Fashion Trends for Design Professionals: Wearing Many Different Hats

Brian L. Lynch | Faegre Baker Daniels | January 18, 2018 With the rise in alternative project delivery systems, design professionals are often expected to provide services beyond those required under the “traditional model.”1 As one may expect, this expansion of services can also increase risk for the designer and affect legal relationships and liabilities for… Continue reading Fashion Trends for Design Professionals: Wearing Many Different Hats

In a Win for Design Professionals, California Court of Appeals Holds That Relation-Back Doctrine Does Not Apply to Certificate of Merit Law

Garret Murai | California Construction Law Blog | December 5, 2017 The year was 1995. The old guard was still in power in Sacramento. “Button-Down” Pete Wilson was Governor. Willie Brown, the self-nicknamed “Ayatollah of the Assembly,” was Speaker of the Assembly. And Bill “Huggy” Lockyer was Senate Pro Tem. Names that, for many reasons as… Continue reading In a Win for Design Professionals, California Court of Appeals Holds That Relation-Back Doctrine Does Not Apply to Certificate of Merit Law

Out-of-State Contractors and Design Professionals Beware: The Georgia Removal Statute Does Not Apply to You

William R. Wildman, Jesse W. Lincoln and Matthew J. Bowness | Eversheds Sutherland | November 30, 2017 Out-of-state contractors and design professionals working on projects in Georgia should consider including venue selection clauses in their contracts. Under O.C.G.A. § 14-2-510(b)(4), venue for tort actions lies “in the county where the cause of action originated,” i.e.,… Continue reading Out-of-State Contractors and Design Professionals Beware: The Georgia Removal Statute Does Not Apply to You

Montana Supreme Court Holds that a Waiver of Consequential Damages and a Partial Limitation of Liability in a Design Contract are not Contrary to Montana Law

Emily D. Anderson | Constructlaw | November 30, 2017 Zirkelbach Constr., Inc. v. DOWL, LLC, 2017 Mont. Lexis 591 (Mont., Sept. 26, 2017) In interpreting a state statute which makes contractual limitations on a party’s liability unenforceable in certain instances, the Supreme Court of Montana recently upheld the validity of a contract provision in a… Continue reading Montana Supreme Court Holds that a Waiver of Consequential Damages and a Partial Limitation of Liability in a Design Contract are not Contrary to Montana Law

The California Legislature Passes SB 496 Limiting Design Professional Defense and Indemnity Obligations

Mark Himmelstein and Jenny Guzman | Construction Defect Journal | June 15, 2017 Since 2008 when the California legislature limited subcontractor indemnity obligations, the design professional community has been shouting “what about us?” Well, the legislature finally responded and a new law that limits design professional’s defense and indemnity obligations to their percentage of fault… Continue reading The California Legislature Passes SB 496 Limiting Design Professional Defense and Indemnity Obligations