Managing Your Risk and the Contractual Duty to Defend in California
Are you a firm owner or principal? If so, we highly recommend attending this week’s practice webinar, Managing Your Risk and the Contractual Duty to Defend in California.
When: February 25th, 12pm-1pm
Join Brett Stewart, Risk Manager for the design professional unit of AXA XL, for a 60-minute program that provides a primer on contractual defense and indemnity and explains how the contractual liability exclusion in a professional liability policy can create uninsured exposure for design firms. This course will also examine a variety of contractual indemnity clauses since the 2018 amendments to Civil Code section 2782.8, placing emphasis on the competing theories governing the duty to defend in design professional contracts. The final portion of this program will focus on negotiation and risk management strategies that will assist design firms in avoiding or mitigating the impacts of an uninsurable defense obligation.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will review basic contractual indemnity principles and how the application of the contractual liability exclusion in professional liability insurance policies can create uninsured exposure when design professionals contractually agree to defend a third party from a claim or lawsuit.
- Following a brief overview of the changes to California Civil Code section 2782.8 governing the contractual duty to defend, attendees will review numerous indemnity clauses from both the private and public sector in order to learn how the different interpretations of this code section are being applied and the potential impact on design professionals.
- Attendees will learn strategies to help negotiate insurable indemnity clauses as well as contractual safeguards to help mitigate the impact of an uninsurable indemnity obligation.
- The final portion of the seminar will focus on additional risk management strategies firms can employ to help mitigate the impact of an uninsurable indemnity clause.
Brett Stewart is a Risk Manager for the design professional unit of AXA XL. He is responsible for developing risk management and educational materials for AXA XL’s design professional insureds to help firms manage their liability risks and increase best practices. Brett interfaces directly with architects and engineers, brokers and various industry organizations to promote issues that are relevant to the design community.
Additional Resources
(Watching video recordings of past webinars does not give the opportunity to receive any AIA LUs / CE credit.)
Celebrating over 75 years of service, the AIA California actively promotes the value of design and advocates for the architectural profession. AIA CA is an association of 11,000 dedicated and passionate members who share a commitment to design excellence and livability in California’s natural and built environments.
