Landlords must create emergency management program.

In the wake of Sept. 11, landlords are being forced to redefine their roles in ensuring tenant safety, while at the same time looking to protect the value of their properties. According to an emergency management expert, since the insurance industry is moving aggressively toward excluding coverage for terrorist acts, plaintiffs' lawyers will no doubt target building owner assets in likely forthcoming lawsuits.

"The only way to protect against potential claims, that may arise as a result of a crisis, is to create a comprehensive emergency management program before a crisis occurs," says Daniel J. Sitomer, Esq., who heads the New York Construction and Environmental Group of Jenkens & Gilchrist Parker Chapin LLP.

Sitomer's approach to these issues is based on direct in-depth experience gained from working with clients that have been challenged under the most extreme of circumstances. As far back as 1989, Sitomer represented those impacted by the Gramercy Park steam pipe explosion that killed two Con Ed employees and the mother of a young child.

There, in a dual role as consultant and attorney, he managed the emergency response, developed standards and protocols for environmental testing, remediation and the eventual re-occupancy of the affected properties. His efforts brought a successful resolution to a complicated set of legal and building management issues.

Among Sitomer's recommendations for building owners:

* Owners must know that the programs they're implementing are sufficient to protect against future liability, that the company they hire to develop those programs or systems is qualified to do so, and that the systems or programs are the most appropriate for their specific building;

* Owners must develop comprehensive and effective communications programs that determine what information- is to be communicated to building tenants and employees, and, just as importantly, how to do so without provoking unnecessary alarm;

* Owners must review current building safety programs and make the needed modifications to take into account the new realities of terrorism.

Sitomer cautioned that all insurance policies and management contracts must be reviewed with great detail and new scrutiny, focusing on coverage, asset protection and tenant safety. Building owners who only address security needs in an isolated way, do so at their own risk, and that risk, he warns, is a severe one.