Our firm is one of the preeminent leaders in New Jersey in the representation of design professionals; both directly and through their professional liability carriers.
All of the major carriers underwriting claims against design professionals have approved our firm to defend these claims on behalf of their insureds. Besides providing representation for architects and engineers in defense of malpractice claims throughout the state, we are also extensively involved in writing and negotiating their contracts, and providing them with risk management services through direct retention. We provide general counseling services in connection with issues and disputes that arise during ongoing projects.
In this department our practice is devoted to exclusively to handling construction-related matters. In addition to Co-Partners in Charge, Andrew J. Carlowicz, Jr. and Lawrence P. Powers, we have over a dozen attorneys here who devote all or a substantial percentage of their practice to the representation of architects and engineers. Included in our list of attorneys is Joan Osborne, a highly experienced individual who has decades of experience in this area of practice. Additionally, we have five other partners supported by numerous associates who work in the construction practice group of whom devote the majority of their practice to the representation of architects and engineers. Lawrence Powers serves as general counsel to, among other organizations, the New Jersey Society of Architects, the American Society of Landscape Architects-New Jersey and the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers.
Our practice group handles all types of construction claims that arise, including but not limited to, defective design allegations, change order claims, delay disputes, building defect litigation, construction site accidents, construction administration and oversight cases, etc. We have appeared in state and federal courts, as well as before the American Arbitration Association.
Hoagland Longo has served as counsel of record for design professionals in multiple reported opinions issued by the Appellate Division and the Supreme Court on issues ranging from the Affidavit of Merit to the Statute of Repose as well as other legal defenses applicable to the practices of architecture and engineering. We have assisted in the lobbying efforts to have protective legislation passed and we have testified before the Legislature on pending bills. For many years we have regularly lectured throughout the State of New Jersey on various legal issues that affect the design professional community. Recently, we have become very involved in lecturing throughout the State on both the new AIA contracts and LEED design issues.
Hoagland Longo regularly appears at, and often sponsors, almost all of the design professional conferences conducted throughout the state including AIA Design Day, NJIT’s “Design Showcase” Conference, and the AIA-NJ Awards Dinner where we present the award to the “Architect of the Year.”