#13 - Case History - Litigation For Collections...A Lose-Lose Scenario
About this episode
The episode discusses a case history involving litigation for collections in a geotechnical engineering context, highlighting the complexities and challenges faced by the Member Firm.
GBA Case History Series – Case History #13 - Litigation For Collections...A Lose-Lose Scenario Summary The Member Firm provided two oral proposals for geotech studies to the architect for a 10-story building – one assuming spread footings beneath the one-story basement while the other proposed deeper borings for possible deep foundations. The owner authorized the former and the firm provided appropriate recommendations plus mentioned an alternative for deep, drilled-and-underreamed piers to potentially save money although excavation and construction problems might develop. Construction of deep drilled piers began and caving problems developed requiring multiple but smaller piers for which the owner suggested the Member Firm help with the additional costs. The Member firm pushed back and the owner dropped the issue. Months later, the same owner began a second project and after submitting the geotech report, the owner went silent. The Member Firm filed a claim against the owner to collect their fee and the owner, in response, filed a claim against the Member Firm for negligence on the first project. The Member Firm and owner settled with the owner accepting “defense costs” and…
People in this episode
Host: Elizabeth Brown
Topics covered
- litigation
- geotechnical engineering
- construction issues
- collections
- negligence claims
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: JLT Consultants
Places: Boise, Idaho, Oregon
More episodes of GBA Podcast
- First Word - July 2026
- #10 - Case History - Case History #10 - It Can Be A Costly Dam, Shame If Clients Won't Take Your Advice
- #2 - Case History - Client's Who Don't Follow Advice Should Be Someone Else's Client
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the GBA Podcast podcast page.