HLPW Partners Brad Parrott and Tony Lehman defended an international engineering firm against claims of design defect and gross negligence relating to a Louisiana project for one of the world’s largest home improvement retailers. The dispute involved technical issues relating to pavements and loads imparted on pavements by vehicles of differing sizes and weights. In addition, the dispute involved a discreet legal issue over the enforceability of a limitation of liability clause under Georgia law. The retailer sought to avoid the impact of the LOL clause by arguing that it was not prominent enough or, alternatively, that the design firm’s designs were grossly negligent. After a week-long arbitration hearing and post-hearing briefing, the retailer’s arguments were rejected and arbitrators enforced the LOL clause. The panel of three arbitrators awarded the retailer a capped damage amount of roughly $144,000, a small fraction of the more than $3,000,000 requested by the retailer. Post-hearing briefing was handled by HLPW attorneys Kevin Hudson, Zack Hall, and Cory Takeuchi, along with the client’s in-house legal team.
