Limitation of Liability

We assist many of our clients with their contracts, specifically the owner / architect agreement. These contracts and documents set the foundation for your contractual relationship. They communicate what is expected and what will be provided. When drafting your contracts, you truly need an advocate, someone who has your best interests in mind so that you will be protected for the unknown. We advise our clients to include limitation of liability (LOL) clauses in their agreements.

LOL clauses protect you from having to pay exorbitant damages if you fail to fulfill a contract’s terms. These limitations take various forms, but more recently they limit the design professional’s potential liability to no more than the total fee they would be paid by the other party. This keeps your risk of loss proportional to the fee(s) that you have been paid.

The difference between a good and bad clause is the difference between owing nothing or owing a ruinous amount in damages. Having no limitation of liability provision, or worse, an unenforceable one, exposes you to hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims that could bankrupt a design professional firm. In addition to limitation of liability clauses, we like to negotiate for a waiver of consequential damages – i.e., the run-away lost profit claim.

When you are in the process of negotiating with your client, it is important to get sage legal guidance. Call us today. We have the experience, skill and resources needed to assist you.