The Marcus Evans conference on Contract and Risk Management for Construction and Capital Projects was held in Houston, September 11 and 12, 2019. The event was held at the luxurious Hotel ICON in downtown. The legal community was well represented at the meeting and they discussed many legal issues related to contracts and risk.
Let us admit it, we live in a “hard dollar bid” world. We all want that $500 million refinery revamp/retrofit project; but how can you accurately foresee all problems, submit a competitive proposal, and win the project? So many things can go wrong: unseen damage on existing equipment, supply chain disruptions, injuries, accidents, and weather.
What I gathered from the conference is that this is tricky legal territory. All aspects of legalities are not clearly defined. So what happens if a project goes over budget or gets greatly delayed? The solution appears to be a type of “Hegelian Dialectic”. One lawyer pushes the “thesis” or the claim, and the other lawyer counters with the “antithesis” or the defense. Then, through a dialectical struggle, the thesis and the antithesis merge to form the “synthesis” or the truth. When there is a conflict, just let the lawyers blindly defend their side.
A summary of the topics discussed include the following items:
- Procurement
- Ethics
- Delays
- Insurance
- Risk
- Intellectual Property
- Joint Ventures
- Supply Chain
Make sure to join us again next time. For more information on this and other Marcus Evans events, contact Melini Hadjitheori, Tel 357.22.849.308, melinih@marcusevanscy.com. See you next time.
