Trial court granted summary judgment for architect because project owner’s expert witness failed to define the standard of care and state how the architect failed to meet the standard. The Owner’s complaint alleged that the architect failed to provide services with “professional care” in connection with installation of elevators. The Owner argued that the architect breached its duty by specifying limited use elevators that couldn’t meet the performance requirements for the project. Although the Owner retained a properly qualified expert, the expert’s opinion report disclosed opinions related to the architect’s performance but never once referenced the architect’s standard of care or explained how the architect failed to conform to the standard of care.
The court concluded that the Owner couldn’t establish a standard of care “by merely presenting expert testimony which offers an opinion as to correct procedure or which suggests, without more, that the witness would have conducted himself differently than [the architect]. A standard of care expert must base his opinion on ‘recognized standards of competency in his profession’.” In contrast to that expert’s opinion, the architect presented four expert witnesses who expressly and repeatedly tied their opinions to the standard of care – and concluded that the architect did not violate the standard of care. For these reasons, the appellate court sustained the trial court’s conclusion that the Owner’s expert failed to offer an opinion on the breach of the standard of care. Adrian Smith + Gordon Hill Architecture, LLP v. Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 2024 Il App (1st) 230133.
About the author: Article written by J. Kent Holland, Jr., a construction lawyer located in Tysons Corner, Virginia, with a national practice (formerly with Wickwire Gavin, P.C. and now with ConstructionRisk Counsel, PLLC) representing design professionals, contractors and project owners. He is founder and president of a consulting firm, ConstructionRisk, LLC, providing consulting services to owners, design professionals, contractors and attorneys on construction projects. He is publisher of ConstructionRisk Report and may be reached at Kent@ConstructionRisk.com or by calling 703-623-1932. This article is published in ConstructionRisk Report, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Jan 2025).
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