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Greg is a member of the firm’s Fidelity, Surety, and Construction group with related experience going back to 1982. He has been with the firm since 1993, but he has first-hand experience in both a smaller, boutique construction partnership as well as a 200-lawyer firm. His career began during the time when fidelity and surety claims alike were handled by the same company representatives, and he continues to work in both areas today.  He was born in Augusta, Georgia, has practiced in the Atlanta area for over 40 years, and currently lives in Peachtree Corners with his wife of over 30 years.

Greg has written and spoken often for groups interested in fidelity, surety, and construction law topics, including the Fidelity & Surety Law Committee (FSLC) of the Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section of the ABA (TIPS), the State Bar of Georgia’s Institute for Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), the Surety Claims Institute, and most frequently at conferences of the Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Association (SSFCA).

Practice Areas:

  • Contract and Commercial Surety
  • Fidelity and Financial Institutions
  • Litigation

Admitted to Practice:

  • State of Georgia, 1982
  • Northern, Middle, and Southern U.S. Districts of Georgia
  • Fourth and Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
  • U.S. Court of Federal Claims

Education:

  • Furman University, B.A. magna cum laude 1979, Phi Beta Kappa
  • University of Georgia School of Law, J.D. cum laude 1982, Law Review Managing Board

Professional or Trade Affiliations:

  • American Bar Association (Litigation Section; TIPS, Fidelity and Surety Law Committee (FSLC); TIPS, Fidelity and Surety Law Committee (FSLC) and Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Committee; Forum on the Construction Industry)
  • State Bar of Georgia (Litigation Section)
  • Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Association (SSFCA)
  • Surety Claims Institute (Director and Committee Chair)
  • ABA TIPS FSLC Electronic Payment Bond Deskbook, 2023 (contributing author to Georgia chapter)
  • “Context is King: Standing Firm for the Surety’s Rights,” 2023 SSFCA

Honors & Awards:

  • AV (Highest) Peer Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Super Lawyer, Construction/Surety (2010-2023) 

Publications:

  • "Conditional and Unconditional Conditions: The 2010 A312 Bond," 2022 SSFCA
  • "Current Issues Under the Indemnity Agreement, a/k/a Who Wants to be a Millionaire?,” 2018 SSFCA (co-written with David Harris)
  • “‘Thus Far May You Come, But No Farther’: The Penal Sum and How Sureties Can Preserve It,” 2017 Surety Claims Institute (co-written with Edward F. Dudley)
  • “Risky Business:  Impairment of Suretyship and the Restatement,” 2017 SSFCA
  • “Bad Faith Claims,” 2016 ABA TIPS Annual Meeting (co-authored with Jeffrey Price, Manier & Herod)
  • “Rescission and Automatic Termination,” 2016 FSLC Mid-Winter Meeting (co-authored with Susan Evans Jones, Travelers)
  • “Pay or Play, but Mind the Cap Either Way: Indemnity Bonds, Performance Bonds, and the Penal Sum,” 2016 SSFCA
  • Lead Author: Chapt. 140, “Payment Bonds,” New Appleman on Insurance Law Library Edition (Lexis-Nexis 2014)
  • Chapt. XIV, “Rescission,” Commercial Crime Insurance Coverage, ABA TIPS FSLC (2014)
  • “On the Hook or In the Boat? Taking and Keeping Collateral,” Surety Claims Institute (2014)
  • "Trust But Verify: Proof of Loss," 2012 ABA TIPS FSLC Mid-Winter Meeting
  • "Going Nuclear: Rescinding Fidelity and Financial Institution Bonds," 2012 ABA TIPS FSLC Fall Fidelity Conference
  • "Enforceability of Statutory Fidelity Bonds," 2009 ABA TIPS FSLC Mid-Winter Meeting
  • "Use of Consulting & Testifying Experts," Loan Loss Coverage under Financial Institution Bonds, Chapt. XIV, ABA TIPS FSLC (2007)
  • "Other Common Conditions," Annotated Commercial Crime Policy 2d, Chap. 17, ABA TIPS FSLC (2006)
  • “Arbitration & The Performance Bond Surety,” Surety Claims Institute (2005)
  • Contributing Author, The Commercial Crime Policy 2d, Chapt. XIX, “Bad-Faith Claims,” ABA TIPS FSLC (2004)
  • Contributor: The Most Important Questions A Surety Can Ask About PERFORMANCE BONDS, (Question No. 30, p. 137), ABA TIPS FSLC (1997)
  • "Subrogation--The Duties and Obligations of the Insured and Rights of the Insurer Revisited," XXVIII Tort and Insurance Law Journal 69 (Fall, 1992)
  • “Payment Bond Litigation Issues,” SSFCA (2014)
  • “Better a Friendly Refusal Than an Unwilling Consent”: Surety Consent to Changes and Effect on the Penal Sum,” SSFCA (2013)
  • “Closing Attorney as Employee Under the FIB,” SSFCA (2011)
  • "Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be--But What is a Loan?," SSFCA (2010)
  • "All That the Law Allows, But Maybe More or Less Than You Thought: Statutory Contract and Fidelity Bonds," SSFCA (2008)
  • "Covering the ERISA Plan Trustee: Your Bond Versus the Regs," SSFCA (2007)
  • "Capitalized Interest as Potential Income under the FIB: Don't Roll Over on Rollover Interest," SSFCA (2006)
  • “New FIB, Old Crime: Contrasting Financial Institution Bond Revisions with Formerly Parallel Crime Policy Provisions,” SSFCA (2004)
  • “A (Very) Short Course in E-Fidelity,” SSFCA (2003)
  • “Steal-A-Deal, Other Peoples’ Money, and the Commercial Crime Policy,” SSFCA (2002)
  • "Fallout From Fraud--Forged & Unauthorized Bonds," SSFCA (1999)
  • "Fidelity Subrogation Update--Updated," SSFCA (1998)
  • "Georgia Fidelity/Surety in '95: Five Cases You Should Know," SSFCA (1996)
  • "As Their Interests May Appear: Multiple Obligee Bonds," SSFCA (1994)
  • "Comparing Peaches and Palmettos: Georgia and South Carolina's Different Views of the Surety and Bad Faith," SSFCA (1993)
  • "Public Payment Bonds in Georgia," Georgia ICLE (2007-2011)
  • “A Primer on Surety Bonds and Surety Claims,” Georgia ICLE (2002-2004) 

Representative Experience:

  • Required U.S. government to pay over to surety amount improperly paid to principal in violation of surety’s subrogation rights
  • Enforced indemnity agreement by summary judgment despite allegations of surety’s oral modification and misrepresentation
  • Successfully defended surety based on no-damages-for-delay clause incorporated into subcontract by flow-down clause
  • Enforced originals requirement under FIB insuring agreement E
  • Defeated bank's claim based on capitalized interest, including order for repayment by insured of amount previously overpaid on principal claim
  • Protected consultant’s work product in the face of a bad-faith claim
  • Vindicated performance-bond surety’s rights under a dual-obligee rider
  • Summary judgment for surety on indemnity claims despite decision not to tender bond defense
  • Defense award for surety in two-week arbitration over delay/excess costs on public housing project
  • Obtained preliminary injunction requiring indemnitors to post over $500,000 in collateral 
  • Defeated obligee’s attempt to cover $40 million in purchase orders under $24 million installation subcontract performance bond (summary judgment)

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