Jerome Wager has been a defense insurance attorney for over 25 years. During that time his focus primarily has been on construction defense litigation. He was involved in one of the first case management orders that was ever written which later was adopted by the San Diego Superior Court. During his time in this industry, he has never been to a more powerful, educational and effective seminar such as the West Coast Casualty’s Construction Defect Seminar.
The WCC brings together all the people who create the dynamics of the construction industry. These unique players are
A frequent attendee at this yearly event, Jerome likes the positive outcome that the WCC seminar brings. Everyone comes out with new ideas and creative ways that they can make their business better. The process of them all coming together creates a cross-fertilization of ideas that they can all benefit from. This will help all the parties achieve good results at an economical price.
However, with economic and financial problems facing parties across the board, how will companies adapt? Currently the California courts are trying to help out these businesses by appointing neutral mediation experts on these cases. These neutral parties or “third party mediators” will help resolve disputes and issues among the parties involved. Currently Lima Solutions is a leader among these mediation experts. But will companies try to turn good ways into better ways. Only time will tell if a company’s creativity and resourcefulness will develop into finding better ways.
Bruce Wick is the Director of Risk Management for the California Professional Association for Special Contrators(CALPAS). He represents his member’s position on statue laws and all sorts of litigation and arbitration proceedings. He stresses that new insurance laws will start to have an impact on the construction industry very soon. Contractors and sub contractor cases that are in litigation due to a defect and lack of insurance by one party will start to become impacted.
These impacted cases will have huge ramifications for the parties involved. A lot of the trade contractor companies can soon be out of business. This is because both parties involved in the lawsuit are posturing and playing the waiting game. They’re essentially misleading the other party with false information or not taking a serious approach to solving the problem. These contractors will lose tons of money and valuable time that could have been spent on other profitable measures. To help these parties out, here a list of helpful things for these parties to do to get out of litigation and settle the dispute.
- Find the best attorneys to solve the problem. It will add to the cost in the short run, but it will save money in the long run.
- Use innovative practices to get out of litigation. This will minimize damage down the road.
- Settle the dispute quickly. It might not be the best possible outcome but it will save tons of money and time
Insurers had spent 5 to 8 times as much on repairs and trial lawsuits last year. Using these tips and other creative practices will help to reduce those times in half if not by more. The time saved by these companies in litigation can result in more profit through new business ventures instead of aggravated and irritated. With trade contractors hurting during downward economic times they are going to be losing business if they don’t renew their business strategy and be more creative and open to new ideas. Companies will have to be more participative and innovative rather than being stuck in their old ways.
The topic of discussion:
Effective Mediation Techniques in Complex Construction Defect Cases
Ed Martinet will be presenting on a panel at the Tampa Law Offices of Fulmer Leroy Albee Baumann.
Tampa, September 1, 2011: www.FulmerLeRoy.com
“This article first appeared in The Zweig Marketing Letter (or The Zweig Letter) on June 6, 2011. www.zweigwhite.com”
LiMa Solutions (short for “litigation management”) specializes in alternative dispute resolution and neutral claim management for the A/E/P and environmental industry. The new company started with blank slate marketing-wise, but developed and designed the logo, tag line, and web site, with the web site intended to be “a reference tool for the industry as well as describing our process,” says Michael Ruetz, business development manager with liMa.
liMa’s founders’ unique skill sets have enabled them to develop what they call a value engineered-alternative dispute resolution (VE-Adr) mediation process. This new paradigm creates an accelerated, cost-effective and fair environment for settlement, ruetz says. liMa can help in this process through proven project management tools utilizing the latest communication technologies, keeping all stakeholders current with events and issues in real time.
“We kicked off the web site with an e-mail blast, press release, and an old-fashioned road trip we affectionately called ‘The road to resolution’ tour.” The group (Ed Martinet, president, Paul Viau, vice president, and ruetz) hit the road the end of April, to speak at industry conferences and seminars in an attempt to get the word out at gatherings in places such as the U.S. legal Support offices in Florida and California. “We met face to face with the industry’s leading mediators, judges, and lawyers, explaining our new approach. our strategy was to have the web site and our VE-Adr presentation up and functioning prior to the West Coast Casualty Construction defect Seminar,” a widely attended industry event, ruetz says.
“We have a very rick righi of righi Hernandez law Firm being specialized market, and interviewed by Michael ruetz. that’s the best attended seminar in our industry, with over 1,500 participants this year.” This strategy was well received and successfully created a buzz about liMa Solutions, ruetz says. “during the course of the event, the liMa staff was able to give personal VE-Adr presentations utilizing their iPads,” he says. liMa also hired a videographer to record conversations with attendees and a seminar that founder Ed Martinet moderated. “These video clips will be posted over time on our web and Facebook sites. This is going to keep the buzz going!”
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Rick Righi on The WCC’s Defect Seminar
The West Coast Construction Defect Seminar is a west coast conference that companies attend every year to see the latest trends in the construction industry. Numerous case laws and policies are discussed and implemented at this function.
Rick Righi, an attorney in Phoenix, Arizona comes to the west coast seminar every year to see the progress in the construction industry. He loves to pick the brains of influential people in the industry to learn their opinions on new laws, regulations and their business strategies. They bounce ideas back and forth on cost-savings ideas in shortening arbitration and litigation.
Over the years he has made tons of connections and friendships with other companies and employees. He comes back every year to see the progress his colleagues have made, as well as how the industry has grown or decreased as a whole due to the economy. He feels that the new laws and regulations discussed (mostly in California) give him and his company a heads up of what might affect his Phoenix and Albuquerque offices in the future. This way his company will be prepared for it down the road.
The Overall message to take away from the WCC seminar:
“Promote outside the box thinking”
“Cost-saving tips due to the economy”
