I. Business Management Issues

• Professional Liability and Your Accounts Receivable  
• Could You Be Liable for Employees on Loan?  
• Requiring Certificates of Insurance from Subconsultants 
• Protecting Your Investment in Your Computer  
• What Really Happens When a Summons Is Served?  
• The New CGL Form, Part I: Preparing for Unsettling Changes  
• Why Not Turn the Tables and Select Your Client Instead?
• Cooperating with Lenders Without Giving Away the Farm  
• Selecting an Attorney  
• Securing the Added Protection of the Builder's Risk Policy
• Construction Bonds, Part I: The Role of the Surety
• Construction Bonds, Part II: The New Performance Bond
• An Unwelcome Surprise from the Federal Government
• Renting Cars on Company Business--High Stakes in a New Game
• The Insurance Implications of Your Lease  
• Peer Review: A Modest Initiative Gains Industry-wide Momentum
• A Strategic Approach to Recruiting and Hiring
• Coping with Inordinate Risk  
• Strategies for Getting Paid on Time
• On Dealing with Joint Ventures
• The Condominium Nightmare
• Subconsultants' Insurance and Indemnification
• Design-Build, Part I: Assessing the Risks
• Design-Build, Part II: Best Practices

II. Contract Review and Negotiation

• On Negotiating More Equitable Agreements
• Coping with the Question of Ownership of Documents
• Construction Costs, Part I: Estimating the Accuracy of Your "Estimates"  
• Construction Costs, Part II: Coping with the Guaranteed Maximum Cost  
• Indemnification, Part I: Identifying Acceptable Risks
• Negotiating Strategies, Part I: Starting Relatively Even  
• A Practical Approach to the Problem of Certification  
• Negotiating Strategies, Part II: Recognizing Your Strengths
• An Update on the Approval of Shop Drawings  
• Negotiating Strategies, Part III: Lessons from Successful Negotiators  
• Indemnification, Part II: Who Indemnifies Whom?
• The Termination Provisions of Your Agreement
• A Checklist for Reviewing Client Contract Forms
• Unintended Responsibility for Unintended Services
• On the Use and Misuse of Standard Documents  
• Can You Really Comply with All Laws?  
• When Quality Control Becomes a Contractual Obligation
• CADD Alert: The Owner Wants Your Disks!
• Who Pays for Your Errors and Omissions?  
• Explaining Your Inability to Indemnify  
• When Your Client Wants to be Named As an Additional Insured
• The Importance of a Written Understanding  
• If Claims Are Inevitable on Bid Public Work...
• Seeking Reasonable Protections from the Contractor
• When Your Place on the Short-List Requires Accepting the Unacceptable
• How Much Control Do You Really Have over the Project Schedule?
• Are Your As-Built Drawings Really "As-Built?"
• Reliance on Information Provided by Others  
• What Do I Do with a Client Purchase Order Form?  
• Should You Have to do Battle over Every Flaw in Your Performance
• Prevailing Party Language May Strengthen Your Hand
• Avoiding the Unwarranted Extreme   
• Architects Beware: A Firm Handshake May Not Work Anymore!  

III. Legal Principles

• An Emerging Duty to Inform?  
• Methods for Dispute Resolution, Part I: The Litigation Process   
• On Being an Expert Witness   
• Limitation of Liability, Part I: A Controversial Innovation   
• When Something Falls Between the Trades  
• Limitation of Liability, Part II: Is it Time for a Call to Action? 
• If Coverage Under Your Policy is Called into Question  
• Evaluating the Liability Implications of Indoor Pollution  
• Is the Negligence Standard Obsolete?  
• Is Everything As it Should Be with the New AIA Standard Forms?  
• Expert Witnesses: Guarding Against the Improprieties of a Few  
• Who Are Those Third Parties, and Why Are They Suing You?  
• The Attorneys General Have Plans for Your Practice  
• Will Binding Arbitration Go the Way of the Dinosaur?  
• Is It Time to Change the Rules on Bidding for Public Construction?  
• The Relentless Challenge of Safety on the Site  
• Reassessing the Issue of Responsibility for Shop Drawings  
• Methods for Dispute Resolution: The Mediation Alternative
• The Copyright Act of 1990: New Benefits, New Risks  
• The Litigation Process (or Why Mediation Can Be Worth a Try)  

IV. Office Practices and Procedures

• Organizing an Early Warning System  
• An Early Look at the Liability Implications of CADD  
• Project Recordkeeping, Part I: Records Are Better Than Memories  
• Project Recordkeeping, Part II: Avoiding Errors and Omissions in the Files  
• A Duty to the Contractors' Surety?  
• Investing in the Library
• On Communicating with Bidders  
• Increasing the Effectiveness of the Spoken Word  
• Protecting Your Greatest Asset  
• Employees vs. Independent Contractors: Does the Distinction Matter?  
• What Is It About Moonlighting?  
• The Job-Site Safety Dilemma: Actions Speak Louder Than Words  
• Project Recordkeeping, Part III: How Long Should I Keep My Records?  

V. Professional Liability Insurance

• Project Insurance: An Answer on Some Projects  
• Am I Covered After I Leave the Firm?  
• Coping with Chaos in the Insurance Marketplace  
• Some Considerations on Changing Carriers  
• Anticipating the Tides of Change, Part I: The Asbestos Exclusion  
• Anticipating the Tides of Change, Part II: The Absolute Pollution Exclusions  
• Best's Ratings and What They Mean  
• Steady Hands at the Helm Through Hard Markets and Soft  
• Monumental Efforts Sometimes Pay Off Handsomely  
• What Limits of Professional Liability Insurance Should I Carry?  
• Selecting a Professional Liability Insurance Broker  
• On Federal Disallowance of Your Professional Liability Insurance Premiums  
• A Word About Premium Credits for Good Behavior  
• When Your Client Insists on More Insurance than You Carry  

VI. Professional Practices

• On the Selection of Contractors  
• Approaching Renovation with Reasonable Precautions in Mind  
• Would You Accept Partial Services from Your Doctor?  
• A Close Look at Your Shop Drawing Practices  
• Making a Stronger Team of the Design Team  
• Are Your Field Representatives Really Ready for the Field?  
• Substitution Dilemmas, Part I: Relying on Exclusionary Specifications  
• Change Orders, Part I: The Owner's Expectations
• Change Orders, Part II: Precluding Unnecessary Conflict  
• Taking a Look at Quality from Your Client's Point of View  
• Who Retains the Geotechnical Engineer?  
• Words of Caution to Those Who Market Your Services  
• The Client Selection Continuum  
• On the Use of Multiple Primes  
• Who Hires the Testing Laboratory?  
• Substitution Dilemmas, Part II: Maintaining Control  
• Responding to the Environmental Concerns of the Owner's Lender
• Guarding the Owner Against Defects and Deficiencies in the Work  
• Challenging the Ground Rules on Projects Let for Bid  
• Restoring Confidence in Your Construction Phase Services  
• Facing the Realities of Fast-Track Construction  
• If Bidding Is Your Only Option  

For inquiries or problems please contact us via e-mail at Dee Pahlke or call us directly at 800-705-7742.
© 2005 Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Professional Practice Insurance Brokers, Inc. All Rights Reserved. California License #0641361.