Surety
Bovis, Kyle, Burch & Medlin, LLC has a significant surety practice, with five attorneys engaged primarily in representing companies writing surety bonds. Jack Burch, Greg Veal, David Harris, and Mark L. Pickett, Jr. handle every aspect of legal concern for sureties, including investigation of questionable claims, responding to claimants and obligees upon initial receipt of claim, negotiating to avoid suit, mediating, arbitrating, or litigating as appropriate, pursuing and collecting indemnity, negotiating and drafting completion, takeover, and tender agreements, and generally advising sureties about their rights and duties. We also assist with matters involving the bankruptcy courts and state regulatory agencies.
All of the attorneys in our group have been practicing in this area for years (since 1970 for our most experienced attorney). The advantage of having seven experienced attorneys attending to surety matters on a regular basis allows the firm to deal with matters of any size. Although we handle many matters efficiently with only one attorney, we easily absorb the exceptional case due to the years of teamwork we have enjoyed together. Knowing the complexity of the issues and disputes we face, we also have selected our support staff with care, and our clients often comment on their pleasure in dealing with our legal assistants.
We are proud to take leadership roles (but not just figurehead titles) in the surety bar. We are one of the founding directors of the Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Association, which annually sponsors a heavily substantive, well-received conference on legal and practical topics in the fidelity and suretyship area. We are a founder of the Atlanta Surety Claims Association, with board and officer responsibilities. We are a member of the Surety Association of Georgia. Our attorneys write and speak regularly for the Fidelity & Surety Law Committee of the Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section of the ABA and other surety organizations. We also offer in-house seminars on surety topics of interest or by request.
The hallmark of our surety practice is cost-effective service. We commit to keeping our eyes on our clients’ bottom line for each file--both loss and expense. When our involvement offers little chance of improving that bottom-line result, we advise our clients accordingly. Usually, though, we have ideas or approaches that reduce the sum of claim dollars and expense dollars assessed to the file. The hourly rate always should matter less than the bottom-line result.
The success of our combination of commitment, experience, and focus on cost-effectiveness is demonstrated by our representative client list. We enjoy long-term relationships with most of these clients, who keep coming back because of good results. We know the industry, work well with the construction and accounting consultants who also play a role for our clients, and value our reputation as one of the premier surety firms in the Southeast.