ABSTRACT
Hazardous waste consultants and scientists are well-advised to see the handwriting on the wall. Actionable negligence is defined as a breach of a duty to exercise care, which the defendant in a court case owed to the plaintiff in the particular circumstances of the case and which caused special damage to the plaintiff as the proximate result. A professional unwittingly may become liable to third persons who are not parties to the contract but who are foreseeably exposed to risk. The doctrine of negligent misrepresentation is closely related to the concept of liability for professional malpractice. Bondholders who had financed nuclear power plants successfully sued design engineers for statements in the prospectus accompanying the bond offering, including misrepresentations by the engineers as to structural feasibility. The typical engineering or survey firm, or the environmental planner with a smattering of experience with environmental science, is tempted to leap without looking.
