Lessons Learned Programs Can Backfire In Dispute Situations

Most forward-looking construction industry players have implemented lessons learned programs and regard them as a useful learning tool. From minor technical tweaks in the field to major issues on construction means and methods, lessons learned convey knowledge from past projects and personnel to future endeavors. It is not unusual, however, that there are also unintended beneficiaries: opposing claimants who recover cash judgments due to carelessly handled reports and sometimes erroneous admissions of well-meaning technical personnel just trying to fulfill their “lessons learned” obligations.

Called “The Holy Grail” by many claims attorneys, lessons learned data bases can pose costly and potent risks to their users. Yet with careful management and legal leadership and support, these risks can be successfully managed.

Delivering the Goods – More Lessons Learned Needed, Making the System Work
Despite the risks, there is an equally pressing need for industry players to capture MORE lessons learned, the price of seeking to avoid repetition of sometimes near-disastrous experiences with construction projects. The fact is that many hard EARNED lessons are going UNLEARNED. This webinar addresses key trouble spots…

• Where current lesson learned are failing
• Tapping executive management to capture vital strategic lessons
• Dealing with impediments to sustained corporate memory -- fewer long-span careers; languishing and unimplemented content
• Why no lesson is learned without causing a change to corporate systems
• Demand for quantitative data to justify change
• AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

Achieving a Balance – Keys to a Successful Structured Lessons-Learned Program
A proper balance can be reached between stepped-up lessons learned and reducing litigation risks. Truly effective lessons-learned programs require a systematic, corporate-focused, legally involved, forensic approach to their implementation. The added discipline of this approach enables practitioners to make comparative studies between projects that show what works, and what doesn’t.

This DVD focuses on five key problem areas with typical lessons-learned programs and recommends specific enhancements to make your company more resilient and less vulnerable to the risks of the construction business. See how existing systems can perpetuate the same old problems and expose companies to unnecessary losses in litigation. Learn corrective measures that can greatly improve performance in future projects. Register now and hear valuable insights about:

• The pivotal role of careful, legal oversight
• Urgent requirement for senior management participation
• Making implementation programs a mandatory next step
• Value of identifying and gathering quantitative data
• Need for independent, systematic forensic approach to recording lessons learned
• AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

Meet Your Presenters:

Richard F. Paciaroni Partner, K&L Gates LLP Richard Paciaroni is a partner in the law firm K&L Gates LLP. For the past twenty-four years Mr. Paciaroni has concentrated his law practice in the area of commercial litigation with emphasis on engineering and construction law and international commercial transactions. He is the Chair of the firm's Construction and Engineering Practice Group. He has extensive experience with construction disputes worldwide.  For complete bio, click here.     John R. Cunningham Senior Vice President, Marsh Construction Consulting John Cunningham is a senior vice president of operations for Marsh Risk Consulting’s Construction Consulting Practice. Mr. Cunningham provides client services as an engineering expert in disputes, as a management consultant in pre-claims/claims avoidance, and as an advisor in corporate governance and risk management enhancement. For complete bio, click here.

Harold G. Dorbin Senior Vice President, Project Advisory Leader, Marsh Construction Consulting Harold Dorbin is a senior vice president and the project advisory leader for Marsh Risk Consulting’s Construction Consulting Practice. Mr. Dorbin specializes in developing organization-wide project governance and project risk management solutions on an international scale. He also leads construction dispute engagements, has authored numerous technical expert reports and provided expert testimony in a number of court and arbitration settings. for complete bio, click here.