For 54 years, Schinnerer has provided defense attorneys and in-house counsels and risk managers with an annual conference to discuss both legal and professional practice developments. In 2015, this two-day continuing education program was held from May 28-29 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Participation in this conference is by invitation only, but the end-result of this meeting is valuable to all members of the design and construction industry.
That end-result is the papers and presentations from this year’s group of speakers. Feedback from speakers and attendees at this year’s meeting was resoundingly positive, and all mentioned the value of the papers and presentations and the legal analysis contained within. We encourage all of our policyholders and brokers to download those topics most prevalent to their practices.
This year’s topics included:
- Case Law Update: What Design Professionals and Their Counsels Need to Know—a summary of important legal cases that may shape practice for design professionals
- Judge or Jury? Pros and Cons and Factors to Evaluate for Each—arguments for and against judge and jury trials
- Judge or Jury? Criteria for Selecting a Bench or Jury Trial—helpful criteria to help design professionals and their defense counsels decide which trial is best for them
- Handling Potential Spoliation of Evidence Issues When Representing the Design Professional—maintaining project records is critical, and required by law, in defending a lawsuit
- Great Expectations: What Design Firms Expect from Outside Counsel—discussion of what firms look for in their outside legal counsel
- Collaboration or Conflict: What Results When a Claim Triggers Both General and Professional Liability Coverage—a case study is used to show how both types of coverage were triggered during a claim and the resolution of the issue
- Preparing to Participate in Design-Build: Solutions for Managing Risk—in-depth explanation of how firms can navigate the risks of design-build projects, especially if they have limited experience with such endeavors
- Moving to Closure: How to Navigate Project Closeout in Troubled Situations—a hypothetical scenario shows how firms could manage a troubled project through the final stages of project closeout
- Evolving Practice and the Standard of Care: Sustainability, Security, and Everything in Between—brief discussions of how advances in practice for sustainability, school security, and building information modeling may alter the standard of care
- Case Study: Falling Ice—Super Bowl XLV—the attorney for the defense discusses the details of the case and how he approached defending his design professional client
Each topic features a paper written by the speaker and the PowerPoint presentation they gave on the topic at the meeting. All are available on this year’s Invited Attorneys page.