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

11/11/2025 14 min

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

Episode Synopsis

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 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-brown-365aab50/) - Principal Geotechnical Engineer/JLT Consultants (https://www.jltconsultants.com/)
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 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-rodriguez-8812784a/) – COO/BSK Associates (https://www.bskassociates.com/)
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 (https://members.geoprofessional.org/store/viewproduct.aspx?id=23839482)
Visit the following link to access all of GBA’s Case Histories: https://www.geoprofessional.org/gba-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 (https://www.geoprofessional.org) for other training resources and reference materials and/or to become a member.
Visit https://www.gbapodcast.com (https://www.gbapodcast.com) for future Podcast Episodes
Contact us at [email protected] with any podcast-related questions or comments
Subscribe
Subscribe to the GBA Podcast https://www.gbapodcast.com/subscribe
This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:
Tim Rodriguez (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-rodriguez-8812784a/) – COO/BSK Associates (https://www.bskassociates.com/)
Elizabeth Brown, PE (https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-brown-365aab50/) - Principal Geotechnical Engineer/JLT Consultants (https://www.jltconsultants.com/)
Ryan White, PE, GE (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryankwhite/) – Principal Geotechnical Engineer/Apex Companies, LLC (https://www.apexcos.com/)