Preventing Claims
Keep Your Premises And Business Operations Safe
It is important that design professionals keep common areas such as lobbies, hallways and sidewalks clean and safe and avoid disrepair. Unsafe conditions and areas in need of repair may lead to slips and falls or other accidents.
Likewise, daily operations of a business should be performed with care. For example, a design firm that recklessly sets up a model of a project in the client's office may cause damage to the client's office, leading to a claim. Procedures should be established and followed for all business activities.
Consider Your Comments Carefully
The risks of a defamation claim can be managed by careful consideration of comments regarding the professional services or performance of others. Statements regarding these matters should be limited to facts or statements of personal opinions based on known facts.
Familiarize Yourself with Copyright Law
The risks of copyright infringement can be managed by awareness of federal copyright law, protecting your own copyrights and obtaining proper licenses or permission when using the copyrighted materials of others. For a more detailed discussion on intellectual property risks, please see our publication Get Smart About Intellectual Property.
Have Your Contracts Reviewed by Legal Professionals
As with all contracts, review by your legal advisor is strongly recommended. Special attention should be given to any risk transfer or limit of liability provision, such as an indemnification provision. It is also important that applicable firm/staff are aware of the requirements of the contract. For example, firm/staff should be aware of the terms of the lease agreement to help minimize the chance of a claim arising out of a breach of a lease of the premises.
Please note, there is contractual coverage for agreements to indemnify a municipality when such indemnification is required by ordinance. Regardless of whether the indemnification is required by ordinance or in another agreement, it is important that the indemnification be limited to claims that would be covered by the CGL policy.
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