Emerging trends in environmental consultant liability
- Partner, Linowes & Blocher, Silver Springs, MD (United States)
Two federal district judges have recently opened the door for negligence suits aimed specifically an environmental consultants. In William Levy and Harper Realty, Inc. v. Versar, Inc., the respective courts allowed negligence-based claims to survive motions to dismiss, suggesting environmental consultants who fail to discover and/or disclose contamination on the properties they are investigating may be liable for considerable damages, including remediation costs and the economic losses suffered as a result of a claimant`s reliance on the environmental consultant`s work product. These cases poses great concern for environmental consultants. This paper will review these cases in detail, and other legal issues of concern to environmental consultants. It will also review the steps consultants can take to limit their liability, including obtaining errors and omissions insurance, using properly drafted environmental services agreements, properly training their employees, effectively communicating about risks with their clients, and other risk management techniques. In light of the exorbitant costs of environmental clean up, and the expansive breadth of liability imposed by federal environmental laws, consultants need to understand the potential causes of action that can be brought against them. Two federal district judges from Illinois have recently opened the door for negligence suits aimed specifically at environmental consultants, in William Levy and Harper Realty, Inc. v. Versar Inc. This paper will analyze the versar and Mobil Oil cases in detail. It will also explore other issues on professional liability generally of concern to environmental consultants. Finally, suggestion are briefly offered to guide environmental consultants as they embark on clean up activities, to reduce their potential liability to third parties.
- Research Organization:
- National Association of Environmental Professionals, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 125969
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9506115-; TRN: 95:006735-0063
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 20. National Association of Environmental Professionals annual conference and exposition: environmental challenges - the next twenty years, Washington, DC (United States), 10-13 Jun 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Environmental challenges: The next 20 years. Proceedings; PB: 932 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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