Guest Essays

Public and private sector entities are increasingly concerned with the energy costs associated with the built environment. These costs, including extraction and production of materials as well as construction, maintenance and eventual disposal, constitute a sizeable chunk of the energy consumption of most developed countries. In these countries, the U.S. included, forty percent or more of all the materials extracted annually end up in the built environment. Similarly, thirty percent of all primary energy consumption in the U.S. (even more in other areas such as Europe) can be attributed to the built environment.

The last few years have been particularly tumultuous due to a number of factors, not the least of which has been the prevailing “hard market” conditions in the insurance industry in general. The insurance market for engineer’s professional liability coverage has seen both the emergence of new facilities, which are providing new capacity and competition, and the loss of a handful of insurers who have withdrawn from the market for strategic or financial reasons. This article will discuss ways to maximize your professional liability broker relationship to protect your firm from disruptions, including unexpected premium spikes, unexpected carrier switching, and disappointments with claim handling or payments.

Even when private work is slow, public clients can provide steady, visible projects. The legal stature of a public entity is different than that of a private client, giving the public entity a shield from some liabilities. In addition, the intended users of a public project provide a broad array of potential plaintiffs who may be faced with the inability to hold their government liable for whatever went wrong. The American litigation climate being what it is, one has to consider the effect of being the only solvent or insured target when something bad happens. Public work can be plentiful and profitable in otherwise tight economic times, but that work presents unusual risks that must be considered before entering the public arena.

The purpose of this Article is to document an alarming trend with which Design Professionals are all too familiar. This trend is Owners trying to impose more and more onerous indemnity provisions on Design Professionals. This trend shows no current sign of abatement. Both private and public owners are increasingly attempting to impose extremely problematic indemnity clauses which can present a difficult dilemma for Design Professionals: sign on the dotted line or walk away from the work.

The purpose of this Article is to document an alarming trend with which Design Professionals are all too familiar. This trend is Owners trying to impose more and more onerous indemnity provisions on Design Professionals. This trend shows no current sign of abatement. Both private and public owners are increasingly attempting to impose extremely problematic indemnity clauses which can present a difficult dilemma for Design Professionals: sign on the dotted line or walk away from the work.