O’Hagan Meyer’s Architects & Engineers (A&E) Group is widely regarded as one of the nation’s leading group of practitioners providing sophisticated and specialized legal counsel to design professionals and professional liability insurance carriers. Our team not only defends architects and engineers, but also actively counsel them regarding contracts and other steps to be taken to protect against such claims in the future.

O’Hagan Meyer’s A&E attorneys represent design professionals (architects, engineers, and surveyors) in cases alleging design errors, breach of contract, personal injury, breach of warranty and statutory violations. Over the course of their careers, our attorneys have navigated clients through almost every conceivable type of claim, including:

  • Design Defects at Power and Utility Plants
  • Sick Building Disputes
  • HVAC System Problems in Commercial and Residential Structures
  • Hotel Design and Construction
  • Structural Failures of Commercial and Residential Buildings
  • Pipeline Design and Construction
  • Oil Refinery Design and Operations
  • Chemical Plant Design
  • Bridge and Highway Design and Construction
  • High Rise Building Design and Construction
  • Sports Facility Design and Construction
  • Health Care Facility Design and Construction
  • School Design and Construction

These claims, which include arbitration and litigation across the country, have included ones alleging that professional malpractice resulted in property damage, costs to repair/re-design, cost overruns, and personal injury, both from design errors and alleged duties to supervise construction work. That breadth of experience is invaluable to clients in defending against such claims.

Our attorneys also advise our design professional clients regarding contract preparation, risk management, and copyright issues. O’Hagan Meyer attorneys frequently speak at professional seminars addressing issues which impact design professionals’ practice.

Representative Experience

The following includes representation of numerous engineering and architectural firms in catastrophic injury cases alleging a failure to supervise construction or design defects that resulted in injuries:

  • Summary judgment (affirmed on appeal) in the case of Packer v. McDonough Associates, Inc., Case No. 02-0818 (Illinois Court of Appeals for the First District).
  • Dismissal of a design architect against claim of professional negligence relating to project delay in Skanska USA v. David M. Schwartz Architects, Inc. et al.
  • Favorable settlement in the defense of an engineer against allegations of negligence in the design of a plant in a wrongful death action in Johnson v. Taylor Engineering, Inc. et al. (City of Richmond).
  • Summary Judgment on behalf of Camburas & Theodore, Inc. in lawsuit alleging that design errors made the premises dangerous. Julie Brown v. RDK Ventures, LLC, et al, Circuit Court of Will County, Illinois, Case No. 2015 L 000081.
  • Settlement on favorable terms of multiple construction worker injury suits against engineering firms involved in construction of IDOT expressways and historical bridges over the Chicago River.
  • Obtained summary judgment in the defense of an architect against claims of professional malpractice in Washington Tennis and Education Foundation v. Clark Nexsen (United States District Court for the District of Columbia).
  • Ongoing representation of engineering firm with respect to a train derailment allegedly caused by pipeline construction. Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. d’Escoto, Inc., Circuit Court of Will County, Illinois, Case No. 17 L 888.
  • Defense verdict for design-build firm in a breach of contract case before the AAA. Plaintiffs alleged that the company improperly increased the cost of the parties’ contract after the architect discovered structural issues. The Arbitrator decided in favor of the design-build company, determining that the Plaintiffs improperly terminated the contract by stopping work on the project. Shields v. Airoom, Inc. – AAA Case No. 01-18-0001-5816.
  • Representation of engineering firm with respect to class action lawsuit alleging a cancer cluster was caused by a defective HVAC design at the Amoco Research Facility in Naperville, Illinois. Case was resolved on favorable terms.
  • Successful settlement in the defense of an architect against professional negligence claims related to a roof collapse during a 500-year rain event in XL Insurance America, Inc. v. Kalkreuth Roof & Sheet Metal v. Architecture, Inc.
  • Favorable settlement of lawsuit against Bleck Engineering Corp. arising from alleged failure to inspect a bridge. Roger E. Medema v. Bleck Engineering Corp., Inc., Circuit Court of, Lake County, Illinois, Case No. 15 L 644.
  • Successful defense of an architect and others for personal injuries due to mold exposure in a school where renovations and expansion had been designed by architect.
  • Representation of Axios Architects, Inc. in a lawsuit alleging that failure to support adjacent property during construction caused damage to a historical building. The case was settled on favorable terms. Siegel v. Axios Architects, Inc., Case No. 10 CV 7111, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
  • Ongoing representation of engineering firm with respect to claims stemming from design of water treatment plant.
  • Summary judgment on behalf of insurance broker (affirmed on appeal) in lawsuit alleging over $16 million in damages as a result of failure to procure proper insurance coverage. Local 705 v. Five Star Mangers, LLC, Case No. 1-99-3394 (Illinois Court of Appeals for the First District).
  • Obtained dismissal of structural engineer in $7 million property defect matter in which property owner claimed defects to a grocery store in Chicago Ashland v. Novak Construction et al.

The referenced cases are by no means all-inclusive but provide a broad range of the types of claims and clients handled by the firm. We are more than happy to provide more examples of past and present cases at your request.