Connor Cafferty
Associate
Overview
Connor Cafferty is a construction attorney in Holland & Knight's Nashville office who assists owners, contactors and developers navigating projects from concept to closeout. Mr. Cafferty's nationwide practice includes transactions, project counseling and litigation.
Mr. Cafferty represents clients in high-stakes disputes and litigation involving change orders, delay and disruption claims, workmanship issues, design defects, catastrophic losses and prompt payment matters. His experience also includes emergency incident response, mechanics' liens, insurance coverage and surety matters.
Mr. Cafferty has also negotiated hundreds of construction contracts with combined values exceeding $10 billion. His construction law practice includes experience with transactional representation, including advising, drafting and negotiating industry form construction contracts, such as American Institute of Architects (AIA), ConsensusDocs and Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC), as well as bespoke engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and design-build contracts. He understands various projects' delivery structures and pricing mechanisms, along with how to structure project agreements to reflect these fundamental concepts.
Additionally, Mr. Cafferty has significant experience in public construction projects and procurement. He has filed more than a dozen bid protests at municipal, state and federal forums, securing bid cancellations, bidder disqualifications and the termination of improperly awarded contracts.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Cafferty served as in-house counsel to leading contractors, including a top Engineering News-Record (ENR)-ranked general contractor. He offers practical, business-oriented legal advice gained from firsthand knowledge of the construction business and project life cycle.
Not yet admitted to Tennessee bar; admitted to Kentucky Bar only and practicing under supervision of lawyers licensed to practice in Tennessee.
Representative Experience
- Represented a contractor in drafting and negotiating a $650 million design-build agreement with a Brazilian weapons manufacturer for a munitions manufacturing facility
- Represented a contractor in drafting and negotiating a $360 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement with a multinational manufacturer for a transformer manufacturing facility
- Represented a contractor in drafting and negotiating a $300 million design-build agreement with a German automotive manufacturer for a greenfield automotive manufacturing project
- Represented a contractor in drafting and negotiating a $200 million design-build agreement with a German automotive manufacturer for a brownfield automotive manufacturing project
- Represented a contractor in drafting and negotiating a $100 million design-bid-build agreement with a national e-commerce company for a distribution center
- Represented a contractor in drafting and negotiating a $55 million design-build agreement with a Japanese automotive company for an automotive assembly retrofit project
- Represented a trade contractor in a $55 million EPC tank farm contract with one of the world's largest EPC contractors
- Represented a contractor in drafting and negotiating a $30 million design-build agreement with a closely held raw materials company for a tin production facility
- Acted as lead counsel managing upstream and downstream claims for a general contractor arising from a $100 million electrical fire loss, allegedly from a defective conduit system design
- Managed numerous disputes between general contractors and subcontractors, including terminations for default and convenience, delay claims and change order disputes
- Second-chaired an arbitration involving design and delay claims on a collegiate track stadium project, with cumulative claims, counterclaims and cross-claims exceeding $50 million
- Represented an electrical contractor in a bench trial for nonpayment and Prompt Pay Act claims against a solar developer; prevailed on all claims and received an award of attorneys' fees, costs and interest
Credentials
- University of Louisville, Brandeis School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude
- Fort Lewis College, B.A., cum laude
- Kentucky
- All State Courts in Kentucky
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
- American Bar Association (ABA), Forum on Construction Law