Owners vs. Architects: Key Strategies for Contract Negotiation

Attention principals, partners, and those of you who would like to be…
Running a firm? Think you might like to someday? Then this presentation is for you.

A solid agreement between owner and architect resides at the center of every successful project.

Our work with owners constitutes the ultimate merger in physical form: we all want to see the building or project get built, but owners and architects typically have different agendas.  In order to secure financing and investors, owners need a firm understanding of costs upfront with an obvious goal to hold those numbers to a minimum, whereas architects want to ensure that their contract allows for a degree of artistic freedom and innovation alongside the requisite technical precision and municipal approvals.

This presentation by attorneys Robert Herman and Hope Plasha, will provide you with strategies for these critical negotiations. Topics for discussion will include fee structures and schedules, owner’s and architect’s obligations, staffing and consultants, responsibilities and liabilities, intellectual property and construction administration.

The presentation will be followed by a lively Q&A, so bring your questions.

Hope Plasha has a broad-based national law practice covering all aspects of real estate law.  Hope has received numerous awards, and she is an alumna of Columbia University.  She earned her j.d. from Yale, and she also holds a degree from the University of Oxford.

Robert Herrmann is another seasoned veteran in the field of real estate and construction law, chairing Offit Kurman’s New York Construction Law Practice.  Bob is a graduate of Yale College and Columbia University School of Law, and he teaches at the Architecture schools of both Columbia University and the Pratt Institute. Bob is also the lead author of Law for Architects: What You Need to Know published by W.W. Norton.

1.5 Learning Units. Light refreshments will be served.  RSVP early – registration will close on May 7th at noon.