The session “Legal & Corporate” was primarily a discussion on legal issues that consultants could face during their careers. A range of topics were covered across the legal sector including contractual obligations, legal liability and environmental management plans.
The most common point that the session was trying to get across was that it is very easy to face a legal issue if a consultant becomes too complacent or makes a significant mistake. This was especially evident in the first section (Legal Liability of Contaminated Land Consultants – Tips, Tricks & War Stories), where examples were given of how simple (but big) mistakes could result in disastrous legal consequences. I believe this point was stressed the most because it was relevant to both the experienced and inexperienced consultant. Another common point was to be careful with statements made as consultants – especially when you are unsure of the answer yourself. A given example of this was when an engineer surveyed a site and didn’t find any asbestos. The worded statement they gave was that the site stood “free from asbestos” rather than “we didn’t find any asbestos.” Asbestos was unfortunately found later and the company then became legally liable due to this phrasing. This was important as it showed that wording in both statements and contracts should always be given the utmost attention. The other common points were directly related to general legal knowledge that a consultant should be aware of, which became apparent during the sections “Entering into remediation contracts and the enforcement of environmental management plans.”
The most innovative point was during the section “Interpreting Contractual Obligations to Remediate in Light of Unexpected & Emerging Contaminants.” One of the stated key questions to ask yourself when entering a remediation contract was “Are you prepared to take the risk?” This stood out because it’s a question that can be asked whenever a consultant is in doubt about something, not just in terms of remediation contracts. This can save not only the consultant in the legal circumstance, but also in both time and money.
With regards to improvements regarding this session, in my opinion there could have been more examples in the “War Stories” section, covering past consultant mistakes and the legal consequences that resulted. I found that the examples they gave of negligence or deceptive conduct was surprising as these were experienced consultants or well-known businesses that made these mistakes – which shows that no one is immune no matter how experienced. I also felt that the time limits for each speaker should have had a greater enforcement, as some speakers went over their allocated time, causing other speakers to shorten their presentations and perhaps leave out important information or not go into as much depth in a topic that they would have liked to. However, this is not to say that the sessions were not very well done overall. There weren’t any controversial or unresolved issues and a wide range of topics were covered in the legal forum. Each topic showed a plentiful amount of information – which I found extremely valuable as a graduate engineer.
2019 EcoForum Conference report submitted by Bryn Lightfoot (Auckland Council). Session Chair: Dru Marsh (EPA VIC)
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