WRITTEN DOCUMENT AND CIVIL LITIGATION

This paper discusses the preparation of written documents with the goal of reducing potential liability. Guidelines for the preparation of reports are summarized in Appendix I and phrases or clauses, which should be added to reports to reduce potential liability, are presented in Appendix II. Reports and field memos should be well-thoughout documents that reflect field conditions accurately. Hastily written reports or self-incriminating field memos, such as those in which the engineer admits to not following the plans or specifications, can increase potential liability. If an engineer is involved in a lawsuit, the information contained in the file will be available to all parties. The file should contain correspondence, testing, photographs, analysis, reports, and maps. Items that should be discarded include old drafts of reports or letters, personal documents, rough notes or calculations, and inappropriate or unrelated material.