This class is offered in partnership with the California Department of Transportation, Division of Local Assistance. Registration fees are subsidized with funding from the Cooperative Training Assistance Program. Reduced rates are available to employees of California's city, county, regional, and other public agencies only.

Credits

This course grants .8 CEUs and 8 AICP CM credits. (AICP CMs pending approval)

Description

Transportation entities face conflicting and intersecting priorities - they must provide safe, efficient, equitable, multi-modal transportation projects while mitigating financial, legal and operational risk. Legal risk should be addressed by transportation entities early and often, not just after lawsuits have been filed. Employees and officials planning, designing, maintaining and operating their entity's transportation infrastructure need to understand the major legal principles governing roadway litigation. An understanding of the legal statutes, cases, principles and outcomes will help all transportation employees, from engineers, to planners, to maintenance crews understand how to conduct their operations to minimize or reduce legal risk.

The intent of this course is to help transportation practitioners understand what claims can be brought against a transportation entity for crashes, how the lawyers representing those entities manage and defend those cases, and how the non-legal transportation professional can actively reduce or manage litigation risks using engineering judgment, proper documentation, and collaboration with legal and non-legal professionals.

The training will cover legal concepts related to unsafe condition claims in California, investigation of collisions from a litigation perspective (vs. from a purely operational perspective), and will focus on tort liability litigation practices. This course will cover planning and design elements that provide context sensitive solutions based on the unique geometrics of a given facility while reducing legal risk through proper documentation and engineering judgment. We will discuss legal cases and court decisions that provide the framework for transportation entities to defend against unsafe condition cases. The various defenses available to the transportation entities will be covered, along with practical information for transportation employees to build into their workflow that minimize or reduce legal risk while allowing for creative, innovative design solutions for transportation infrastructure projects. Although the cases discussed will involve lawsuits resulting from highway design, the information provided will help civil engineers involved as witnesses in various types of litigation.

Topics Include

The course will provide transportation personnel with an understanding of the following:

• litigation process, including the legal concepts for unsafe condition claims
• the concept of joint and several liability
• the available defenses
• the need for early investigation in some collision cases and the process of providing information (called discovery) during a lawsuit
• various types of written discovery, oral testimony typically done in these cases, as well as the necessary preparation and assistance needed by employees involved in the litigation matters
• how to respond to questions from attorneys and become an effective witness in depositions and at trial
• how to prepare for deposition testimony (and the importance of doing so)
• how to testify in a trial
• interaction discussion and pointers on preparing for testimony
• dispositive motions that can end a case short of a jury
• several motions, including demurrers, motions to strike, motions for design immunity, and a trial on affirmative defenses
• explain these motions, and the non-legal transportation official's critical role in successful outcomes to these motions for transportation entities
• focus on emerging trends in transportation engineering that affect tort liability and risk management. This will include a history of safety programs federally and in California, including the Highway Safety Act, various spot programs, as well as the evolution of corridor safety programs, and the transitions with reactive/proactive safety operations
• challenges of innovative transportation initiatives when juxtaposed with the tort liability scheme in California

What You Will Learn

The intent of the course is to improve public agency practices to effectively manage and reduce tort liability. The following learning objectives are primary for this course:

• Understand the nature of roadway litigation against transportation entities
• Understand the litigation process in tort liability litigation
• Familiarize non-legal transportation personnel with the litigation process and their role in that process:

• Helping them to proactively manage or reduce liability, while
• Helping the legal team defend litigation matters effectively

• Help participants with the process of deposition and trial testimony by helping them understand how to approach witness testimony
• Address current trends in road liability litigation and how those trends can be positively or negatively affected by the transportation employee's work
• Use real world case examples to teach transportation employees how to use liability neutral documentation
• Understand the importance of balancing factors in addressing the needs of all road users

Who Should Attend

This course will benefit transportation professionals (engineers and planners) who work for consultants, cities, counties, and state agencies involved in designing roadway projects. This course is designed for individuals with some background and training in designing streets and intersections who are interested in learning more about tort liability, how it relates to the highway design process. The course may also be helpful to the staff of public agencies who are involved with street and roadway maintenance on a day-to-day basis.

For More Information

About our courses and credits, see our FAQ
About payments, refunds, confirmations, and accessibility, see How to Enroll
Or email us with your questions at registrar@techtransfer.berkeley.edu

Cancellation Policy

To cancel your registration and receive a refund less a $75 processing fee, you must notify TechTransfer at least five (5) working days before the course is scheduled to begin. Notifications must be made in writing and sent by email to registrar@techtransfer.berkeley.edu. We reserve the right to charge the full course fee if proper notification is not sent to TechTransfer. We don't offer refunds for classes with registration fees of $75 or less.

In lieu of canceling your registration, you have three additional options: you may (1) transfer your registration to another class, (2) receive a tuition credit for the total amount, useable toward a future class, or (3) send a substitute in your place. Please contact us at least 5 full working days before the class is scheduled to begin so we may process your request.

If you’ve registered for a self-paced class, you cannot receive a refund once you start the class.

We recommend you discuss any possible problems or online security issues with your IT person before you register for any online classes. If you are worried about connectivity issues, please contact the online training coordinator the week before the class to schedule a time to test your system. If you do not test your system and you have technical issues during a live online class, we will not provide a refund.

Class Schedule

This class has four, two-hour sessions.

Monday, July 21, 2025 :: 3:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. :: Pacific Time
Wednesday, July 23, 2025 :: 3:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. :: Pacific Time
Monday, July 28, 2025 :: 3:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. :: Pacific Time
Wednesday, July 30, 2025 :: 3:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. :: Pacific Time

This is a live online course. All times for the online lecture are in (California) Pacific Time. Approximately one week before the course start date, all paid students will receive detailed instructions on how to access the web based lecture and course site. You will also receive instructions on how to access the student course notebook.

Please make sure we have your updated contact information and you have access to an internet connection for your desktop or laptop on the days and times of the lecture. We recommend you discuss any possible problems or online security issues with your IT person before you register for any online classes.

If you're worried about connectivity issues, please contact the online training coordinator, Jay Johnson, the week before the class to schedule a time to test your system. If you don't test your system and you have technical issues during a live online class, we will not provide a refund.