Severson and Werson

EVENTS

• April 23, 2013
  

  Kalama M. Lui-Kwan presents "Trends in Consumer Class Actions" at the National Mortgage News Mortgage Servicing Conference.

• February 26, 2013
  

  Presenter:  David A. Ericksen, Esq., Severson & Werson, PC

  Webinar:  Rock & A Hard Place:  Learn How to Collect without the Conflict! 

  Getting Paid Without Getting Sued:  The Collections-Claims Connection

  Tuesday, February 26th at 1:30 p.m. ET

  When clients refuse to pay, your options are limited.  You can just let the fee go- and undermine your firm's financial stability. Or you can pursue payment through the law, and run the HIGH risk of a retaliatory counter-claim for negligence which can be even more devastating. 

  Here's the reality:  to protect their practices, engineers must strategically control the collection process.  This webinar will suggest an A to Z, project-long approach to securing and collecting fees that will help limit litigation risks based on effective procedures, templates, and contact provisions. 

  Participants will learn how to: 

  • Understand the frequent correlation between fee claims and counter-claims for negligence.
  • Plan out the collection process-seeing that the best collection procedures are a project-long timeline that begins before project acceptance and extends beyond substantial completion.
  • Develop procedures, tools, and contract clauses to support an effective collection process.
• October 26, 2012
  

  Over the past two months, Severson & Werson's Construction Practice Leader, David Ericksen, was a featured speaker at national meetings of the A/E industry in three states.  Mr. Ericksen's topics in these presentations included Change Management:  Getting It Right When Things Go Wrong, Managing Multiple Models of Project Delivery, Collections-Claims Connections:  Getting Paid Without Getting Sued, and 2012 A/E Liability:  Trends & Solutions.

• September 6, 2012
  

  Presentation by Michael B. Murphy, Michael B. Murphy spoke at Swiss Re Asia Pacific Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:  What Every Asia Pacific Insurer Needs ( But Might Not Want) to Know".

  • State of U.S. Product Liability Claim Trending As It Pertains to Asia/Pacific Based Manufacturers And Exporters.
  • Re-Introduction Of The Foreign Manufacturer Legal Liability Act of 2011.
  • Growing Belief Among Legal Analysts That The Alien Tort Claim Act (“ACTA”) Will Soon Be Used As A Basis To Obtain U.S. Court Jurisdiction Over Foreign Defendants.
• August 15, 2012
  

  Presentation by Joel Halverson: "Design Professional Liability in Construction: Evaluating Project Delivery Models, Analyzing the Scope of Liability, and Minimizing Risk Through Contract Terms."

  This CLE webinar will provide counsel with a review of recent court decisions defining the scope of design professional liability, discuss the impact of project delivery models on liability, and outline proactive approaches to minimize the risk of construction liability through contract provisions. For more information please click here.

• July 30, 2012
  

  Andrew Noble presented to the California Mortgage Bankers Association's Western States Loan Servicing Conference in Las Vegas, NV on the topic of "California Homeowner Bill of Rights and the practice of dual tracking."

• June 1, 2012
  

  Presentation by David Ericksen and Tracey Merwise: "May the Forces Be With You! Employment & Staffing Perils and Planning For Construction Professionals."

• June 1, 2012
  

   May the Forces Be With You:  Getting the Right People...And Keeping Them!  Presented by David A. Ericksen and Tracey K. Merwise to Severson & Werson clients.

• May 4, 2012
  

  Presentation by David Ericksen: "California's New Lien Laws - Strategies for Success."

• May 1, 2012
  

  "Successful Navigation Through Construction Defect Reforms," Bankers Insurance Company Annual Meeting, New Orleans.

• April 17, 2012
  

  "Design-Build Projects and the A/E Role Risks and Opportunities" at the SEAONC Business Forum Luncheon.

• April 4, 2012
  

  "The Lost File Chronicles: Strategic Document Creation Control & Content for Construction Professionals."

• March 28, 2012
  

  Bruce Furukawa, member at Severson & Werson, and Amanda Jones, senior classification analyst at Xerox Litigation Services, will discuss what corporate clients and outside counsel need to know about technology-assisted review. 

• March 21, 2012
  

  Presentation by Bruce Furukawa: "How to Avoid Electronic Document Hoarding, and Why." 
  Due to the low cost of memory storage, design firms are inadvertently or intentionally accumulating millions of pages of documents that could be required for production in a litigation or audit. Often, the cost to review and produce these documents outweighs the value of the case. A Document Retention policy can prevent electronic document hoarding and limit your costs in the event of an audit or litigation. 

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• March 21, 2012
  

  "Estimators’ Professional Liability Exposures: (and War Stories)" at the America Society of Professional Estimators Chapter Meeting.

• March 2, 2012
  
  "Avoiding and Defending Claims in New Residential Construction: Tips and Tricks for Surviving the (Still) Brave New World of SB 800."
• February 22, 2012
  
  Ben Eilenberg to present on the topic "The Basics of Intellectual Property" at Surado CRM in Riverside, CA.
• February 15, 2012
  

  The Top Ten Lessons Every Manager Must Know About Employment Law (Or, "How to Avoid the School of Hard Knocks"). Presented by Tracey K. Merwise to American Society of Women Accountants ("ASWA"), San Francisco Chapter.

• February 3, 2012
  
  Peter Molgaard and Daniel Ng to speak on the topic of "A/E Contract Bootcamp" Friday, February 3rd from 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
• January 6, 2012
  

  David Ericksen, Bruce Furukawa and Daniel Ng to speak on the topic of "New Year's Resolutions for Construction Professionals".

• December 5, 2011
  

  Sunny Huo to speak at the CMBA 2011 Legislative, Regulatory, QA and Compliance Conference in Costa Mesa, CA on the topic of "Litigation Updates".

• November 10, 2011
  

  Scott Hyman, Kristin Walker-Probst and Erik Kowalewsky to speak at the US Acceptance CFSA Independent Section Chair on the topic of "California's New Data Breach Law and How Automobile Finance Companies Can Protect Themselves".

• October 27, 2011
  

  Tracey Merwise to speak at the Dartmouth Lawyers' Association on the topic of "Employment Law 101 for California Startups: The laws, the docs, and (most of) the rest".

• October 27, 2011
  

  Employment Law 101 for California Startups:  The Laws, The Docs And (Most Of) The Rest.  Presented by Tracey K. Merwise to the Dartmouth Lawyers' Association.

• October 14, 2011
  
  Scott Hyman, Kristin Walker-Probst and Erin Kubota to speak at the California Financial Services Association Annual Convention on the topic of "Current Developments in Auto Finance".
• October 13, 2011
  
  Bruce Furukawa to speak at Dealey, Renton and Associates Practice Management Seminars on the topic of "Avoiding Electronic Document Hoarding: How to Do It and Why its Necessary”.
• October 7, 2011
  
  David Ericksen presents "Resolving Disputes Without Courts and Even Lawyers".

   
• July 8, 2011
  

  "Crawford v. Weather Shield and its Progeny: A Critical Evaluation and Discussion of Strategies for Defending Against Contractual Tenders of Defense."

• June 3, 2011
  
  David Ericksen and Peter Molgaard present "The Bright Gray Line: "Yes", "Never", and "Maybe" Contract Clauses for Design Professionals (and how to find the difference)".
• May 15, 2011
  

  Sunny S. Huo will be a panelist at the MBA’s Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference 2011 in Boca Raton, Florida, on May 15, 2011, covering “Litigation Forum Session 3: Claims Against Industry Partners and Other Players.”

• May 12, 2011
  

  The American Institute of Architects 2011 National Convention Education Advisory Committee has selected David Ericksen’s submission on the topic “Elevating the Architectural Practice to Meet the Opportunities of Technology and Sustainability” to be a part of the AIA 2011 National Convention and Design Exposition to be held May 12-14, in New Orleans.

• May 11, 2011
  

  David Ericksen to present at the Willis A&E International Risk Management Symposium to be held on Wednesday, May 11th at the Willis Tower in Chicago.

• May 6, 2011
  

  David Ericksen, Mark Zunino, and Stephen Schram present "Getting Paid Without Getting Sued: Collecting Fees in the New Economy".

• April 1, 2011
  

  "The Knock at the Door: Design Professional Disciplinary Processes in California".

• March 4, 2011
  

  David Ericksen presents "Hard Hat Hits: Design Professional Risks and Strategies in Job Site Safety".

• February 4, 2011
  

  "Navigating the Risks of Accessibility Requirements in Design: Drive-By ADA Lawsuits and Beyond."

• January 27, 2011
  

  Bruce Furukawa to speak at the Advanced Records and Information Management and Litigation Readiness Symposium in Palo Alto, Thursday, January 27, 2011.

• January 25, 2011
  

  Bruce Furukawa to speak at the BASF Conference Center, Tuesday, January 25, 2011, on the topic of “E-Discovery 201: Leveraging E-Discovery Tools”

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• January 1, 2011
  

  "Expedited Jury Trials in California: An Overview and Discussion of Strategic Considerations."

• May 25, 2010
  

  The Top Ten Things Every Manager Must Know About Employment Law (Or, "How to Avoid the School of Hard Knocks").  Presented by Tracey K. Merwise to CCI Financial & Insurance Services clients.

• May 7, 2010
  

  Retention, Recruiting or Raiding? The 3 “R”s of HR for A/Es. Presented by David A. Ericksen, Tracey K. Merwise and Verita J. Gulati to Severson & Werson clients.

• April 20, 2010
  

  The Top Ten Things Every Manager Must Know About Employment Law (Or, "How to Avoid the School of Hard Knocks").  Presented by Tracey K. Merwise to The Financial Women's Association of San Francisco.

• October 27, 2009
  

  The Top Ten Things Every CFO Must Know About Employment Law (Or, "How to Avoid the School of Hard Knocks").  Presented by Tracey K. Merwise to Financial Executives International ("FEI").

• June 9, 2009
  

  Getting RIFs Right in 2009: Tailoring Your Workplace to Fit Tough Times. Presented by Tracey K. Merwise to Hays Companies Insurance clients.

• May 20, 2009
  

  Getting RIFs Right in 2009:  Tailoring Your Workplace to Fit Tough Times.  Presented by Tracey K. Merwise to USI Insurance Services clients.

• December 4, 2008
  

  Identifying and Addressing Bias Against Women and Minorities in the Legal Profession. Presented by Tracey K. Merwise and Rhonda L. Nelson to Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada (“ADC”), 2008 Annual Meeting.

• July 16, 2008
  

  The Top Ten Things Every Manager Must Know About Employment Law (Or, "How to Avoid the School of Hard Knocks").  Presented by Tracey K. Merwise to USI Insurance Services clients.

• June 26, 2008
  

  Getting RIFs Right:  How to Avoid the Unintended Consequences of a Reduction-In-Force.  Presented by Tracey Merwise, Severson & Werson, Elizabeth Horn and Jennifer Walsh, Woodruff Sawyer & Co. Insurance Companies, Woodruff Sawyer & Co. Educational Series.

• March 22, 2007
  

  How To Handle Leave and Reasonable Accommodation Issues: A Training For Managers, client training presented by Tracey K. Merwise and Rhonda L. Nelson.

• January 24, 2007
  

  Surviving San Francisco’s New Paid Sick Leave Law. Presented by Tracey K. Merwise to Severson & Werson clients.

• February 9, 2006
  

  Recruiting and Retaining Staff in A Tight Market: Strategic Advice for Design Firms. Presented by David A. Ericksen and Tracey K. Merwise to Severson & Werson clients.

• December 1, 2005
  

  Sexual Harassment Prevention Training for Managers, multiple client trainings, 2005-2008.