News

WM&J Lawyers Defeat $55 Million Structural Engineering Malpractice Claim on Motion

Lloyd E. Williams, Jr. and Hanson L. Williams recently won a major victory for a firm client in a case arising out of the City of Chicago’s renovation of the three domestic terminals at O'Hare Airport. Murphy/Jahn, the architect on that project, hired a German structural engineering firm, Werner Sobek (WSI), to develop the structural steel plans and specifications. The work consisted, in part, of the erection of canopies over the passenger vehicle unloading areas. During the erection of the Terminal 2 and 3 canopies it was discovered that hundreds of the welds were improperly executed, putting the structures at risk for collapse. An expert hired by the city issued a voluminous report blaming the defects on the plans and specifications prepared by WSI. The general contractor instituted remedial measures to correct the welds, and the City paid it $55,000,000 to do so. The City sued WSI, claiming that it was a third-party beneficiary of the Murphy/Jahn-WSI contract and that WSI was guilty of negligent misrepresentation. On July 11, 2008, Judge Allen Goldberg granted WSI's motion to dismiss the city’s claims, with prejudice, finding that the contract specifically excluded a third-party relationship and that the Moorman Doctrine barred the city’s claims.