Representation of Design Professionals

A substantial portion of our practice is devoted to the representation of design professionals. Many of our attorneys have devoted their careers to the service of design professionals, and some are themselves trained architects or engineers. It is no exaggeration to state that our experience and training in this area is unparalleled.

Powell Trachtman serves our design professional clients in virtually every aspect of their business lives. By combining our design professional expertise with our expertise in commercial litigation, business planning and transactions, estate and tax planning, real estate, and employment law, we can provide an efficient and coordinated approach to the issues our clients face.

By way of example:

• We are regularly retained by design professionals and their insurance carriers to defend them against claims, and we have been involved in many of the most significant architectural and engineering cases in the region;
• We negotiate and draft agreements between architects and engineers and their clients, utilizing our unique expertise to anticipate and prevent many disputes that would otherwise lead to litigation;
• We counsel design professionals in loss prevention techniques and insurance coverage issues;
• We educate design professionals on what they need to know to overcome the unique issues they face, ranging from the use of electronic documents, to the protection of their intellectual property, to licensing and business qualification issues, to compliance with overtime, affirmative action, and other federal regulatory issues;
• We serve as counsel for the trade associations that represent the interests of design professionals. In that capacity, we help draft and analyze legislation that affects the profession;
• Because we know how their business works, we develop and implement business structures and solutions that effectively accommodate the needs of design professional firms, now and for the long term. We handle joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, employment agreements, leases and other real estate transactions, financing transactions, and much more;
• We create and draft the succession plans, and the personal estate and tax plans, that help design professionals retain the wealth they create.

Click on the problems solved button for specific examples of some of our accomplishments on behalf of design professional firms.