There is an ever-increasing trend in civil litigation by claimants’ counsel to extend
the liability net to include professionals whenever possible.Claimants view professionals as targets of
opportunity for three primary reasons: (1) highly educated and licensed
professionals are expected to adhere to the standards of practice in their
fields; (2) most professionals carry liability insurance; and (3) professionals
closely-guard their reputations as the key to their livelihoods.The statistics are telling – there is a
significant likelihood that every professional practicing in the public arena
will be sued at least once in his or her career.When the unfortunate time comes, the
professional must turn to counsel who is not only an expert in navigating the legal
issues while protecting the client’s reputation and practice, but also who is highly
knowledgeable in the professional’s field of practice.
Possessing these qualities, we have developed extensive experience defending professional
liability claims against Design Professionals and Attorneys.Scott McDaniel’s insight into the practice of
Engineering and Architecture gained through his 11 years as a practicing
Registered Professional Engineer affords him the rare ability to connect on a
peer-to-peer level with the Firm’s design clients in order to develop superior
defensive strategies.He is highly
skilled at breaking down and exposing flaws in claimants’ experts’ work
product, which often determines the outcome of lawsuits.Scott has successfully defended individual
design professionals on modest projects, as well as design firms exposed to
tens of millions of dollars of liability in both state and federal courts.
Our team is also skilled in defending Attorneys charged with malpractice.Our breadth of legal experience equips us to assess quickly the issues presented in the underlying representation to assist
the client and its insurer to reach the best and earliest feasible outcome.Our clients rely on us to apply strategies to minimize or eliminate their exposure by effectively managing the legal and
procedural issues in the lawsuit while working to win the “case-within
the-case.”
National insurers have appointed our firm to their counsel panels to defend design and
legal malpractice claims.These continuing relationships are a testament to our value to both the insurer and
the insured.We define success not only by the results we achieve for our clients, but we also believe that if the
client is satisfied with the representation it received, it will keep its
business with its insurer.When clients are confident that their insurers will retain skilled and caring counsel to
protect their interests, they tend to be long-term customers.