DPLE Courses

This session will provide an overview of mergers and acquisitions and how one could impact a design professional’s practice. The presentation will review the process and highlight considerations to factor into merger and acquisition activities.

We will discuss the importance of contracts for Design Professionals. Reviewing the contract and understanding how to negotiate certain provisions is a critical process. We will begin with a brief overview of the key clauses in Design Professional contracts. We will then go over these clauses in more depth highlighting the potential increased exposures associated with the language, reviewing applicable court decisions, and reviewing ways to revise and negotiate certain provisions.

We will review the importance of contracts as a risk management tool. In this review we will highlight 5 potentially frustrating provisions and analyze what they can mean for a firm and how to craft language that can be more favorable in the event of a claim.

Whether it’s in contracts, in project risk allocation, or in day-to-day project management, many clients and contractors confuse a design professional’s obligations for professional liability and general liability. But the distinctions are important because the exposures, the insurance coverages, the premiums, and the deductible obligations are all different.

Under the best circumstances, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) can be difficult to navigate. Keeping up can be a lot even for the most skilled and well intentioned design professional.

With the changes and challenges of 2020 in mind, and thinking about forecasts for new issues in 2021, how does a design firm get ready for the coming years? This course will discuss the ever-changing impact of the pandemic and study strategies for helping design professionals guide their firms, their clients, and their communities in preparing for what’s to come.

This course will walk participants through some of the key components of different ADR methods and discuss various considerations that can help a design professional decide which dispute resolution mechanism might be the preferred fit for a particular project type or client.

Design firms and surveyors have an interest in protecting the health of their employees. You should be aware of the exposures faced by your employees in the office, in the field, working at home, working mobile. During this course, we’ll familiarize you with ergonomic exposures, safety hazards, risk factors, and mitigation tools.

The typical design professional fee is split 80% for the design and construction document creation and 20% for construction contract administration services. While construction contract administration is an essential service offered by design professionals, most claims against design professionals now include an allegation relating to negligence in the construction contract administration services.

Owners often take the position that because they are paying for the plans and specifications, they should own them, while, design professionals are concerned that the work be paid for and that the plans not be used improperly. Further issues relating to ownership and use of plans arise if the design professional is terminated or leaves the project before completion. Or, what happens if an employee leaves the firm? Who owns the documents? In today's course we will explore the complicated issues around ownership of documents and intellectual property and how to address these issues with your client.

Every design professional, from the new college graduate to the seasoned professional running their own project or firm, can benefit from being a better negotiator. This course will consider different negotiation techniques design professionals can use to achieve a more successful outcome for their firm, and discuss how the negotiation process can be used for more effective client selection.

A claim is more than a request for coverage or compensation as a result of a named peril. It can also be an emotional event for you and your firm, but one that is often avoidable or easily mitigated. That is why it is important to evaluate the outcome of a claim once the claim is settled – not only to identify areas of improvement for future claims, but to determine effective risk management strategies for future projects.

For most design professionals, the “worst-case scenario” is a substantial professional liability claim. Evaluating past claims allows us to evaluate what went wrong and how public health, safety and welfare may have been compromised—almost always inadvertently. Errors originate in proposed contracts; in interpretation of laws, codes, and regulations; in lender-requested documents; or in other ways. This course will address how these issues can be identified, assessed, and mitigated—for the protection of all.

It’s been said that there are two types of design professionals—those that have been sued and those that will be sued. What are some common sources of claims against design professionals? What can you do to try to prevent them from affecting your firm? What happens and where do you turn when you have a claim?

This course offers an analysis of the common problems that occur during the contract administration phase and provides a review of some best practices to help avoid those problems.

Clients and owners are more frequently requesting and expecting innovative designs from professionals. A thorough risk analysis and a careful review of contract language are both strategic tools to help you understand your liability and mitigate your risk. This topic is particularly salient in our current environment where the demand for innovative ways to stay ahead of COVID-19 and for resilient, healthy design is high.

This course will review the use of social media by design professionals; the risks it poses; and what design firms, employees, and employers can do to manage and mitigate those risks. The focus of this session will be on COVID-19 related concerns.

As we follow governmental directives for reopening and adapting offices and project sites, it’s important to keep in mind the various risks—not only to you and your staff, but to clients, contractors, other design professionals, and the general public.

This course is designed to introduce and review five standard contract provisions, explore their implications for your services, and propose some key considerations in negotiating more favorable contracts.

This session will be a discussion on limitation of liability provisions in professional service agreements – what they are, how to negotiate for them, and considerations to discuss with a knowledgeable attorney, when crafting a strong “Limitation of Liability” (LOL) clause that is tailored to the design professional’s specific jurisdiction and circumstances.

In light of the current pandemic, we evaluate how technology has proven to be helpful in increasing the safety of occupants and users of buildings or construction sites. This presentation will discuss developing technological methods, systems, and products, and how they impact safety and welfare within the construction and design industry.

This course will be an analysis of the common problems that occur during the contract administration phase and review the best practices to avoid those problems.

When an employee works outside the scope of the traditional employer-employee relationship, it’s known as moonlighting. The practice of moonlighting is relatively common, and in some cases, it’s known and accepted by the employer. This presentation will:

1. highlight the issues related to moonlighting;
2. consider whether or not the practice should be allowed; and
3. identify steps a firm can take so that the line between employee and moonlighter is more clearly defined.

This course will review different emergency preparedness tips to enable design firms to minimize their losses and facilitate the rapid restoration of their services in the event of a disaster. We’ll also consider the role design professionals can play in a community’s resilience and recovery efforts through smart design decisions and volunteerism.

When you are at a job site, your first and foremost duty is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of yourself, your employees, your consultants and the general public. This course will strive to get you to not only think about the job you have to do, but to also be aware of everything that is going on around the project. Understanding all the exposures on a job site will help you complete your part of the project safely and without costly delays.

Firms that provide surveying services have unique professional exposures, whether you're the one providing services or you're the one contracting with a surveying firm. In today's design environment, understanding and managing perils in many forms is important. The use of risk management practices and a sound contract can help you recognize and mitigate the risks that you face.

In today's climate, more and more design professionals are being asked to address client issues relative to financing, such as a lender's request for an assignment or certification. This presentation will focus on the often overlooked and misunderstood agreements issued by lenders, and explain how certain provisions, or even a single word, can potentially jeopardize a design firm's professional liability coverage and/or expose a design firm to unanticipated liability.

With a plethora of design firms nationwide, it is essential that firms set themselves apart in order to achieve valuable client relationships. This webinar reveals a few strategies that can help enhance your firm’s public exposure and increase your firm's clientele.

When organizing your file after a project is complete, what should you toss, and what should you keep? Did you ever have a project email you wish you could delete “by accident?” Did you ever have a project drawing that went out and was later corrected, so you wish you could make the initial drawing “disappear?” This seminar will provide guidance on document retention policies, covering the laws and rules prohibiting the destruction of evidence including electronically-stored information.

When it comes to construction phase services, have you ever worked with a client on an extremely tight budget or a contractor who has unreasonable expectations? Then you have to factor in that the construction phase of a project is the most stressful and misunderstood part of a project. Today, we're diving into the importance of managing the risks that come with providing construction phase services and how you can learn from the mistakes of others.

Why do firms take on projects that they think could be destined to fail? When you spend time analyzing the possibilities, you can start to see future problems. Our approach will guide you through the four steps of risk management—carefully identifying, assessing, managing, and controlling the risks in projects when you’re deciding if pursuing a project is a good idea.

Many design professionals approach their day-to-day activities acting ethically, but thinking little about it as they do so. This course will explore what professional ethics are, where they’re defined, when they’re tested, and what happens when ethical matters are mismanaged.

This course is designed to introduce and review five standard contract provisions, explore their implications for your services, and propose some key considerations in negotiating more favorable contracts.

This course will review some important considerations in the process of underwriting and provide insight into the actions that design professionals and their firms can take to reduce their risk from an underwriting perspective.

Every design professional, from the new college graduate to the seasoned professional running their own project or firm, can benefit from being a better negotiator. This course will consider different negotiation techniques design professionals can use to achieve a more successful outcome for their firm, and discuss how the negotiation process can be used for more effective client selection.

This course will review important waiver provisions in design contracts, the risks they pose, and the actions that design professionals can take to manage and mitigate their liability.

Understanding the coverage and exclusions in a professional liability policy can be confusing for design professionals and their clients. The goal of this presentation is to explore what uninsurability really means, why it matters to design firms and project owners alike, and look at some problematic contract language commonly seen in Owner-drafted contracts that can cause coverage concerns.

For most design professionals, negotiating a professional services agreement is not the best part of a project. Some “solve” that problem by not having a contract at all, but we all know that’s not an ideal solution. This course will provide considerations on writing contracts for all projects—from the smallest to the largest.

You may not spend a lot of time thinking about vehicle and driver safety. However small you might perceive your exposure to be, on average, auto hazards are second only to professional liability in their ability to negatively impact your bottom line. Understanding the risks of the road, driver behaviors, and company policies can help prevent crashes and keep your drivers, and the public, safer on the road.

When an employee works outside the scope of the traditional employer-employee relationship, it’s known as moonlighting. The practice of moonlighting is relatively common, and in some cases, it’s known and accepted by the employer. This presentation will: (1) highlight the issues related to moonlighting; (2) consider whether or not the practice should be allowed; and (3) identify steps a firm can take so that the line between employee and moonlighter is more clearly defined.

This course will review different emergency preparedness tips to enable design firms to minimize their losses and facilitate the rapid restoration of their services in the event of a disaster. We’ll also consider the role design professionals can play in a community’s resilience and recovery efforts through smart design decisions and volunteerism.

Litigation can be confusing and tedious even for legal professionals. It is no wonder that design professionals also find it confusing to navigate. In this webinar we review litigation on design-bid-build as well as design-build projects, focusing on lessons learned from court decisions addressing standard of care, warranties, prime contract incorporation by reference, third party claims against design professionals, limitation of liability, indemnification, and site safety responsibility. We will discuss their implications for your services, and ways to allocate and mitigate risks through more favorable contract terms and conditions.

In many cases, design firms work with a variety of different subconsultants on a continuing basis for multiple projects. A certain level of risk is inherent in this relationship and it is important to remember that the client will often look to the prime design firm and not the subconsultant for ultimate responsibility. This presentation will analyze a hypothetical claim stemming from the services of a subconsultant, discuss steps that the prime design firm could have taken to reduce their liability, and review best practices of contracting with subconsultants and navigating through dispute resolution.

This course will review the use of social media by design professionals, the risk it poses, and what design firm employees and employers can do to manage and mitigate those risks.

Owners often take the position that because they are paying for the plans and specifications, they should own them, while, design professionals are concerned that the work be paid for and that the plans not be used improperly. Further issues relating to ownership and use of plans arise if the design professional is terminated or leaves the project before completion. Or, what happens if an employee leaves the firm? Who owns the documents? In today’s course we will explore the complicated issues around ownership of documents and intellectual property and how to address these issues with your client.

Clients and owners are more frequently requesting and expecting innovative design from professionals. A through risk analysis and a careful review of contract language are both strategic tools to help you understand your liability and mitigate your risk.

This course is designed to introduce and review five standard contract provisions, explore their implications for your services, and propose some key considerations in negotiating more favorable contracts.

Why do firms take on projects that they think could be destined to fail? When you spend time analyzing the possibilities, you can start to see future problems. Our approach will guide you through the four steps of risk management—carefully identifying, assessing, managing, and controlling the risks in projects when you’re deciding if pursuing a project is a good idea.

Identifying, addressing, and mitigating discrimination in your workplace and your practice is an important component of any risk management strategy. This course will address some of the key considerations when undertaking this process to help you avoid expensive mistakes, legal nightmares, and ethical faux pas, to help you maintain a safe, respectful working environment for all.

Running a successful design firm requires a multitude of skills. Design and technical talents are pre-requisites and you’ll also need some marketing, some management, and financial savvy. This is true regardless of firm size, location, or specialty. Is all of that “leadership”? or is “leadership” something more?

This course examines the common issues that arise for Design Professionals when a project is suspended, terminated, and/or restarted. Different scenarios will be used to illustrate the type of risks that Design Professionals may face, and what they can do to manage and mitigate those risks.

This course will provide a greater understanding of “time is of the essence” and “force majeure” provisions in contracts, including their impact on design professionals and other parties to an agreement.

This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of the legal standard that is imposed upon design professionals – the Standard of Care, and how to effectively communicate its meaning to Clients. In addition, we’ll also provide an important discussion on the use of the standard of care as a defense in professional liability claims and address ways in which design professionals can avoid claims by managing their clients expectations.

This course will use case studies to assist design professionals in identifying their third party exposure and will arm design professionals with strategies to help them address potential problems and manage their liability.

Many design professionals approach their day-to-day activities acting ethically, but thinking little about it as they do so. This course will explore what professional ethics are, where they’re defined, when they’re tested, and what happens when ethical matters are mismanaged.

Wherever you live and work, your firm is exposed to emergency situations. They include natural disasters like windstorms, floods, earthquakes, or winter storms. Emergency situations also involve man-made disasters like fires, chemical emergencies, or episodes of terrorism on varying scales. Your firm’s first line of preparedness is to protect people, property, and operations. But for many design firms, preparedness goes beyond protecting your own and into protecting others. This course will outline a spectrum of emergency preparedness tips for design firms.

This course examines the risks to design firms that are posed by copyright and related indemnity provisions, using a case study to illustrate how one project can result in multiple claims, and discusses what design professionals can do to manage and mitigate those risks.

Expectations of perfection and other misconceptions result in clients viewing design professionals as a source of cost recovery on projects that have run over budget, have encountered changed conditions, or have a construction contractor that submits change orders to increase their own compensation. This course will explore the pitfalls design professionals face when providing construction phase services. We will identify the sources of these pitfalls as well as how design professionals can mitigate them without compromising public health, safety and welfare.

This course offers an analysis of the common problems that occur during the contract administration phase and provides a review of some best practices to help avoid those problems.

This course will review important waiver provisions in design contracts, the risk they pose, and the actions that design professionals can take to manage and mitigate that liability.

This course will introduce design professionals to the types of claims they may encounter, review what they can do to help mitigate their liability, and how they can help their insurance company secure better outcomes in the event of a claim.

This course examines the types of representations and warranties made by design professionals, evaluates the risks they present, and discusses what design professionals can do to manage and mitigate those risks.

Completing insurance applications may not be a task you relish; call it a necessary evil if you like. But consider this—with over 50 insurers offering insurance coverage to design professionals, it’s in our best interests to be competitive enough to write the risks that we see as desirable. So when do the credits outweigh the debits in our underwriting process? You may be surprised at some of the answers.

This course will provide a quick overview of indemnity clauses in professional service contracts, their implications for design professionals, and what design professionals can do to manage and mitigate the risks associated with them.

This course will review the use of social media by design professionals, the risk it poses, and what employees and employers can do to manage and mitigate those risks.

For many design professionals, a typical project is of short duration and relatively low cost and may involve team members with whom you have pre-existing relationships. Negotiating a lengthy contract might not make sense and could take longer than the project itself. Some design professionals “solve” that problem by not having a contract at all, but we all know that’s not an ideal solution. Today’s webinar will provide some ideas on how to write contracts for small projects.

Technology has proven to be helpful in increasing the safety of occupants and users of buildings or construction sites. This presentation will discuss developing technological methods, systems, and products, and how they impact safety and welfare within the construction and design industry.

Expectations of perfection and other misconceptions result in clients viewing design professionals as a source of cost recovery on projects that have run over budget, have encountered changed conditions, or have a construction contractor that submits change orders to increase their own compensation. This course will explore the pitfalls design professionals face when providing construction phase services. We will identify the sources of these pitfalls as well as how design professionals can mitigate them without compromising public health, safety and welfare.

A recent major study found that 68% of design firms have strategic plans for a merger or acquisition in the next five years. This presentation will cover important considerations for firms undertaking merger or acquisition activity.

When a construction project does not go as planned, affected parties start pointing fingers. A common target is design professionals. However, the Economic Loss Doctrine gives design professionals a “way out” by only allowing certain parties with certain claims to succeed. We will analyze how states have applied the Economic Loss Doctrine, and why it is such a critical defense.

Providing project managers with the right skills and tools can help your firm more effectively manage projects, meet client expectations, and achieve more successful project outcomes.

Providing project managers with the right skills and tools can help your firm more effectively manage projects, meet client expectations, and achieve more successful project outcomes.

In speaking with design professionals about claims made against them, experience shows that they fall broadly into two categories: those items that are expected, regularly taught in loss prevention seminars, but still sometimes unavoidable (such as litigation over RFI responses) and items that are totally unexpected (such as a lawsuit for sexual harassment filed over Facebook comments, a site safety emergency brought on by a simple site visit by a young project architect, etc.). This course focuses on the latter type of unexpected claims with the goal of providing you enough real-life examples and the training necessary to avoid them outright or assist in training others.

Businesses are increasingly struggling with generational differences. Differing expectations of workers are magnified by new technology and teams that combine different generations. Having a preliminary understanding of the characteristics of different generations can help you understand your employees better and can help your business remain viable.

You may not spend a lot of time thinking about vehicle and driver safety. However small you might perceive your exposure to be, on average, auto hazards are second only to professional liability in their ability to negatively impact your bottom line. Understanding the risks of the road, driver behaviors, and company policies can help prevent crashes and keep your drivers, and the public, safer on the road.

When asked about large claims, one thing we can often say is that none of us saw them coming at the beginning—not our insureds, their lawyers, their brokers, our underwriters, nor our claims attorneys. Often, it’s more of a situation where small things add up to one big problem. In this course, we’ll explore some of those small things and what your firm can do about them preventatively.

This is an introductory course on the basics of risk management education in relation to A&E business. Most importantly, this course initiates risk management into the core fabric and culture of the firm with the principals to demonstrating to all members of the firm that managing risk is a core value of their organization. This is a workshop useful for the entire firm to attend.

This course teaches design professionals about the three most crucial factors in managing professional liability risk: time (schedule), money (project budget and cost) and quality (owner expectations).

A basic yet detailed workshop on how to review a professional services contract, most important with contracts drafted by the project owner (or their legal counsel).

This workshop provides details on specific tools that can be used to manage professional liability risk, their importance in managing risk and how best to integrate them into the firm and used by the firm. This course can also be called, The 9 Cs of professional liability risk management: contract, communication, compensation, control, consistency, contingency, coordination, change and coverage.

This course will further enhance the core value of managing risk and begin teaching principals on how to express to each member of the firm that managing risk begins at the top and filters down to each and every person in the firm. This course will teach principals the core components of a sound risk management program, the importance of each to the success of the firm and how to deliver risk management education to employees.

The self critical risk analysis is the foundation of and the most important component of a sound professional liability risk management program. The self critical risk analysis is a brutally honest self assessment. This workshop will teach principals the importance of the self critical analysis and how to undertake the analysis and utilize the results to achieve maximum benefit both on an overall firm basis as well as on the firm as it relates to individual projects.

Many professional liability claims are brought on by project owners/clients of the design firm. This workshop provides the tools necessary to undertake an analysis of the risks associated with a prospective project owner/client. Having this understanding and knowledge will enable a design professionals firm to develop a project specific risk management program.

Certain project types lead to more professional liability claims than others. In addition, each firm may not be suited to perform services on every project type. This workshop gives the participants the tools necessary to understand and analyze the risks associated with a prospective project. Having this understanding and knowledge will enable the firm to develop a project specific risk management program.

This workshop is designed to be a basic understanding of the legal standard imposed upon design professionals. In addition, it includes an important discussion on the use of the standard of care as a defense in professional liability claims.

This workshop is designed to educate principals about specific procedures that are required to be consistently followed by all project personnel regarding the review, preparation and negotiation of contracts. Contract review checklists will be provided.

This course provides a basic foundation in understanding a contract, how to read a contract, the basic components of a contract and the role it plays in the delivery of professional services in the construction industry. In addition, this course will detail the different type of contracts that are used for the engagement and delivery of professional architecture or engineering services ranging from owner-drafted agreements to the highly regarded agreements prepared by the AIA and the EJCDC. This course will also discuss some of the major contractual pitfalls A/Es must be wary of as well as provisions available to and commonly used by design firms in an attempt to limit liability.

This course is a framework course that is intended to be continually used, updated and modified over time as the firm evolves and projects change. This workshop will provide the project manager with the tools necessary to build the foundation of a living risk management manual and protocols for all project managers to follow. The purpose here is to affirm the core value of managing risk and to affirm and set in place the vital role consistency plays in the process of managing risk especially during the construction phase.

This is a workshop designed to be presented on a periodic basis throughout a year for new employees of the design professionals firm. This course will initiate the new employee on the fundamentals of risk management education, the legal system and legal requirements of architects and engineers. Most importantly this course will introduce the new employee to the core values of the firm as they relate to the management of risk and the delivery of quality performance.

This workshop is designed to give the attendees valuable information on how to successfully market and perform services for clients while managing risk in accordance with the cultural values set forth by the firm’s principals.

This workshop is a real world, in depth look at the most frequent causes of claims, how to sense them and how to proactively prevent their occurrence.

This course is a detailed education on the important questions that need to be asked and answered before submitting a proposal, drafting a scope of services or negotiating a contract.

This course focuses on two considerable topics in the construction segment: Integrated Project Delivery and Building Information Modeling. The Learning Event will examine Integrated Project Delivery and Building Information Modeling in the context of their likely impact on an A/E firm’s risk management program.

This course is designed to provide a detailed education about various contracts and their use in the construction process. In addition, very specific contract provisions will be analyzed and discussed relating to their impact on the incidence and severity of professional liability claims.

This course underscores the importance of evaluating and mitigating the risks involved in projects where energy efficiency and sustainability are emphasized by owners, through sound risk management practice and careful review of contract language. The learning event concludes with a highlight of recent and pending updates for sustainability measures.

Red flags warn of danger or are a signal to stop. Design professionals can avoid claims by heeding those red flags — not just in contracts, but in other aspects of their projects as well.

Auto claims account for about 1/3 of our property & casualty claim dollars paid and about 1/2 of the total number of claims reported. This course will offer some insights into the types of claims suffered, the risks involved and what steps your firm can take to help prevent them.

Workers compensation claims account for about 1/3 of our property & casualty claim dollars paid and less than 1/4 of the total number of claims reported. Because of the potentially significant impact on your business when an employee is missing work, we offer some insights into the types of claims suffered, the risks involved and what steps your firm can take to help prevent or manage them.

Your company evolves in many ways. One of the often overlooked changes is in business property. Have you moved? Added a location (perhaps a home office for one teleworking employee, or a storage location)? Acquired critical equipment, such as computers, printers, furnishings, or other valuable property? How do you know if you are properly insured and protected for all this?

Design professionals, in accordance with the codes and guidelines maintained and upheld by their states and professional societies, often agree to abide by codes of conduct such as the following:

• Protect the safety, health and welfare of the public in the performance of professional duties.
• Perform services only in areas of competence.
• Issue all statements in an objective and truthful manner.
• Safeguard the trust of clients.

This course will review several common challenges faced by design professionals and some possible solutions to upholding those guidelines.

Many clients and contractors confuse a design professional’s obligations for professional liability and general liability. But the distinctions are important because: the exposures, the insurance coverages, the premiums, the deductible obligations are actually all different.

Strategies for growing and selling have changed. Technology allows all of us to brand ourselves and build upon our networks, which leads to more exposure and more contacts. Marketing and selling ourselves and our services can either be an endless state of activity or create defined tiers of productivity. By creating opportunities to demonstrate our expertise, we build trust with potential clients — setting the stage for more successful sales.

Business communications have changed. The growth of information technology and the speed of FTP create an increased exposure to design professionals when transmitting information digitally. By understanding the various parameters surrounding the digital transfer of information, you can better respond to requests while still protecting your interests.

Superstorm Sandy and other recent disasters have shown businesses just how vulnerable they are to loss and disruptions. Although many businesses have policies in place, those businesses are inadequately prepared for losses and the amount of time required to address those losses.

With a strong focus on professional liability, many design firms overlook other aspects of risk — injured workers, property damage, and auto accidents are just a few examples. In this course, we will examine these other exposures, explore some of the insurance coverage options available, and learn how to otherwise mitigate these risks.

There are certain events in the course of a project that may trigger potential distress. Suspensions and terminations — whether they involve your firm or another project team member — are two such examples. This course will provide guidance to help you avoid or navigate through some of these significant events.

Fewer project disputes are being tried because of complexity, time, client relationships, cost, and risk. However, litigation continues to be a popular method of dispute resolution. What you’ve written and documented, whether it’s a “work-product” or “deliverable” or an electronic communication, is discoverable in the event of a claim.

Hiring and integrating a new employee can be one of the most important risk management steps undertaken by a professional service firm. This course will address some of the key considerations when undertaking this process.

This course will address ways in which indemnification clauses in contracts may expose design professionals to liabilities not covered by their professional liability insurance policy. We will also identify tactics to limit the scope of indemnification clauses and explore how statutes may affect the legality of an indemnification provision.

Completing insurance applications may not be a task you relish; call it a necessary evil if you like. But consider this — with over 50 insurers offering insurance coverage to design professionals, it’s in our best interests to be competitive enough to write the risks that we see as desirable. So when do the credits outweigh the debits in our underwriting process? You may be surprised at some of the answers.

This presentation will address ways in which indemnification clauses in contracts may expose Design Professionals to liabilities not covered by their professional liability insurance policy. We will also identify tactics to limit the scope of indemnification clauses and explore how statutes may affect the legality of an indemnification provision.

A design professional’s contract contains important waiver provisions that have an impact on their contractual rights and duties. This course will provide a detailed look at how waiving certain contractual rights can increase the design professional’s exposure to liability. During the course we will also provide tips on ways to mitigate risks through reciprocal and conditional waivers.

June 1 marked the beginning of the 2014 hurricane season and with it comes the potential for property damage and often times a need to rebuild. Your community may ask you to help rebuild, and you may be asked to do it pro bono. What will you do when the call to action comes your way? In this course we’ll discuss both the rewards and the potential pitfalls of providing your professional services with no financial compensation or at a reduced fee.

When documenting your Scope of Services, be aware that how you define what services you will provide to your client can greatly impact your client’s expectations. This course is designed to provide a greater understanding of the Scope of Services as well as the Standard of Care required of design professionals. We will also provide best practices for design professionals to avoid liability for not meeting the required Standard of Care.

Some companies offer their employees fleet vehicles. Others require drivers to rent vehicles as part of their day-to-day activities. Still others have employees drive their personal autos on company business. Driving is one of the most hazardous and costly exposures encountered as part of doing business. This course will explore the hazards, exposures, and costs of driving on company business. We will also provide tips for implementing a motor vehicle safety policy and, in particular, driver qualifications.

It’s no secret that alternative methods of project delivery are increasingly replacing traditional design-bid-build. What implications does that have for design firms of all sizes? While the newer methods were initially used primarily on large projects, more and more owners are seeing the value of alternative project delivery on smaller projects as well. This course will examine some key considerations in alternative project delivery, including resources, insurance, contracting and risks.

Not all agreements speak directly towards what the contract is bargaining for. Ancillary agreements are integrated as a supplement to avoid ambiguity and provide protection for the contracting parties. This course will go over some of the most frequently used additional agreements and describe the elements that will make them legally enforceable.

Participants will gain a fundamental understanding of the types of actions that typically result in a breach of a design contract from the perspective of clients, subconsultants, and the design professional. This course will also address methods of preventing and alternatively, curing breaches. Finally, participants will learn the basic legal remedies for breach of contract claims.

On average, each year, roughly 25 A/E firms out of every 100 experience a professional liability claim. Want to avoid becoming a statistic? Heed the advice of our expert team of claims attorneys!

This course will teach methods of preventing disputes from occurring and, in the case of a potential dispute, how to resolve it in an efficient manner.

Negotiating professional service contracts can be frustrating and time-consuming. At some point, it may seem appropriate to utterly and completely surrender. So what are some of the key contracting issues? And how do we address them?

Expectations of perfection and other misconceptions result in clients viewing design professionals as a source of cost recovery on projects that have run over budget, have encountered changed conditions, or have a construction contractor that submits change orders to increase their own compensation. This course will explore the pitfalls design professionals face when providing construction phase services. We will identify the sources of these pitfalls as well as how design professionals can mitigate them without compromising public health, safety and welfare.

We hire employees seeking to entrust them to fulfill obligations on behalf of our companies with competence and integrity. Occasionally, that plan goes awry in its execution. This course will review how that happens, where insurance protection may or may not exist, and how to detect or prevent these wrongful acts before they have a damaging impact on your business.

Many design professionals approach their day-to-day activities acting ethically, but thinking little about it as they do so. This course will explore what professional ethics are, where you can find various definitions, what types of situations might test YOUR ethics, and what would happen if you mismanaged an ethical matter.

Owners often take the position that because they are paying for the plans and specifications, they should own them, while, design professionals are concerned that the work be paid for and that the plans not be used improperly. Further issues relating to ownership and use of plans arise if the design professional is terminated or leaves the project before completion. Or, what happens if an employee leaves the firm? Who owns the documents? In today's course we will explore the complicated issues around ownership of documents and intellectual property and how to address these issues with your client.

Effective project management is often times the difference between efficiently producing a quality service, and failing to meet customer expectations. Project management doesn't have to be complex or time consuming — this presentation will teach you practical tools and techniques that you can immediately start to implement in your business to better organize and execute your projects.

This course will discuss the role federal laws play in relation to employment practices of small business. Emerging areas of risk exposure will be assessed. This course will explore simple measures that can be taken to lessen and prevent potential employment practices claims brought against the employer.

When asked about large claims, one thing we can often say is that none of us saw them coming at the beginning — not our insureds, their lawyers, their brokers, our underwriters, nor our claim attorneys. Often, it’s more of a situation where small things add up to one big problem. In this course, we’ll explore some of those small things and what your firm can do about them preventatively.

This session will emphasize the importance of managing and assessing risk as it relates to the handling of hazardous substances. The course will include insight into the regulations surrounding hazardous substances, identify the potential exposures to liability for design professionals and provide effective tools to manage risk for the benefit of public health, safety and welfare.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, roadway incidents were the leading cause of fatal occupational injuries in 2013. This session will emphasize the importance of having the right attitude while traveling out on the road. Although driving may be secondary to your responsibilities, and having the right driving attitude may be far from your thoughts, it may be the most important thing you do each day.

Each client relationship presents a unique set of risks for your firm. Evaluating these risks within an organized framework helps you to:

• Assess, manage, and control the risks of working with certain clients
• Prevent repeating mistakes in client selection
• Allow for consistency in client selection

When working on a project, the most important goal is to make sure that the project is successfully completed on time and within the allotted budget. Poor planning in early stages is often the reason why many projects are delayed and cost overruns occur. This presentation is going to outline the process of carefully planning your project for maximum efficiency.

In many cases, design firms work with a variety of different subconsultants on a continuing basis for multiple projects. A certain level of risk is inherent in this relationship and it is important to remember that the client will often look to the prime design firm and not the subconsultant for ultimate responsibility. This presentation will analyze a hypothetical claim stemming from the services of a subconsultant, discuss steps that the prime design firm could have taken to reduce their liability, and review best practices of contracting with subconsultants and navigating through dispute resolution.

Even landmark projects and respected design professionals face dilemmas relating to ethical considerations and codes of conduct. This course will use a case study to review common challenges and some methods to address them while balancing business, ethics, and successful project outcomes.

Hackers are increasingly becoming more sophisticated. Phishing schemes are on the rise and ransomware is one of the newest threats to all businesses. There is a cost to every cyber-attack whether it’s money, data, and/or loss of time and resources. Join us for this cybersecurity update and learn more about what threats are out there lurking around your business waiting to attack your vulnerability. We’ll also discuss best practices that you may consider in addressing your business’s cyber security issues.

You may have heard the buzzword “social selling” which may evoke images of social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Is social selling as simple as using social media platforms to expand your sales? Technology allows all of us to brand ourselves and build upon our networks, which leads to more exposure and more contacts. During this webinar we’ll explore how social selling is more than marketing your brand through social media. We’ll learn about how social selling transforms traditional sales techniques to build stronger customer relationships and create more sales opportunities for you.

When reviewing contracts on behalf of our policyholders, rarely do we find a contract that is fair, balanced, and detailed enough to serve the parties well throughout the life of a project. Negotiating the various issues can be both time-consuming and frustrating. We’ve pared down these contract issues into a checklist of twelve items that, in our experience, if handled poorly, can become the genesis for a claim. During this course we’ll review the twelve items on the checklist that we’ve found, when handled with care, can serve as key risk mitigation tools in a sound risk management program.

As a design professional you know you need insurance to protect your business, but finding the time to understand how the pieces of the insurance puzzle fit together is often the last priority in your busy schedule. During this course we will use common claim scenarios to illustrate how a well-integrated insurance program works, giving design professionals a concise resource for understanding insurance.

In speaking with design professionals about claims made against them, experience shows that they fall broadly into two categories: those items that are expected, regularly taught in loss prevention seminars, but still sometimes unavoidable (such as litigation over RFI responses) and items that are totally unexpected (such as a lawsuit for sexual harassment filed over Facebook comments, a site safety emergency brought on by a simple site visit by a young project architect, etc.). This course focuses on the latter type of unexpected claims with the goal of providing you enough real-life examples and the training necessary to avoid them outright or assist in training others.

This session will emphasize the magnitude of the distracted driving problem, the current laws in place, and weaknesses in prevention efforts. We’ll also explore the effectiveness of existing solutions and if new technology is a help or a hindrance.

Being able to negotiate well can impact so many important elements of your business, yet few people seem to spend the time to enhance their negotiation skills. This course will focus on five steps to more effective bargaining that can be used:

• with a client in analyzing, for example, the need for additional services,
• with a consultant to determine a fair allocation of risks and responsibilities,
• with an adversary to navigate through a claim or potential claim,
• with your manager in compensation discussions, or even
• with your insurance providers for better terms!

A recent major study found that 68% of design firms have strategic plans for a merger or acquisition in the next five years. This presentation will cover important considerations for firms considering merger or acquisition activity.

Design professionals often work together to carry out projects. Traditionally, these teams are established through various loose forms of association, most often with other firms or professionals that you have an ongoing relationship with. You will likely be familiar with this concept, but you may not be familiar with the potential legal and coverage issues which can arise when you engage in these loose forms of association. This presentation will identify several of those loose forms of association and will help you identify and understand the legal and insurance risks associated with each. It will also provide you with some best practices to employ in order to avoid problems down the road.

This course is designed to help you begin to understand the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the way it impacts design professionals. We will identify some ways to help you avoid liability and remain in compliance with the regulations.

Clients and owners are more frequently requesting and expecting innovative design from professionals. A thorough risk analysis and a careful review of contract language are both strategic tools to help you understand your liability and mitigate your risk.
Objectives:

• How implementing innovative designs or materials affects the standard of care
• The liabilities attached to the use of innovative designs and materials
• Project agreement strategies to mitigate risk in innovative designs and materials
• Personal strategies to mitigate risk in innovative designs and materials

Design firms and surveyors have an interest in protecting the health of their employees. It requires you to be knowledgeable of the exposures faced by your employees in the office, in the field, working at home, and working mobile. During this course we’ll familiarize you with ergonomic exposures, safety hazards, risk factors, and mitigation tools associated with a variety of traditional and trending work environments.

As design professionals you face many challenges delivering quality services to your client. You’re often challenged to deliver a quality design or service, for an agreed upon cost, within a specific period of time. Quality control practices can not only help you combat the impact of those challenges but they can also strengthen your organization as whole.

Why do firms take on projects that they think could be destined to fail? When you spend time analyzing the possibilities, you can start to see future problems. Our approach will guide you through the four steps of risk management—carefully identifying, assessing, managing, and controlling the risks in projects when you’re deciding if pursuing a project is a good idea.

When it comes to construction phase services, have you ever worked with a client on an extremely tight budget or a contractor who has unreasonable expectations? Then you have to factor in that the construction phase of a project is the most stressful and misunderstood part of a project. Today, we're diving into the importance of managing the risks that come with providing construction phase services and how you can learn from the mistakes of others.

Firms that provide surveying services have unique professional exposures, whether you're the one providing services or you're the one contracting with a surveying firm. In today's design environment, understanding and managing perils in many forms is important. The use of risk management practices and a sound contract can help you recognize and mitigate the risks that you face.).

*Updated February 22, 2018
“[D]ata…is the world’s new natural resource. It is the new basis of competitive advantage and it is transforming every profession and industry.” That being the case, “cybercrime is the greatest threat to every profession, every industry, every company in the world.”
This course will provide a quick overview of data breaches, the liabilities they pose, and what your business can do to mitigate those risks.

A Waiver of Subrogation clause is often given little attention and its importance is not realized until an unfortunate event takes place during a construction project. In this course, we will recognize the importance of and better understand Waivers of Subrogation.

This course is designed to introduce and review five standard contract provisions, explore their implications for your services, and propose some key considerations in negotiating more favorable contracts.

This webinar will provide insight into AIA's first release of 2017 contract documents. There are changes of critical importance to design professionals, and the updates in the owner-architect family of documents impact the role and responsibilities of the design professional directly. Having an understanding of these impacts can help design professionals better manage their project contracts with clients.

When organizing your file after a project is complete, what should you toss, and what should you keep? Did you ever have a project email you wish you could delete “by accident?” Did you ever have a project drawing that went out and was later corrected, so you wish you could make the initial drawing “disappear?” This seminar will provide guidance on document retention policies, covering the laws and rules prohibiting the destruction of evidence including electronically-stored information.

With a plethora of design firms nationwide, it is essential that firms set themselves apart in order to achieve valuable client relationships. This webinar reveals a few strategies that can help enhance a firm’s public exposure and increase a firm’s clientele.

One of the most significant issues facing design professionals involved in construction projects is how to keep workers safe at jobsites. Understanding site safety exposures and how design professionals can appropriately manage their risk and protect the public adds value to the workplace safety culture.

Project disputes can be costly and time consuming. Project selection and careful contract execution are good first steps, but claims happen. How you work with your client and what method of dispute resolution you select can influence your likelihood of a successful resolution.

The October 2017 release of AIA’s Contract Documents focuses on additional revisions to the more frequently used project forms. The new revisions focus on coordinating these documents with the other newly revised forms from April 2017. Design professionals are providing services beyond the traditional basic services, so these updated forms help keep pace with industry trends.

This course is an interactive Q&A session with insurance professionals and attorneys discussing current best practices and standard of care issues. Participants will compare and contrast practice procedures to other design professionals in their locale.

This course will cover what happens if a project misses a specific rating required to obtain a GSA tenant and what potential damages flow from that. A discussion will be held on lessons learned from the LEED challenge over a school in Wisconsin. We will also give an update of current codes and regulations?

This course will cover construction contract administration liabilities such as:

• Liability for not discovering, or discovering, defective work
• Liability for job site accidents
• Liability for impacting contractor’s performance
• Liability to owner or surety on applications for payment

This course is an interview with a Washington, DC law firm discussing the critical contract provisions that need to be understood and negotiated when entering into a professional services agreement.

Documentation Do’s and Don’ts is a course designed to give participants the knowledge they need for effective documentation and records retention in the event of a claim.

This is a two part course covering The Professional Liability Risk Management Toolbox and an interview on Basic Rules for Construction Contract Administration.

This course is an interview with Arthur Schwartz, Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel, National Society of Professional Engineers, on the liability laws affecting design professionals.

The course is an interview with two attorneys, John 'Jack' Slimm and Dante C. Rohr of the law firm Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin. The course will discuss information furnished by others: confidentiality, right to rely, and intellectual property concerns.

What are some of the most common ways that project delays are created, and how can these situations be avoided? How is construction contract administration related to project delays and what are some of the current trends in construction claims that result from delays? This course will address what tools and documentation can help an a/e firm in successfully defending a claim and provide some recommended steps to take when a claim for extras arises.

This course will cover the pros and cons of using litigation, arbitration, or mediation as a means of dispute resolution.

This course is a discussion on limitation of liability provisions in professional service agreements. It explores the interrelationship of a limitation of liability clause with other risk reduction clauses that should be part of standard design agreements and provides negotiation strategies for conversations with clients.

Every design professional — from the new college graduate who is practicing as an intern to the seasoned professional who is running a project, a studio, a division, or a firm — can benefit from learning to negotiate better. This course will begin with the definition of negotiation as it applies uniquely to design professionals, and develop a specific approach to negotiation — principled negotiation — for design professionals. Participants will better understand power and leverage, how to get it and keep it.

In January 2011, DesignIntelligence published “25 Trends Transforming Architecture and Design.” Top trends on the list included developments in technology, sustainability, project delivery, and talent and leadership shortages in A/E/C. With such changes and challenges in mind, and looking forward to further findings for 2012, how does a firm prepare for the coming year(s)? One tool offered by Cramer and his colleague Scott Simpson is “The Next Architect's Toolbox.” This workshop will review 11 questions that will help a design professional prepare for the future keeping current trends in mind.

Cases, claims, and circumstances can alter the landscape for a professional practice. Prudent design professionals monitor changes in regulations, case law, insurance, and public interest in order to assess their impact on the profession. This course features perspectives on these issues from both legal and insurance professionals.

In January 2011, DesignIntelligence published “25 Trends Transforming Architecture and Design.” Top trends on the list included developments in technology, sustainability, project delivery, and talent and leadership shortages in A/E/C. With such changes and challenges in mind, and looking forward to further findings for 2012, how does a firm prepare for the coming year(s)? One tool offered by Cramer and his colleague Scott Simpson is “The Next Architect's Toolbox.” This workshop will review 11 questions that will help a design professional prepare for the future keeping current trends in mind.

This course will explore on a 5-year forecast basis likely area/market segments of growth/retraction for design professionals.

Knowing whether or not a prospective client is willing to effectively and fairly negotiate contract terms should be a primary determination in the client selection process. This course is a discussion of key contract terms and other potential hazards.

This course is an overview of some recent case law that has received national attention and which presents potentially disastrous results for the design community at large.

Effective sales strategies are crucial in today’s challenging economic environment. Are yours working against you? This course will provide strategies and tactics to succeed. Through a combination of attitude, behavior, and technique evaluations, we will show how these elements can help you reach a higher level of success. We’ll discuss how to put together a prospecting plan and develop it into business opportunities. We’ll also show how establishing a relationship through bonding and rapport with a prospective client will lead to more successful sales.

Construction delay claims can be caused by many factors, ranging from owner-caused claims to unusually severe weather. This course will examine why construction delay claims are brought, how to effectively analyze them, what some of the important contractual clauses are in the analysis, and how design professionals can defend against them.

This course offers an analysis of the common problems that occur during the contract administration phase and provides a review of some best practices to help avoid those problems.

With the effects of the economy on the design and build communities many projects were stopped. Some were stopped at the early stages of Schematic Design while others were stopped during the construction process. Slowly, some of the stopped projects are restarting. The ramifications of stopping and restarting, typically, is not business as usual. This course will explore, discuss, and provide guidance on the risks and liabilities with stopping and restarting projects. The pertinent discussion topics will include: potential contractual issues, what to avoid and what to ask for; practical guidance on getting paid; copyright concerns; and other issues that a Design Professional should be aware of before restarting a stopped project. This is a timely presentation as many stopped projects are now restarting.

As the economy recovers, the design firms that have positioned themselves best will reap the greatest advantages. In this course, a lawyer, a risk manager, and an insurance broker — all of whom are dedicated to serving design professionals — will help evaluate how design firms can position themselves for the balance of 2012 and beyond.

Design Professionals are often asked — by proposed contracts, lender requested documents, or in other ways — to certify that their designs will, or do, comply with all building codes and other applicable laws. This course will address the reasons why certifications of those types should never be given; the ways in which such requests can be reasonably resisted; and the alternative words that can be used to fulfill the fair expectations of the requesting parties.

Expectations of perfection and other misconceptions result in clients viewing design professionals as a source of cost recovery on projects that have run over budget, have encountered changed conditions, or have a construction contractor that submits change orders to increase their own compensation. This course will explore the sources of these misconceptions as well as how design professionals can address them.

As a design professional, are you knowledgeable about the different types of construction industry bonds and your possible role in the event of a contractor default? This course will provide a short history of Suretyship and elaborate on the various types of bonds that exist today. We will also discuss the role of design professionals in various contractor default scenarios from the standpoint of a Surety’s investigation. Lastly, a discussion will be held on the implications for design professionals and sureties in LEED projects.

A 2011 decision, Michaels, et al. v. CH2M Hill, Inc., in the Supreme Court of the State of Washington reveals a case in which horrific facts have led to very problematic changes in the risk calculation for design professionals in Washington and perhaps other states. Design professional immunity is significantly eroded in Washington and design professionals must anticipate that future plaintiffs will raise new and creative theories of liability based on this Court’s conception of what “plans and specifications” must include and how the standard of care is now measured.

This course will be a review of significant recent developments in the law for Design Professionals including, but not limited to: limitations of liability, contractual definitions of the standard of care, clauses defining construction observation duties, statutes of limitations, choice of applicable law, choice of forum, and choice of venue. We’ll also close with a discussion on where business might be generated in the next two years.

This course reviews significant recent developments in the law relating to Design Professionals. It includes in-depth discussions of meaningful contract provisions and their impact on potential liability exposure and risk management.

In an August 2012 decision, the Nevada Supreme Court held that ADA was enacted to remedy discrimination against disabled individuals and to prevent discrimination. Thus, the owner of a place of public accommodation that constructs a facility not readily accessible to individuals with disabilities, regardless of intent, is liable for unlawful discrimination. In its decision, the Nevada Court further held (excluding landlord-tenant relationships) that the ADA contains no provisions permitting indemnity or allocation of liability between the various entities subject to the ADA.

With the changes and challenges of 2012 in mind, and thinking about forecasts for new issues in 2013, how does a design firm get ready for the coming years? This course will review the questions — and some answers — that will help design professionals prepare for what’s to come.

Electronically stored information including emails, attachments, and other data stored in various media is part of the framework of litigation discovery. Failure to comply can result in sanctions, monetary penalties, and potentially losing an otherwise winnable case. Complying can be expensive and damaging if not managed effectively. This course will review the rules, the risks, and a plan for addressing the issues.

Allocated Design, Collaborative Design, Delegated Design, Integrated Design and Shared Design: The sophistication of modern building envelopes and systems, and new project delivery systems, has increased the number of contributors of relationships among them. In this course, we will help you to identify and manage (by avoidance or control) the risks created by these developments of modern design.

When project information is exchanged between owners, contractors, and design professionals, what are the rights, risks, and responsibilities that each party needs to consider? Does a design professional automatically have a right to rely upon information that is furnished by a contractor or an owner? What confidentiality issues arise? How might those responsibilities be addressed or modified by contract? What are the intellectual property concerns to keep in mind? This in-depth course will address each of these questions by leading industry experts.

This course will be a review of significant recent developments in the law for Design Professionals including, but not limited to:

• limitations of liability
• contractual definitions of the standard of care
• clauses defining construction observation duties
• statutes of limitations
• choice of applicable law
• choice of forum, and
• choice of venue

We’ll also close with a discussion on where business might be generated in the next two years.

This course will focus on the importance of written contracts between building inspection engineers and other design professionals, contractors, and owners. It is intended to educate building inspection engineers about the key provisions to consider when either using a standard contract or negotiating a non-standard contract.

For most design professionals, the “worst-case scenario” is a substantial professional liability claim. Evaluating past claims allows us to evaluate what went wrong and how public health, safety and welfare may have been compromised almost always inadvertently. Errors originate in proposed contracts; in interpretation of laws, codes, and regulations; in lender-requested documents; or in other ways. This course will address how these issues can be identified, assessed, and mitigated for the protection of all.

This course will be a review of recent court decisions and how they affect a design professional’s practice. Topics that will be addressed and reviewed include:

• Site Safety
• Indemnification
• ADA/Compliance with Law
• Third Party Claims
• Economic Loss Doctrine
• Change Order Procedures

Explosive growth over the past two decades has changed the physical landscape in Colorado in fundamental ways. The same can now be said for the legal landscape as well. Today more than ever, it is critical for you and your business to understand not just your expertise and your market, but also the developing legal environment in which you work. Before you take on any project, you must fully understand that your work will have long-lasting impacts that reach far beyond your clients, business partners and employees. This is a thorough and fast-paced discussion about the current trends in design and construction defect law in Colorado.

This course will provide insight regarding contractual terms and practical advice to help design professionals get paid for services.

Wherever you live and work, your business is inevitably exposed to emergency situations. They might include natural disasters like windstorms, floods, earthquakes, or winter storms. Emergency situations can also involve man-made disasters like fires, chemical emergencies, or episodes of terrorism on varying scales. Increasingly technology threats, including cyber incidents, are becoming more catastrophic as cyber criminals become more savvy. How will you protect your income and assets when disaster strikes?

All projects pose risk. Statistically, though, some aspects of those projects pose increased risk to design professionals. In this course, we’ll focus on some of the risk-intensive aspects of design and construction projects.

For many design professionals, a typical project is of short duration and relatively low cost, and may involve team members with whom you have pre-existing working relationships. Negotiating a lengthy contract might not make sense and could take longer than the project itself. Some design professionals “solve” that problem by not having a contract at all, but we all know that’s not an ideal solution. This course will provide some ideas on how to write contracts for small projects.

No one is immune from data breaches. There are more than a handful of types of data security breaches, and data security is threatened in a number of different ways. Laws protect “personal information,” and professional service firms are obligated to abide by those laws. How can professional service firms protect themselves against — or at least prepare themselves for — what could be an inevitable breach?

Our clients often ask us mediation, arbitration or jury trial? If the decision could only be as simple as choosing the right words! However, significance should your honeymoon with your client end in divorce. This course will walk participants through some of the key components and considerations to help a design professional decide which dispute resolution mechanism might be better for a particular project or client type.

While design professionals may be well-versed in the practical responsibilities of their craft, their ethical obligations are not always as clearly defined or as intuitive as one may think. Continuing education rarely addresses the ethical implications presented by purely legal solutions. This lack of adequate knowledge can lead to even the most conscientious architect and/or engineer unknowingly violating his/her ethical obligations. This course will outline the legal requirements to help successfully navigate through difficult issues that arise during business development, the design and construction of projects, and in dealing with clients and colleagues. Armed with a better understanding of various Codes of Ethics, participants will be better prepared to avoid missteps and better able to represent their own firm, their clients and their profession.

Superstorm Sandy and other recent disasters have shown businesses just how vulnerable they are to loss and disruptions. Although many businesses have policies in place, those businesses are inadequately prepared for losses and the amount of time required addressing those losses.

There are three contract issues that are often overlooked, but are key tools to managing and mitigating risk: being mindful of documents that are incorporated into the contract by reference, defining a clear scope of services and limiting liability. This course will review those three concepts and explore ways in which each might increase or decrease the risks to a design professional.

This course provides an overview of key strategies and techniques for selecting project teams and creating contract agreements for them. In particular, the course will focus on important contract provisions that address the scope of services, allocation of shared liabilities, and “flow down” obligations from the prime agreement, ultimately focusing on the liabilities of entering into a contract of this type.

Employment liability covers wrongful acts arising from the employment process and claims such as: wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. This first part of this course will give a brief overview of the exposures, followed by a description of methods to control them.

Architects and engineers, like other professionals, often have access to their clients’ personal and financial details. At the same time, they may possess comparable information about their clients’ clients. As a result, architects and engineers are at risk for being sued if and when something happens to that information — such as when a laptop or cell phone is misplaced or stolen or a hacker breaches a firm’s or client’s systems and accesses the client’s personally identifiable and/or confidential information. This course will cover why design professionals are at risk, how to create and implement best practices, and the advantages of cyber, privacy and technology (CPT) insurance coverage.

This course is a review of legal decisions across the United States that affect design professionals, both from a professional and business standpoint. The cases allow you to shore up your responsibilities to help alleviate legal problems or personal problems in the future.

Whether you’re an architect, engineer, surveyor, landscape architect, or other design professional, your profession is regulated and guided by various requirements. Lawyers (and your colleagues) know these requirements and will hold you to those standards whether or not you know them yourself. Therefore, it’s important to exercise caution to avoid fines, loss of licensure, or other penalties.

In 2011, a three-judge panel of the Austin, TX, Court of Appeals heard a case brought against the architecture firm Black + Vernooy. The case and its outcome teach several important lessons to review in this course.

Not all contracts last to completion!
This course will outline the most common events which prompt termination and discuss how parties to the contract may amicably separate themselves from contractual duties.

Employment practices liability covers wrongful acts arising from the employment process and claims such as: termination, discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. The first part of this course will give a brief overview of the exposures, followed by a description of methods to help control them.

Whether you’re an architect, engineer, surveyor, landscape architect, or other design professional, when contracting with other parties, there are standards for good faith and fair dealing that you are ethically obligated to practice. This course will teach you the most common ethical pitfalls of contracting with other parties, how to avoid them, and how courts will interpret the discrepancies if they arise.

The federal government sets measurable goals for small business subcontracting that contractors must attempt to meet. Failing to make a “good faith effort” towards meeting those goals can have negative consequences, including liquidated damages, default termination, and negative performance reviews. This course provides practical advice for subcontracting plan compliance, as well as other tips and pointers on today’s hot-button small business contracting issues.

Running your design firm successfully requires defining and measuring against key performance indicators. This course will review some of the most common financial metrics used to help manage firms and make better business decisions.

As with many things, in employment law, prevention is the key to avoiding expensive mistakes and legal battles. No company wants to become embroiled in an employment-related dispute. They can be costly, disruptive, and media relations nightmares. This course is intended to help you prevent and minimize the risk of litigation, and to strengthen your position if dispute avoidance is not possible.

The typical design professional fee is split 80% for the design and construction document creation and 20% for construction contract administration services. While construction contract administration is an essential service offered by design professionals, most claims against design professionals now include an allegation relating to negligence in the construction contract administration services. Owners increasingly expect design professionals to protect them from improper performance of the contractor, or to take risks related to design changes and substitutions intended to modify project cost. This course will explore the risks that design professionals face when providing construction contract administration services. We will identify the sources of these risks and learn how design professionals can mitigate them without compromising public health, safety and welfare.

In this course we learn how to manage time and energy more effectively to achieve greater results with less effort and to successfully set and achieve goals. This includes using the 80/20 rule, entrepreneurial time management principles, fine-tuning how we manage our to do lists — all with the purpose of setting and achieving clearly defined, written goals and objectives.

When you are at a job site, your first and foremost duty is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of yourself, your employees, your consultants, and the general public. This course will strive to get you to not only think about the job you have to do, but to also be aware of everything that is going on around the project. Understanding all the exposures on a job site will help you complete your part of the project safely and without costly delays.

By providing project managers with the right skills and tools, your firm can more effectively manage projects, meet client expectations, and achieve more successful project outcomes.
Participants will:

• Incorporate additional structure into project management
• Recognize the value of a broader set of project management skills
• Better understand how ongoing risk identification impacts a project’s success
• Gain tools to assist in your firm’s support and buy-in for new project management techniques

As design professionals you have a responsibility to your profession and to the public. You’re held to a certain standard and expected to use your authority appropriately. Ethics then impacts, and sometimes challenges, the decisions you make and the way you conduct your business.
Objectives:

• Understand professional ethics for design professionals in the context of selected managerial theory
• Learn how the standard of care and ethics interact
• Consider liability exposures and problem areas that can affect your business and the public
• Apply the lessons from others’ mistakes to be more productive professionals and to better serve the public

Wherever you work, you’re exposed to situations that may require an emergency response. You might encounter natural disasters like windstorms, floods, earthquakes and winter storms, or man-made disasters like fires, chemical spills, or terrorism. Do you know your risks and do you have a plan to protect your business, your employees, and the public when disaster strikes?

Recruiting, hiring, and integrating new employees has always presented challenges and risks. With over 2,000 employment related claims filed on an average workday, implementing carefully considered hiring, integration, and termination policies is an important risk management strategy for your business.

According to the 2015 ACEC Professional Liability Insurance Survey, only 3% of claims against design professionals were resolved by going to trial. Conversely, 88% of the respondents said that they settled their claims through negotiation or mediation. This course will explain some of the reasons behind those statistics.

The course will address issues of importance for Architects and Engineers including: allocation and management of risks and avoidance of claims; key contract provisions and concerns; and recent legal developments and trends.

Many business owners assume that the best protection in an emergency is to evacuate as quickly as possible. That strategy may not serve your firm well in events like severe storms, flooding, or threats of violence. Developing a multi-fauceted approach is the key to protecting health, safety, and welfare.

Submittals, substitutions and new products are three areas that can lead to increased risks on your projects. This course will review standard procedures, suggested contract language, and other avenues to improve coordination for the benefit of the project, the owner, and the public health, safety and welfare.

This course will explore risks to professional service firms, costs associated with certain types of internet crimes, benefits of the insurance designed to cover those risks, and other non-insurance protections.

Most projects begin on a positive note. The design professional is focused on what services they’ll be providing, and their client is happy to have secured the right team to achieve their ultimate objective. No one is likely envisioning how they’d end the contractual relationship. Prudent design firms understand how to assess their risk when selecting a client, but even the most thorough due diligence doesn’t always uncover problematic clients who may need to be fired.