This is a webcast of the live New York session.Why you should attend
Construction is one of the largest sectors in the U.S. economy. After several lean years, construction activity is beginning to pick up. The need for major infrastructure development is apparent, but tight budgets require novel contracting approaches. The Great Recession has resulted in the failure of many construction firms. This has placed a renewed emphasis on appropriate risk allocation. These challenging times require innovation in project delivery which in turn highlights the importance of good contract negotiation and drafting practices.
This program will explore project specific insurance for design risks; contractor and designer licensing, including the licensure for design/build contracting; as well as approaches to mitigating licensing risk, with an emphasis on design work in China, since the region has provided opportunities through the Great Recession. We take a further look at the design side of the industry with a focus on the changing landscape of the designer’s standard of care. With the rising importance of sustainable design and the influence of new technologies such as building information modeling, the design professional’s standard of care has never been more in flux. This program will focus on these new developments and what they mean for design professionals including novel approaches to establishing the standard of care such as a numerical threshold approach. A number of litigation topics also will be addressed. Developing appropriate approaches to handling e-discovery disputes in arbitration is challenging for both parties and arbitrators.
Our panelists will examine the importance of early intervention and cooperation in devising e-discovery plans for arbitration. Important ethical issues will be explored in the form of ethical considerations in mediation and negotiation. By attending this course, you will be able to recognize important negotiation, contracting, dispute resolution risks, and develop appropriate strategies for successfully addressing them.
What you will learn
- Major issues for design professionals considering work in China
- How to craft appropriate insurance provisions for the simple to sophisticated construction project
- To evaluate and develop e-discovery plans for arbitration
- To identify and evaluate the licensing challenges arising in connection with particular types of construction undertakings
- The critical issues in negotiating and drafting a joint venture agreement
- A deep appreciation of the designer’s standard of care in a changing construction landscape and what it means for evaluating design professional performance
- Plus earn one full hour of ethics credit
Who should attend
Practitioners representing owners, contractors, designers, insurers, regulators and others with a stake in construction. Attorneys and allied professionals who want a firm grasp of construction risk allocation from several perspectives will find this seminar a valuable resource.
PLI Group Discounts
Groups of 4-14 from the same organization, all registering at the same time, for a PLI program scheduled for presentation at the same site, are entitled to receive a group discount. For further discount information, please contact membership@pli.edu or call (800) 260-4PLI.
PLI Can Arrange Group Viewing to Your Firm
Contact the Groupcasts Department via email at groupcasts@pli.edu for more details.
Cancellations
All cancellations received 3 business days prior to the program will be refunded 100%. If you do not cancel within the allotted time period, payment is due in full. You may substitute another individual to attend the program at any time.
All times are E.D.T.
Morning Session: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (E.D.T.)
9:00 Opening Remarks and Introduction
9:15 Project Insurance, Risk Allocation and Delivery Methods; Standard of Care-The Threshold Approach
A. Project-Specific Professional Liability Insurance and Project Delivery Methods: Risk Allocation Considerations and Functional Alignment
- Purpose and utility of Project-Specific Professional Liability Insurance
- Project Delivery Methods and Risk Allocation
- Design-Bid-Build
- Design-Build
- Public-Private Partnerships
- Alignment of Project Delivery Risk Allocation with Project-Specific Professional Liability Insurance Coverage
B. The Threshold Approach (allowable A/E imperfection) in Evaluating Errors and Omissions
- What is the Threshold Approach
- Calculating the Threshold
- Limitations on the Threshold Approach
- Supporting the Threshold Approach
- Threshold Approach Contract Clause
David Hatem, David W. Mockbee
10:15 Successfully Managing Electronically Stored Information in Construction Disputes
- Why do we care about ESI (electronically stored information)?
- How are construction cases unique in handling ESI?
- What standards do the courts impose on counsel and parties for handling ESI?
- How can lawyers and clients avoid getting into trouble with ESI?
- How can you recover costs from the other side?
- What is the cutting edge technology we should all know about?
- What are the trends for the future?
- What is the impact of arbitration on ESI issues?
- How can costs be contained?
Jennifer W. Fletcher, Alison A. Grounds
11:15 Networking Break
11:30 JV’s - Domestic and Global Perspectives
- Exploring hot button issues for joint venture agreements from the perspective of domestic and foreign partners
- Control & Management (including special issues for construction projects; sovereign wealth funds)
- Distributions
- Dispute Resolution
- Exit Strategies
- Developer Partner Issues - fees, guarantees
- Financing
- Structuring a venture with a foreign partner
A.J. Manion, Steven L. Wilner
12:30 Lunch
Afternoon Session: 1:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. (E.D.T.)
1:45 Challenges for US Design Professionals Working in the People’s Republic of China
- Application of legal concepts in the civil law government structure of the PRC
- Structured regulatory system governing construction projects and foreign firms
- Cultural aspects of proposing design services and contractual terms and conditions
- Various entities involved in construction projects, and the allocation of risks among these entities
Robyn Baker
2:45 Confronting the Lack of Uniformity in State Licensing Rules / Insurance Provisions
A. Confronting the Lack of Uniformity in State Licensing Rules
- Variations in state rules for contractors, A/E's and design builders
- Practical issues associated with license applications
- Setting up execution and scheduling plans for multi-state licensing strategies
- Instituting internal controls
- Contract drafting issues
- Structuring transactions
- Implications for mergers and acquisitions
B. Insurance Provisions
- Identifying the correct mix of coverages for your project
- Specifying meaningful additional insured protection consistent with what is available in the market
- Drafting for integrated insurance programs such as owner controlled insurance programs
- Drilling down on notice, certificates of insurance, limits of coverage and post completion issues
Josh M. Leavitt, Patrick J. O'Connor, Jr.
3:45 Networking Break
4:00 Ethics in Arbitration and Mediation
A. Ethics in Arbitration
- Is arbitration "really" confidential?
- Who has to disclose what and when? Arbitrator Disclosures and Counsel Disclosures
- Is an arbitrator allowed to do independent research upon which the Arbitrator will render an Award?
- Post Award reward to the Arbitrator
- Is the Attorney arbitrator an attorney or an arbitrator?
- Social networking and the arbitrator
- Is it permissible for an attorney to represent a client in an arbitration is another state when the attorney is not admitted to practice law in that state?
B. Ethics in Mediation
- Confidentiality and candor as twin goals and challenges arising from the mediation process
- Addressing questions of authority to negotiate and settle;
- Mediator's role in providing legal advice, evaluations and proposals
- The role of conflicts and disclosure obligations of mediator
L. Tyrone Holt, Stanley P. Sklar
5:00 Adjourn
PLI makes every effort to accredit its Live Webcasts. Please check the CLE Calculator above for CLE information specific to your state.
PLI's Live Webcasts are approved for MCLE credit (
unless otherwise noted in the product description) in the following states/territories: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho*, Illinois, Indiana
1, Iowa*, Kansas*, Kentucky*, Louisiana, Maine*, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire*, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York
2, Ohio
3, Oklahoma, Oregon*, Pennsylvania
4, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia
5, Virgin Islands, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming*.
*PLI will apply for credit upon request.
Arizona: The State Bar of Arizona does not approve or accredit CLE activities for the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education requirement.
Arkansas and Oklahoma: Audio-only live webcasts are not approved for credit.
1Indiana: Considered a distance education course. There is a 6 credit limit per year.
2New York: Newly admitted attorneys may not take non-transitional course formats such as on-demand audio or video programs or live webcasts for CLE credit. Newly admitted attorneys not practicing law in the United States, however, may earn 12 transitional credits in non-traditional formats.
3Ohio: To confirm that the live webcast has been approved, please refer to the list of Ohio’s Approved Self Study Activities at http://www.sconet.state.oh.us. Online programs are considered self-study. Ohio attorneys have a 6 credit self-study limit per biennial compliance period. The Ohio CLE Board states that attorneys must have a 100% success rate in clicking on timestamps to receive ANY CLE credit for an online program.
4 Pennsylvania: A live webcast may be viewed individually or in a group setting. Credit may be granted to an attorney who views a live webcast individually. There is a 4.0 credit limit per year for this type of viewing. A live webcast viewed in a group setting receives live participatory credit if the program is open to the public and advertised at least 30 days prior to the program. Live webcasts viewed in a group setting that do not advertise at least 30 days prior the program will be considered "in-house", and therefore denied credit.
5Virginia: All distance learning courses are to be done in an educational setting, free from distractions.
Running time and CLE credit hours are not necessarily the same. Please be aware that many states do not permit credit for luncheon and keynote speakers.
Note that some states limit the number of credit hours attorneys may claim for online CLE activities, and state rules vary with regard to whether online CLE activities qualify for participatory or self-study credits. For more information, refer to your state CLE website or call Customer Service at (800) 260-4PLI (4754) or email: info@pli.edu.
If you have already received credit for attending some or the entire program, please be aware that state administrators do not permit you to accrue additional credit for repeat viewing even if an additional credit certificate is subsequently issued.