Architects Roundtable: Mitigating Your Legal Risks

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Architects regularly encounter contract language, project requirements, and owner-driven provisions that can create unexpected liability long before design work begins. Knowing what to identify—and when to seek guidance—can help protect your firm, your projects, and your professional reputation.

Join AIA Atlanta for an insightful breakfast conversation examining the legal, contractual, and insurance-related risks architects may face while pursuing and delivering project opportunities. Through real-world examples and practical guidance, panelists will highlight common pitfalls found in non-AIA Owner/Architect Agreements, problematic provisions that can increase professional liability exposure, and the phases of design and construction where claims and disputes are most likely to arise.

Panel

An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure: Mitigating Your Legal Risks in the Pursuit of a Project

The conversation will be moderated by Jim Eschleman, Managing Principal of REDCON Consulting, Expert Witness, and AAA Arbitrator. He will be joined by:

Tony Aeck, FAIA
Senior Principal
Lord Aeck Sargent

Staci Brinson
Risk Management & Education Specialist
AXA XL Insurance

Kent Stair
Senior Partner
Copeland, Stair, Valz & Lovell, LLP

Learning objectives

• Identify common legal, contractual, and insurance-related risks that arise when pursuing new project opportunities and entering Owner/Architect Agreements.
• Recognize problematic language and owner-driven provisions in non-AIA agreements that may increase an architect’s professional liability exposure.
• Evaluate how consultation with legal counsel and insurance advisors can help mitigate risk before executing project agreements.
• Apply practical strategies discussed by the architect, attorney, and insurance representative to avoid preventable disputes, claims, and coverage gaps during project pursuit and delivery.