Contracts with Teeth – Effective Defenses and Risk Transfer

John Podesta (Partner-San Francisco, CA), Wendy Testa (Partner-Philadelphia, PA) and Andrew Rossi (Associate-Philadelphia, PA) will present the Wilson Elser Forum webinar “Contracts with Teeth – Effective Defenses and Risk Transfer” on June 10, 2026. Some of the strongest defenses available to parties engaged in disputes are found in the applicable contract documents. A strong contract serves as a sword to a party proactively pursuing a remedy or risk transfer from another contracting party. Conversely, a well-negotiated contract can effectively shield a contracting party from significant liability exposure that is not reasonably related to that party's actual professional services. Contractual risk management is therefore critical, along with the need to evaluate certain risk that may be required to secure the client, obtain business, or “win” a project. It also requires the risk management team – claims professional, broker, and defense counsel – to adjust its strategy when handling contractual disputes, particularly when faced with challenging contract language and decisions on which players to consider for joinder and/or potential risk transfer.