I may not be a lawyer, but I have spent a lot of time gathering evidence and helping prepare cases in my internship. Okay, so there probably won’t be an Engineering Claims Unit spinoff of Law and Order, but engineering projects can often end in court or in mediation. You’re probably wondering, how does someone get sued for engineering? Laws are rarely broken, but contracts can be or they can be debated. In most civil engineering projects like bridges, roads, buildings, one party plans the work and then hires a contractor to build it. If either party is unsatisfied, they make claims for more money and if they can’t resolve it, they go to court. Before my internship I was vaguely aware of this process, I was actually sued in my project class, but in general it’s something we don’t really cover. My job for the World Food Program (WFP) was to dig through tons of emails, contracts, and other documents to find evidence to refute the contractor’s claims. In one case, I was successful and found evidence that meant the WFP didn’t have to pay. In another case, the evidence was not there and WFP ended up having to pay the claim, as well as travel expenses and legal fees.
One question I had was who would sue a humanitarian organization? However, they have the right to be paid for their work and their profits also help feed people. Still, the general practice of suing for claims is a way to increase profits in the construction industry. My second question was why does this happen so often? It’s common not just in the WFP but in many engineering projects. The key lies in contracts which are based on communication. In any project, it’s important to communicate with your partners and clearly state your expectations. If WFP had done this, they could have saved valuable time and money. I know from our experience in Engineers Without Borders that things go more smoothly when we talk to our community partners in advance and try to discuss every possible issue. A final important lesson I learned from this project is organization. Getting sued is a pain, but having to dig through messy files is worse. Having a good organizational system makes things much clearer. The Field Engineering Team has introduced an organizational system that works pretty well, but most of the old files are complete messes.
This blog is dedicated to Davide, the most awesome WFP lawyer, and my mom, with whom I watched a lot of Boston Legal. (Random aside, Boston Legal was not filmed in Boston but actually in my home town at our School District Office).
Ciao,
Marisa
iHouse@MIT 
Nice post! I represent engineers (and architects) who get sued here in North Carolina. More people than you’d suspect will sue when a project has gone over budget or time. When the economy is going strong, fewer will sue as they are moving on to the “next big project,” but when times are lean, the lawsuits come fast and furiously. Interestingly, I’m in the middle of a series of posts called “Law & Order: Hard Hat Edition” on my blog right now, discussing what to expect when you get sued in a construction matter. I agree, though, that Dick Wolfe is unlikely to make a spin-off anytime soon.
Thank you! Davide