Eric L Nelson is the Managing Partner of Smith Currie Oles and practises in the areas of construction law and government contracts. His work focuses on project disputes related to federal government construction, healthcare (including hospitals and laboratories), and EPC project delivery (including energy and process facilities).
Eric’s practice primarily involves dispute resolution of construction-related claims. He has tried cases in federal and state courts throughout the country and before the various federal government boards of contract appeals. He has also arbitrated and mediated claims, nationally and internationally.
In addition to dispute resolution, Eric works with clients in negotiating and preparing construction contracts and assists clients with project administration and performance problems. He also advises clients on U.S. federal construction issues, such as the False Claims Act, small business programs, cost and pricing, compliance, Miller Act, Green and sustainable construction, and requests for equitable adjustments and claims.
Please tell me about Smith Currie Oles.
The firm was started in 1965 as a construction firm, a kind of boutique. It was really one of the first of its kind at the at the time, and we had a labour and employment group as well. But over the years construction became the more dominant focus for the firm. I joined in 1998 from another firm, where I’d been practicing for a little over six years.
The firm works across the country and it’s done work in a variety of countries outside the US. We have a pretty wide array of experiences on different types of projects, anywhere from the west coast to the east, and everywhere in between.
We have offices in Atlanta, Charlotte, Colombia, DC, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Nashville, Oakland, and Seattle.
What’s your role in the firm?
I’m the managing partner. I took over this role in 2021, and prior to that I had served on our firm’s Executive Committee for probably about a decade.
Is the managing partner role for a fixed term?
Yes, it’s a position elected by the equity partners for a five-year term. I think I’m the fifth MP in the firm’s history.
Can one serve multiple terms?
Yes. You can extend it if you want to and if the firm wants you to, as well. I would say the majority of the managing partners extended their terms after Maynard Smith was managing partner for a very short stint. Luther House I think was at the helm for over 20 years. I believe Tom Kelleher served for 10 years, and Bob Chambers served for 14 years. Bob extended his time just to help make the transition from him to me because of the way our schedules were at the time.
Do you still practise law full time?
I’m still practising. The time between practising and management is around 60/40, and I am still working in a number of different states right now on a variety of projects.
Do you travel around the country?
Yes, most of my work is outside the southeast and has been that way for a number of years. I do have some business in the southeast, but it typically has been primarily in Texas, the Midwest, and some on the West Coast. But I am based in the Atlanta office.
How would you describe your management style?
I had the good fortune to be here under both Tom Kelleher and Bob Chambers, both of whom I think very highly of. They had different approaches, but the same fundamental management principles, and I’ve tried to adopt these, particularly as to avoiding debt and trying to maintain financial health. On important decisions we try to work as an Executive Committee with hope of achieving consensus on these. I think there’s a desire to work together versus trying to make this a single decision-maker process, which has been a natural progression as the firm grows.
How have your relationships with your clients changed in recent years? Has there been a sea change in what they’re demanding?
I have worked with many of my clients for a very long time – in some cases, closing in on three decades. I wouldn’t say it’s been a sea change, but I think there’s a lot more stress or tension over the cost of litigating. Those costs have gotten way out of hand and from my perspective, a lot of that’s driven by e-discovery and the sheer volume of documents that the firm handles and that our competitors handle. I mean, all of us are in the same boat.
So I do think there’s some pressure on both rates as well as just the general costs of litigation that wasn’t there years ago and I think that’s going to continue particularly as we head into a maybe a period of uncertainty in the economy, so that I think you’re seeing clients looking for ways to curtail litigation costs and keep them in check and come up with more efficient means of getting their disputes resolved.
Law firm management is concerned with diversity, equity and inclusion and ESG, are you finding you have to focus more on these matters these days?
I think that is probably true and to some degree is being driven by the market in general, so all of us are having to look at that because especially the newer generation of attorneys is very keyed in to that. It’s interesting with the DE&I issues and the Supreme Court case causing a shift a little bit away from that in corporate America, and I’ll be interested to see how that affects law firms in the future. Law firms tend to lag behind the rest of corporate America generally because the business models are a little bit different. So, we don’t tend to ever be cutting edge. In the end, the goal should be to try to create an environment where people want to work.
Is the decision you’re referencing concerning positive discrimination being just discrimination?
Yeah, I think it means that. In the US we tend to go to extremes, often in reaction to circumstances. Hopefully this will create a balance such that we can look at the larger picture and say we want to retain a diverse group of people that enjoy doing what we do and are able to do it well. I mean, I would think that’s ultimately the goal of every law firm. But you don’t want to get to the point where you’re excluding a group.
What about clients specifically in the construction industry, are they demanding that your values reflect theirs?
It certainly depends on who the client is. I mean the lot of the larger companies that have embraced certain philosophies or practice styles are going to want those reflected in the law firms they use. But you’ve seen that get some blowback over the last year. So again, there’s this balancing that has to happen. At the end of the day, as the attorney, I have to make decisions that I believe are in the best interest of the client, within the rules that govern the practice.
Are you seeing any particular areas of growth at the moment? Any industry sectors that are booming or any that are under pressure?
Certainly, healthcare continues to rise. Large hospital projects are a strong area, and the size and cost of those facilities are astronomical Alternative energy appears to be still in a growth trend, but we’ll see how that shakes out. I think people have speculated on where that’s going to head, and I’m not certain that it’s going to take off like people think it will because at the end of the day, some of that is market driven.
We’re still struggling here in the US with infrastructure. So some of the larger, what you would call the mega projects  – you know, bridge, the road, the tunnel, maybe some of the waste water projects – will likely get some funding. I think on the downside, the multifamily housing market that was really driving a good part of the construction economy is going to scale back based on the tightening of credit facilities, interest rates, and some other considerations.
Have you got any work highlights that stand out for you?
Early on it was the energy side, some power work and manufacturing facilities, process facilities in the southeast and in Texas and actually overseas. I would say some of my favourite stuff has been working on the larger hospitals. That’s been a sizable amount of my practice over the last 10 years. Those have both been enjoyable projects. I love the clients, and enjoy working with the people, and I like those types of projects, they were definite highlights for me.
What is it about hospital projects that stands out for you? Was it just the clients or is the work more varied or is it the end result?
It’s really a combination. I’ve certainly liked the types of projects that I’ve been involved in, including the size and complexity of the claims or the scope of the representation. But what has been the primary reason is the people that I’ve had a chance to work with on those projects. These are the types of folks that you enjoy being around and working for as an attorney.
What attracted you to law in the first place?
I was a political science major in college and my father, who was a mathematician, said what are you going to do with that? And I said, I guess I gotta go to law school, huh? So I put myself in law school. I ended up at a 15-person firm, nine of whom practiced construction law. I loved doing construction law from the moment I started working. I can’t imagine doing another type of law.
If I had to do something else, I would probably get out of law altogether.
What were you looking to do as a political science major before your father’s intervention?
You know, like so many political science majors, I loved the politics side of it. So, I worked in DC for a summer and after my first year of law school I clerked for the Department of Justice and wanted to be in DC and then get into that whole political thing. But that wore think quickly. So, I don’t look back now and say, “I wish I would have gone that route.â€
And looking back now what would you have done if you hadn’t have got into law?
You know looking back at it, I would have probably chosen a different major and probably done something that was a little more versatile, possibly even seminary. It’s tough to tell. I have never done anything other than practise law. And I’ve never really looked around.
What do you do in your spare time?
I still do a lot of cycling. I’ve been cycling for close to 30 years now. Both my wife and I teach a young marriage class at our church. Â We help people that just got married or have been married three or four years. We’ve been doing that for a number of years now and just love it.
