago

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Do not over think it. Get insurance, incorporate (PC) and more importantly, do the best job you know how (best defense to any malpractice lawsuit). No contract can change that. You can’t transfer engineering liability to another party for the engineering work you do (even if free). No lawyer will guarantee that you won’t be sued (or that you will) but if someone tells you that – get a better lawyer. A clear and unequivocal scope is whatyou should be most interested on. The rest of the “legalese’ iS ‘boiler plate’. Most litigation with engineers has to do with errors and omissions that result in monetary damages (or claim of it) rather than injuries (which more often than not are the result of careless/unsafe construction). AIA contracts are ok – but you have to add the scope (design, construction oversight, sho drawing approval, certification, etc.).

ellenlourie | 11 years ago

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This is a person you need Daniel E. Kane, Esq. KANE & O’CONNOR, PLLC Corporate Office: New York Office: 1841 Norristown Rd 1470 Bruckner Blvd Suite200 Bronx, NY 10473 Maple Glen, PA 19002 (718) 328-1610 office (877) 455-6552 office (917) 494-7424 mobile (866) 494-9199 facsimile dkane@kaneoconnor.com

glass99 | 11 years ago

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bkhouse – good suggestion about copying another engineer’s contract. I will have to be a bit opportunistic to get such a thing, but maybe possible. Townie – what were the circumstances of your lawsuit against the engineers? What were the physical problems? Everyone knows how badly messed up the legal system is in respect to naming parties unrelated to the problem. My understanding in that event is that your real enemy is your own lawyer because they will milk it for what its worth – > any suggestions of lawyers who understand A/E and not in the business of bleeding their clients would be welcome.

Townie | 11 years ago

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I sued two engineers on a project where they failed to keep proper records, perform necessary inspections, and falsified signatures. I dropped the lawsuit against them after they both died of natural causes. Concord is correct as they were named as one of eight other defendants. Insurance up. Stay away from developers prone to cutting corners, and keep good records.

bkhouse | 11 years ago

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try to find another engineer who already has a good contract. I would stay away from underpinning work, I have read many lawsuits about that. You could also review the AIA documents, they have been refined over the years. When it comes to negligence, if anything is uncertain about who is at fault, it will be referred to a jury and summary judgement is not possible.

concord | 11 years ago

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The problem is that you really can’t avoid ‘being named in a lawsuit’. If there is a problem the lawyers will name everyone involved in a project and let the court sort it out (which means needing representation – lawyer – to show that you have no liability). Unfortunately even a frivolous lawsuit requires a lawyer to prove that the lawsuit is frivolous. Obviously a good contract is important but your concern should not be in ‘being named’ but in the ultimate outcome. Your best protection (other than doing your work in accordance with professional standards) are a good contract along with sufficient insurance (to cover claims). If you know what you are doing as an engineer then it is safe to get out of bed…do not over think the contract or the law (let other do that) but do the best as an engineer; no judge or jury will find you liable if you do. All the foregoing is on negligence claims. Contractual claims can only be between parties to the contract.