Fiduciary Duty

Course Description:

This program provides a review of the current state of the fiduciary duty of all licensed architects to their clients based in both statutory language and substantive law. The coming of the fiduciary duty is both a great opportunity and the source of great anxiety for licensed design professionals, but a full understanding will help to set the stage for a properly calibrated response in both the underlying processes of architectural practice as well as provide an appropriate bases for risk management going forward. The fiduciary duty is not based either in contract or tort and thus poses special problems in legal procedures and risk management options. At the same time, those firms ready to embrace this coming fiduciary duty regime will obtain significant advantages in the marketplace for fees and trust from owners.

HSW Justification:

The fiduciary duty has important implications for design firms and individual practices regarding the interactions among the core HSW obligations and the primary fiduciary duty to the client. This is especially the case in the six states that require a fiduciary duty as part of the enabling legislation for architectural licensure.

Objectives:

1. The program will provide a basic understanding of the scope of the fiduciary duty in the context of design professionals.
2. Become familiar with the statutory language used as the basis of the fiduciary duty in six-states in the US.
3. Become aware of the risk management options needed to deal with the fiduciary duty and some of the implications dealing with limitations of liability constraints, the important role of specifications, required firm process changes to fulfill fiduciary duties, and the proper basis for green design activity.
4. Understand the ethical aspects of design professional practice based on the fiduciary duty.

Speaker Info:

Ujjval Vyas Ph.D., J.D.

Principal, Alberti Group

Founder, Fiduciary Duty Initiative in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (FDI-AEC)

809 Locust Lane, Suite 209, Vernon Hills, IL 60061

312.810.1008 [email protected]

PRODUCT REPRESENTATIVES

Would you like the opportunity to do an inexpensive sales pitch to our professional members? If so, I would like to remind you, that we do offer tabletop presentations at our chapter meetings. The cost for doing a tabletop presentation is $50.00 for chapter members, and $75.00 for nonmembers. Your fee includes a table set up for you to display your products, and a chance to do a brief (10 minute max.) introduction for yourself and your products.

To reserve a space at one of our upcoming meetings, please contact Curtis Norton, at (608) 576-7108 or at the Chapter email address: [email protected]