GBA Case History Series – Case History #82 - Practice, In Small Claims Court, Makes Perfect? Think About It

Summary

A GBA member firm conducted a Phase I and Phase II study for the developer AND later did work directly for a former tenant of the same site. After things got even more complicated, the member firm decided to try small claims court for a resolution (where they had already been for at least 60 different projects). This practice did NOT make perfect.

Our Hosts:

• Elizabeth Brown, PE - Principal Geotechnical Engineer/JLT Consultants

Elizabeth is the Principal Geotechnical Engineer at JLT Consultants in Boise, Idaho. Elizabeth has performed and/or assisted with numerous geotechnical investigations throughout Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming managing projects, providing geotechnical design, project quality control, cost and value engineering, and evaluating geotechnical constructability issues.

• Tim Rodriguez – COO/BSK Associates

Tim is the Chief Operating Officer of Geoprofessional Services at BSK Associates, an employee-owned engineering firm. With over 30 years in materials testing and inspection, he oversees six Northern California offices and chairs BSK's Board of Directors. Tim is Past-President of the California Council of Testing and Inspection Agencies.

Lessons Learned:

• Perform a Go/No-Go Analysis


• Project Risk Often Is Inversely Proportional to Project Size, Complexity, and Fee


• Avoid Litigation When You Reasonably Can


• Follow Policies That Work


• Do Not Give up Leverage When Dollars Are at Issue


• Understand the Cost of “Your Day in Court”


• If You Cannot Quell Your Emotions, Rely on Someone Who Can


• Learn the Lessons of History

Calls-to-action:

• Download Case History #82


• Visit the following link to access all of GBA’s Case Histories: https://www.geoprofessional.org/gba-case-histories/


• An account is required to download the individual Case Histories, which are free for GBA Member Firms.


• Visit the GBA Website at https://www.geoprofessional.org for other training resources and reference materials and/or to become a member.


• Visit https://www.gbapodcast.com for future Podcast Episodes


• Contact us at info@geoprofessional.org with any podcast-related questions or comments

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This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:

• Tim Rodriguez – COO/BSK Associates


• Elizabeth Brown, PE - Principal Geotechnical Engineer/JLT Consultants


• Ryan White, PE, GE – Principal Geotechnical Engineer/Apex Companies, LLC