{"id":2786,"date":"2014-03-28T06:36:30","date_gmt":"2014-03-28T12:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=2786"},"modified":"2014-03-25T11:36:51","modified_gmt":"2014-03-25T17:36:51","slug":"washington-supreme-court-permits-1-5m-damages-claim-proceed-engineering-firm-independent-duty-doctrine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/washington-supreme-court-permits-1-5m-damages-claim-proceed-engineering-firm-independent-duty-doctrine\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Supreme Court Permits $1.5m Damages Claim to Proceed Against Engineering Firm Under \u201cIndependent Duty Doctrine\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clayton Graham – March 13, 2014<\/p>\n

In a recent decision decided on a narrow 5-to-4 vote, the Washington Supreme Court declined to bar a couple\u2019s negligence claims against an engineering firm based on a contractual limitation of liability, permitting the couple to continue pursuing their damages claims in King County Superior Court.<\/p>\n

The parties to the case,\u00a0Donatelli v. D.R. Strong Consulting Engineers, Inc., entered into a contract for Strong to assist with a short plat approval for the Donatellis\u2019 King County property.\u00a0 The contract limited Strong\u2019s liability to the greater of $2,500 or its professional fees charged to the Donatellis.\u00a0 Strong secured preliminary approval for the Donatellis\u2019 short plat, but final plat approval did not issue prior to the County\u2019s 60-month deadline, so the preliminary plat approval lapsed.\u00a0 The Donatellis lost the property through a foreclosure before a new plat application could be processed.\u00a0 The Donatellis then sued Strong on a number of legal theories, including breach of contract, professional negligence, and negligent misrepresentation, seeking an award exceeding 1.5 million dollars for lost profits and other damages.<\/p>\n

Strong sought dismissal of the negligence claims based on Washington\u2019s \u201ceconomic loss rule,\u201d which the Court has more recently restyled the \u201cindependent duty doctrine.\u201d\u00a0 While there is a great deal of case law applying this rather nebulous doctrine, it generally bars a plaintiff from bringing a tort claim for economic damages where there is a contract between the parties that allocates risk for the claims asserted.\u00a0 Prior Court decisions have characterized the rule as an \u201cattempt[] to describe the dividing line between the law of torts and the law of contracts.\u201d\u00a0 One policy advanced by this doctrine is preventing parties from \u201csidestepping\u201d the terms of their contract by suing in tort for a matter that was already covered by a written agreement.\u00a0 But in prior decisions, Washington courts have made it clear that contractual limitations of liability cannot limit claims arising from duties that arise independently of the parties\u2019 written contract.<\/p>\n

The Court found that the independent duty doctrine did not bar the Donatellis\u2019 negligence claims against Strong, based on an analysis of the Court\u2019s precedents and the contours of the independent duty doctrine.\u00a0 Notably, in reaching this conclusion, the Court focused on a number of factors outside the Donatellis\u2019 written contract with Strong.\u00a0 For example, the Court acknowledged that it was not clear, based on the record before the Court, whether Strong\u2019s contractual duties were limited to the tasks listed in the written contract, or whether Strong\u2019s contractual duties were expanded through oral agreements or its affirmative conduct in handling additional tasks for the Donatellis.\u00a0 In permitting the Donatellis\u2019 negligence claim to proceed, the Court stated that \u201c[b]ecause we do not know the scope of D.R. Strong\u2019s contractual obligations, we cannot determine if any of D.R. Strong\u2019s duties to the Donatellis arose independently of the contract.\u201d\u00a0 The Court also allowed the Donatellis\u2019 negligent misrepresentation claim to proceed, finding that \u201cStrong\u2019s duty to avoid misrepresentations that induced the Donatellis to enter into a contract arose independent of the contract.\u201d\u00a0 In reaching this conclusion, the Court acknowledged that parties can limit their representations to one another in a written contract, but in this case the Donatellis claimed that their decision to enter into the contract in the first instance was based on Strong\u2019s representations about the total cost and timeline for the project.<\/p>\n

It is important to note that the Court did not address the merits of the Donatellis\u2019 negligence claims, nor did it find any liability on Strong\u2019s part.\u00a0 It simply found that the independent duty doctrine did not bar these claims, and the decision will allow the Donatellis\u2019 negligence claims to be decided by the King County Superior Court.\u00a0 Lawyers drafting contracts for engineers, architects, and other professionals in the building and development industry should keep the lessons of the independent duty doctrine\u2014and\u00a0Donatelli v. D.R. Strong\u2014in mind.\u00a0 While the Court\u2019s decisions make it clear that contractual limitations of liability cannot extend to all tort claims, there are a number ways that more of the parties\u2019 agreement can be brought within the four corners of the contract\u2014for example, including express, limited representations and warranties, \u201cmerger\u201d clauses, and execution of written contract amendments or change orders whenever a professional\u2019s scope of work is expanded to tasks not covered by the initial contract.<\/p>\n

via Washington Supreme Court permits $1.5m damages claim to proceed against engineering firm under \u201cindependent duty doctrine\u201d – Lexology<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clayton Graham – March 13, 2014 In a recent decision decided on a narrow 5-to-4 vote, the Washington Supreme Court declined to bar a couple\u2019s negligence claims against an engineering firm based on a contractual limitation of liability, permitting the couple to continue pursuing their damages claims in King County Superior Court. The parties to… Continue reading Washington Supreme Court Permits $1.5m Damages Claim to Proceed Against Engineering Firm Under \u201cIndependent Duty Doctrine\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,172],"tags":[224,508,509],"class_list":["post-2786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-contracts","category-construction-law-2","tag-construction-contract","tag-independent-duty-doctrine","tag-limitation-of-liability","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nWashington Supreme Court Permits $1.5m Damages Claim to Proceed Against Engineering Firm Under \u201cIndependent Duty Doctrine\u201d - Advise & Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/washington-supreme-court-permits-1-5m-damages-claim-proceed-engineering-firm-independent-duty-doctrine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Washington Supreme Court Permits $1.5m Damages Claim to Proceed Against Engineering Firm Under \u201cIndependent Duty Doctrine\u201d - Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Clayton Graham – March 13, 2014 In a recent decision decided on a narrow 5-to-4 vote, the Washington Supreme Court declined to bar a couple\u2019s negligence claims against an engineering firm based on a contractual limitation of liability, permitting the couple to continue pursuing their damages claims in King County Superior Court. 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