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CONTINGENCIES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 30, 2012

11. CONTINGENCIES

Claims and Lawsuits

The Company is subject to claims and lawsuits from time to time, including those alleging professional errors or omissions that arise in the ordinary course of business against firms that operate in the engineering and consulting professions. The Company carries professional liability insurance, subject to certain deductibles and policy limits, for such claims as they arise and may from time to time establish reserves for litigation that is considered probable of a loss.

In accordance with accounting standards regarding loss contingencies, the Company accrues an undiscounted liability for those contingencies where the incurrence of a loss is probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated, and discloses the amount accrued and an estimate of any reasonably possible loss in excess of the amount accrued, if such disclosure is necessary for the Company’s financial statements not to be misleading. The Company does not accrue liabilities when the likelihood that the liability has been incurred is probable but the amount cannot be reasonably estimated, or when the liability is believed to be only reasonably possible or remote.

Because litigation outcomes are inherently unpredictable, the Company’s evaluation of legal proceedings often involves a series of complex assessments by management about future events and can rely heavily on estimates and assumptions. If the assessments indicate that loss contingencies that could be material to any one of the Company’s financial statements are not probable, but are reasonably possible, or are probable, but cannot be estimated, then the Company will disclose the nature of the loss contingencies, together with an estimate of the possible loss or a statement that such loss is not reasonably estimable. While the consequences of certain unresolved proceedings are not presently determinable, and a reasonable estimate of the probable and reasonably possible loss or range of loss in excess of amounts accrued for such proceedings cannot be made, an adverse outcome from such proceedings could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s earnings in any given reporting period. However, in the opinion of the Company’s management, after consulting with legal counsel, and taking into account insurance coverage, the ultimate liability related to current outstanding claims and lawsuits is not expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial statements.

French v. Willdan Engineering , Superior Court of California, Riverside County

In January 1991, the Company was retained by the City of Calimesa, California to review and process development plans. The Company had provided plan review continuously since that date under various contracts with the city. As the city receives applications from developers for project approvals, the city forwards the project plans to the Company for processing. The Company processes the plans and the city pays the Company for its services. In August 2008, a suit was filed by a city employee alleging that the city processed development applications without first collecting fees from developers to cover the costs of processing. The suit further alleged that even though the Company performed the work requested by the city, the city should not have paid the Company for its work in advance of collecting the developers’ fees. The complaint was amended by the plaintiff in May 2010 to provide additional details and the Company filed an answer to the complaint. The plaintiff sought to recover for the city amounts paid to the Company for processing project plans for which the developer fees have not been paid. The City of Calimesa did not request any refunds from the Company or join in the litigation, and the city continues to retain the Company’s services. On January 11, 2012, this suit proceeded to trial where the Company prevailed.