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Vic L. McConnell, PE LEED® AP

vmcconnell@smithcashion.com

Direct Dial: 615-742-8580
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Vic L. McConnell, PE, LEED® AP

Vic L. McConnell is a partner with Smith Cashion & Orr, PLC, and represents owners, developers, contractors and design professionals with a concentration in the areas of construction litigation and design professional malpractice defense.

Mr. McConnell received a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Auburn University in 1990 where he was a member of the Chi Epsilon civil engineering honor society and the School of Engineering Student Council. While at Auburn, Mr. McConnell worked for Harbert International, Inc., of Birmingham, Alabama, as a Co-op engineer and was assigned to several large construction projects including the ORMESA IE geothermal power plant in El Centro, California (known for its pioneering advancement in the successful generation of clean, sustainable and renewable energy). Mr. McConnell was also employed as a summer engineer intern with the Construction Management Division of Wilson, Miller, Barton & Peek in Naples, Florida.

After graduating from Auburn, Mr. McConnell was employed as a design engineer with several engineering-consulting firms in the southeast including Miller-Sellen Associates in Orlando, Florida, and Sain Associates, Inc., in Birmingham, Alabama. Mr. McConnell’s engineering and project management experience included all aspects of site civil engineering design, environmental permitting, and construction administration for many large retail, commercial, industrial, residential, and golf course developments.

In 1996, Mr. McConnell received a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In 1998, Mr. McConnell received a Master of Science degree in Environmental Management from Samford University and a Juris Doctor degree from Samford’s Cumberland School of Law. While at Cumberland, Mr. McConnell received awards for academic excellence in legal research and writing and was Vice President of Cumberland’s Environmental Law Society.

Following law school, Mr. McConnell joined SCO as an associate and became a Member of the firm in 2005. Mr. McConnell represents architects, engineers, surveyors, owners, developers, general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers in connection with a variety of construction project types throughout the region including commercial, retail, industrial, municipal, healthcare, residential, condominium, hotel, airport, roadway, and educational facilities. Mr. McConnell often represents ENR top 100 consulting firms and construction companies handling construction related matters involving contract drafting, bid protests, construction/design defect claims, construction delay, disruption and acceleration claims, differing site conditions claims, scope disputes, payment disputes, and contested terminations (among others). Throughout his tenure at SCO, Mr. McConnell has served as lead counsel on numerous complex and lengthy arbitrations and court actions involving construction related matters.

Mr. McConnell is a registered Professional Engineer and is a LEED® AP. Mr. McConnell is currently a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the National and Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the Associated Builders and Contractors and Associated General Contractors Middle Tennessee Chapters. He is currently a member of the Legislative and Government Affairs Committee for the TSPE Nashville Chapter. He is also a member of the American, Tennessee and Nashville Bar Associations as well as ABA’s Forum on the Construction Industry and ABA’s Section of Litigation Committee on Construction Litigation. Furthermore, he has been heavily involved in the formation and governance of the Tennessee Association of Construction Counsel by serving as Board Member, Vice President and President (2016/17).

Since 2004, Mr. McConnell has taught “Construction Law and Contracts” as an adjunct professor for Vanderbilt University’s School of Engineering. Mr. McConnell is also a contributing author to State by State Guide to Construction Contracts and Claims, Chapter 45 (CCH Incorporated), Green Building and the Construction Lawyer, Chapter 17 – Litigation Issues for the Design Professional (American Bar Association 2014), and 50-State Survey of Firm Licensure Requirements for Architectural and Engineering Firms – Tennessee Section (ABA Forum on Construction Law, January 2015).

Mr. McConnell often provides lectures on construction law and design professional liability issues before the Tennessee Bar Association, American Society of Civil Engineers, and Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers and on behalf of Vanderbilt University, Lorman Education Services, National Business Institute and Half Moon, LLC. Some of the seminars presented by Mr. McConnell include Managing Construction Projects, What To Do When Construction Projects Go Bad, The Fundamentals of Construction Contracts, Minimizing Design Professional Liability Exposure, AIA Contracts, and Legal Issues in Green Building.

 

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Education

  • B.S. in Civil Engineering, Auburn University, 1990
  • M.S. in Civil Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1996
  • M.S. in Environmental Management, Samford University, 1998
  • J.D., Samford University Cumberland School of Law, 1998

Bar Admissions

  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Tennessee
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky
  • Kentucky Supreme Court
  • Tennessee Supreme Court

Honors & Distinctions

  • Chi Epsilon Honor Society, Auburn University
  • School of Engineering Student Council, Auburn University
  • Academic Excellence Award, Legal Research & Writing, Cumberland School of Law
  • Vice President, Environmental Law Society, Cumberland School of Law
  • Professional Engineer
  • LEED® AP
  • Member, Legislative & Government Affairs Committee, TSPE (Nashville Chapter)
  • President, Tennessee Association of Construction Counsel
  • Former Board Member, Middle Tennessee Chapter of USGBC
  • Co-Author, State by State Guide to Construction Contracts and Claims, Chapter 45 (Aspen Publishers)
  • Co-Author, Green Building and the Construction Lawyer, Chapter 17 – Litigation Issues for the Design Professional (ABA 2014)
  • Adjunct Professor, Construction Law & Contracts, Vanderbilt University
  • Mid South SuperLawyers, Construction Litigation