Craig is a partner in the firm’s New Orleans office and also works from our Jackson office. After gaining extensive experience at Tennessee’s largest construction law firm, Craig joined the firm in 2016. He has represented every type of entity involved in a construction project, including sureties, owners, design professionals, general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. This background allows him to expertly handle all aspects of a construction dispute.
Craig primarily focuses his practice on surety and construction litigation, assisting sureties with project takeovers, performance bond defaults, payment bond claims, bad faith claims and indemnity litigation. He also has extensive experience with complex construction litigation, public bid protests, contract drafting and negotiation, administrative claims, lien disputes and he has provided transactional services to various construction related entities.
He is a founder of a New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe and the Chapter Leader for his local Boston College Alumni Association. When not practicing law, he enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf.
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Construction Litigation (2023)
J.D., Florida State University College of Law (2008)
B.A., Boston College (2005)
Tennessee, 2008
Louisiana, 2016
Mississippi, 2016
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi
U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Tennessee
Southern Environmental Management and Specialties, Inc. v. City of New Orleans, 339 So. 3d 1234 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2022). The firm represented a surety that issued a statutory payment bond under the Louisiana Public Works Act. The payment bond claimant alleged that the surety adjusted the payment bond claim in bad faith under the Louisiana Insurance Code. The appellate court upheld the trial court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of the surety, holding that Louisiana Public Works Act payment bond sureties are immune from Louisiana Insurance Code penalties as a matter of law.
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Parkcrest Builders, LLC v. Hous. Auth. of New Orleans, 2018 WL 2766067 (E.D. La. 2018). This litigation involved the wrongful termination of a surety and its principal following the takeover of a large multi-family public housing project. The firm assisted the surety in defeating the owner’s performance bond claim, converting the principal’s termination for cause to a termination for convenience and successfully pursuing the surety’s claim for the outstanding project balance.
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Gray Cas. & Sur. Co. v. DRS Veteran Enters., LLC, 2016 WL 6157608 (E.D. La. 2016). In a dispute involving the interpretation of a general indemnity agreement, the firm assisted the surety in enforcing the general indemnity agreement, including the surety’s right to select the venue of the dispute.
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RCR Bldg. Corp. v. Pinnacle Hosp. Partners, 2012 WL 5830587, (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012). While at his prior firm, Craig represented a general contractor in defeating an owner’s untimely and improper liquidated damage claim for failure to follow the AIA contract requirements for submitting a “claim.”
Presenter, A Primer on the Surety’s Rights Against its Principal’s CGL Carrier, Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Conference (2019)
Presenter, Third-Party Discovery in Arbitration, Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Conference (2018)
Guest Lecturer, Bankruptcy within a Construction Dispute: Pitfalls and Problems, Vanderbilt University Construction Law and Construct Class (2013)
Presenter, Tennessee Lien Law: An Overview, sponsored by the Associated General Contractors of Middle Tennessee (2012)
American Bar Association
Louisiana State Bar Association
New Orleans Bar Association
New Orleans Boston College Alumni Association, Chapter Leader
