Gerald B. Kirksey

Gerald Kirksey is a licensed engineer in Tennessee and is a former registered land surveyor.  Mr. Kirksey initially worked as estimator and project manager for a large international general construction firm and later owned a small general construction firm in rural West Tennessee.  After pursuing a second career and graduating from Vanderbilt Law School in 1986, Mr. Kirksey has represented subcontractors, suppliers, general contractors and owners.  He currently represents publicly traded companies in merger, acquisition, transactional and construction areas and also advises and represents Tennessee school boards on construction procurement issues.  Mr. Kirksey has served as a registered lobbyist in Tennessee governmental work and is keenly interested in the negotiation theory and practice.

• Nashville, Tennessee and American Bar Associations
• ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, Chair of Division Nine (1994 – 1997), Governing Committee (1997 – 2000)
• American College of Construction Lawyers
• Tennessee Council of School Board Attorneys
• American Subcontractors Association – Chapter Attorney – Middle Tennessee Chapter (1988 – present), Chair – National Attorneys Council (1995 – 1996)
• American Society of Civil Engineers

Professional Affiliations

ABA Forum Committee on the Construction Industry,American Arbitration Association Panel of Arbitrators

• Proving Damages: Loss of Profits Resulting from Loss of Bonding Capacity,1 Construction Law Adviser, April, 1983
• Protecting the Contractor’s Expectation Interest After the Owner’s Substantial Breach, 6 ABA Construction Lawyer, October, 1985
• A Simplified Approach to Preference Calculations-Section 547(c)(4) of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 and the ‘At Risk’ Rule,61 American Bankruptcy Law Journal, 255, 1987
• Significant Construction Issues in Tennessee, The Cambridge Institute, 1991
• The ‘Pay When-Paid’/ ‘Pay-If-Paid’ Dichotomy and the Florida Trilogy — Bright Line Murky Fog,11 ABA Construction Lawyer, October, 1991
• Minimum Decencies — A Proposed Resolution of the ‘Pay When – Paid’/’Pay-If-Paid’ Dichotomy,12 ABA Construction Lawyer, January, 1992
• Update on the Economic Loss Rule, ABA Forum on the Construction Industry (Annual Meeting Paper), 1994
• Contract Changes and Claims Manual for Subcontractor Project Managers Estimators ,and Supervisors,ASA and the Foundation of the American Subcontractors Association, 1994
• MoneyMoneyMoney: Legal and Ethical Dilemmas in the Construction Process,16 ABA Construction Lawyer, January, 1996
• State by State Survey of the Economic Loss Doctrine in Construction Litigation (Tennessee Chapter), A Report of the Subcommittee on Damages and the Subcommittee on Survey of State Laws for the Construction Industry, ABA Committee on Construction Litigation, The Section of Litigation (July, 1996)
• Controlling Construction Project Conflict Through Contract Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Amendments,ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, (Annual Meeting Paper) 1997
• Design/Build in the Public and Private Sectors – Its Expansion in the Private Sector (Univ. of Ky. 1998)
• Design – Build Contracting Claims, Chapter Seven: The Trade Contractor’s Perspective; (Co-authored with Stanley P. Sklar, Esq.) (Aspen Law & Business, 1999)
• How to Resolve a $100,000 Construction Claim’ for Something Less Than $100,000 (in Fees and Costs) (Univ. of Ky. 2000)

Speeches, Panel Discussions, and Seminars:

• Construction Financial Management Association Annual Meeting, Nashville, Tennessee, 1991
• American Subcontractors Association/Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana,1993, Nashville,Tennessee, 1993
• American Subcontractors Association Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada, 1994
• Tenth Annual Meeting, American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry, Construction Cue;1994
• American Subcontractors Association (Los Angeles Chapter) Los Angeles, California,1994
• CRSI, Southern States Regional Meeting (Counsel) Nashville, Tennessee, 1994
• Distributors Council, Inc. Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, 1994
• American Subcontractors Association Annual Meeting, Nashville, Tennessee,1995
• Program Chair, ABA Forum/TIPS Meeting San Francisco, California, 1996
• American Subcontractors Association Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida, 1996
• Steel Erectors Association of America Annual Meeting, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 1997
• ABA Forum on the Construction Industry Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1997
• Program Chair, ABA Forum on the Construction Industry Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida, 1998
• ASA/AWCI Joint Annual Meeting, Reno, Nevada, 1998
• 7th Biennial Midwest/Midsouth Construction Institute, University of Kentucky, 1998
• 8th Biennial Midwest/Midsouth Construction Institute, University of Kentucky, 2000
• ABA Forum on the Construction Industry Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, 2002
• American Subcontractors Association Annual Meeting, 2003
• 10th Biennial Midwest/Midsouth Construction Institute, University of Kentucky, 2005
• ABA Forum on the Construction Industry Annual Meeting, San Diego, 2006
• Tennessee School Board Association 2005, 2007, 2011

• State of Tennessee
• United States District Courts for the Middle & Eastern District of Tennessee

Board of Visitors – Vanderbilt Divinity School

Pro Bono Attorney – Pisgah Legal Services, Asheville, NC