#82 - Case History - Practice, In Small Claims Court, Makes Perfect? Think About It
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#82 - Case History - Practice, In Small Claims Court, Makes Perfect? Think About It

14:09 Nov 11, 2025
About this episode
GBA Case History Series – Case History #82 - Practice, In Small Claims Court, Makes Perfect? Think About It Summary A GBA member firm conducted a Phase I and Phase II study for the developer AND later did work directly for a former tenant of the same site. After things got even more complicated, the member firm decided to try small claims court for a resolution (where they had already been for at least 60 different projects). This practice did NOT make perfect. Our Hosts: Elizabeth Brown, PE - Principal Geotechnical Engineer/JLT Consultants Elizabeth is the Principal Geotechnical Engineer at JLT Consultants in Boise, Idaho. Elizabeth has performed and/or assisted with numerous geotechnical investigations throughout Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming managing projects, providing geotechnical design, project quality control, cost and value engineering, and evaluating geotechnical constructability issues. Tim Rodriguez – COO/BSK Associates Tim is the Chief Operating Officer of Geoprofessional Services at BSK Associates, an employee-owned engineering firm. With over 30 years in materials testing and inspection, he oversees six Northern California offices and chairs BSK's Board of Directors. Tim is Past-President of the California Council of Testing and Inspection Agencies. Lessons Learned: Perform a Go/No-Go Analysis Project Risk Often Is Inversely Proportional to Project Size, Complexity, and Fee Avoid Litigation When You Reasonably Can Follow Policies That Work Do Not Give up Leverage When Dollars Are at Issue Understand the Cost of “Your Day in Court” If You Cannot Quell Your Emotions, Rely on Someone Who Can Learn the Lessons of History Calls-to-action: Download Case History #82 Visit the following link to access all of GBA’s Case Histories: https://www.geoprofessional.org/gba-case-histories/ An account is required to download the individual Case Histories, which are free for GBA Member Firms. Visit the GBA Website at https://www.geoprofessional.org for other training resources and reference materials and/or to become a member. Visit https://www.gbapodcast.com for future Podcast Ep
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