With architects being laid off left and right, AIA  hosted a seminar on the insurance and legal issues of starting your own firm, in its new Wacker Drive conference center yesterday afternoon. We snapped Euclid Insurance's Melissa Roberts encouraging future entrepreneurs to make sure they had worker's comp, professional liability insurance, and general liability insurance before they started hiring. For those potentially designing larger or riskier projects, even the minimum of insurance, less than $2,000, could be well worth it, she said.

Ice Miller LLP's Eric Singer  warned new business owners to beware what they put on their letterhead. If you're just one person, you can't have “& Associates” on your name. And beware using images of buildings you helped design at previous firms, which may sue you for copyright infringement. Another concern? Baggage. You can be sued for flaws in a building you designed for up to 14 years after its built, since owners have 10 years to find the flaws and four years to decide to file suit.