We were excited to see that AIA Florida picked up this timely article by Mark Jackson of Jackson Collinsworth Johnson, an a/e ProNet member. Hope you find it helpful, too!
There are two important contract clauses that design professionals should include with every client contract. The first clause provides protection to individuals and the second limits the firm’s liability.
Individual Protection
The first clause we recommend gives individual protection for your licensed professionals. In 2013, the State of Florida signed a law relating to design professionals known as the Fairness in Liability legislation. Beginning July 1, 2013, design firms are now able to negotiate contracts that protect their professional employees from being sued individually by their clients.
The new law grants design professional employees immunity from liability for economic damages resulting from negligence occurring during the course and scope of a professional services contact. The law does require that the design firm maintain professional liability insurance as required under the contract.
The new law also extends to individuals the protection of contractual limitation of liability clauses. This comes four years after the courts ruled that individual professional employees were not protected by limitation of liability clauses in a contract. (Florida appellate court case Witt v. La Gorce Country Club, Inc., 34 Fla.L., Weekly D1161a)
Design professionals should take advantage of the benefits of this new law. Your contracts should be amended to include language that an individual employee cannot be held liable for negligence. The law has five conditions for this protection to apply:
1. The contract is made between the design firm and the client.
2. Individual employees are not to be named as a party to the contract. All professional services contracts need to be made between the client and the business entity.
3. The design firm must maintain Professional Liability insurance, as required by contract.
4. The contract contains a prominent statement, in uppercase font that is at least five point sizes larger than the rest of the text, that an individual employee or agent may not be individually liable for negligence.
5. Any damages are solely economic in nature and the damages do not extend to personal injuries or property not subject to the contract.