{"id":1061,"date":"2013-01-25T17:32:03","date_gmt":"2013-01-25T17:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/?p=1061"},"modified":"2013-01-25T17:32:03","modified_gmt":"2013-01-25T17:32:03","slug":"update-the-role-of-a-professional-engineer-assisting-counsel-prepare-a-statement-of-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/25\/update-the-role-of-a-professional-engineer-assisting-counsel-prepare-a-statement-of-claim\/","title":{"rendered":"Update: The role of a professional engineer assisting counsel prepare a Statement of Claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

(The update includes a case history<\/strong> illustrating the importance of a preliminary estimate of engineering invesigative costs before filing a Statement of Claim.\u00a0 A bibliography<\/strong> lists all the items published last year in “The role of ….” series.\u00a0 <\/strong>This item was\u00a0originally published\u00a0on September 11, 2012)<\/p>\n

Preparing and filing a Statement of Claim with the court – typically along with the Notice of Claim, is the second of four steps collectively known as the Pleadings in the civil litigation process.<\/p>\n

A professional engineer or other expert can be particularly valuable at this stage.\u00a0 Our forensic engineering investigations provide the evidence that establishes the technical facts and identifies the technical issues on which a claim for damages in the built environment is based.<\/p>\n

(Tasks<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0by a professional engineer assisting Counsel\u00a0are listed below in<\/strong><\/span> blue text)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A preliminary\u00a0estimate\u00a0of forensic engineering investigative costs by the professional engineer might be particularly valuable at this time.\u00a0 See the following case:<\/p>\n

Case; Wet Basement: <\/strong>This case illustrates the importance of planning and estimating the cost of an engineering investigation of\u00a0the cause of a\u00a0failure before preparing and filing a Statement of Claim.\u00a0 An important question is whether or not a claim for damages will cover the estimated investigative costs.\u00a0 An argument can also be made for carrying out some\u00a0preliminary engineering investigation to learn if there is likely to be a basis for a claim in the first place.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

I was retained by Counsel to investigate the cause of a wet basement found shortly after the client purchased the property.\u00a0 A visual inspection of the property established the strong possibility that the cause would support a claim.\u00a0 However, the certainty of an opinion based on a visual, somewhart subjective inspection would be much less than\u00a0an opinion\u00a0based on objective measurements and tests in the field.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

The field tests were estimated to cost several thousands of dollars excluding engineering analysis and reporting.\u00a0 In additon, there’s always a possible need for\u00a0follow-up\u00a0investigations in cases like this.\u00a0\u00a0Counsel and client decided\u00a0not to carry out the\u00a0field tests because\u00a0of the costs.\u00a0 I do not know if the claim was pursued based on my visusl assessment and preliminary opinion.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

We can also evaluate the technical content of the Statement of Defence and the technical strengths and weaknesses of the defence’s response to the plaintiff’s claims.<\/p>\n

The following assumes the early involvement of a professional engineer to ensure a Statement of Claim is technically well founded and cost effective.\u00a0 Early involvement avoids the engineer or expert having to play catch up, and counsel finding himself out on a limb with a Statement of Claim that is not as technically complete and as well founded as it might have been.<\/p>\n

The role of a professional engineer during\u00a0the different\u00a0steps in the civil litigation process was described in a number of postings\u00a0last year\u00a0– see the following references and bibliography.<\/p>\n