T: (703) 749-1000 vCard McLean kniemi@wthf.com
Kirk Niemi is an experienced construction industry attorney. He has represented owners, state highway departments, municipalities, general contractors, subcontractors, and sureties before courts and arbitration panels regarding various construction issues including mechanics' liens, acceleration claims, changes, defects, delay claims, liquidated damages, and payment bond claims. He has worked on matters involving nuclear power plants, bridges, highways, a professional baseball stadium, office buildings (both federal and private), data centers, hotel/resort complexes, condominiums, water treatment facilities and wastewater treatment plants, amongst others. Kirk has also negotiated EPC power plant contracts on behalf of contractors.
Prior to receiving his Juris Doctorate, Kirk was a Judicial Clerk for the Honorable Robert W. Wooldridge, Jr., of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Virginia.
At Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, Kirk focuses on construction, suretyship, and government contracts.
Memberships and Affiliations
- Airport Consultants Council
- American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE)
- American Bar Association
- Forum on the Construction Industry
- Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. - Virginia Chapter
- Management Education Committee
- Washington Building Congress
- Virginia State Bar
- Construction Law Section
Publications and Presentations
- Co-Author: "The Construction Industry in the Crosshairs: Legislative and Regulatory Proposals Impacting Contractors on Federally Funded Construction Projects," The Washington Building Congress, November 2007.
- Speaker: "Condominium Construction: The State of the Market and What You Should Know - Legal Implications," Associated Builders and Contractors Virginia Chapter, October 2006.
- Author: "The Federal Miller Act - Can It Trump A Surety's Contractual Defenses And Put The Principal At Risk," From the Ground Up, Fall 2004.
- Author: "Keeping What You Were Paid: Potential Defenses to Bankruptcy Preference Actions," Journal of Construction Accounting and Taxation, December 2003.
- Speaker: "Construction Contracts: Understanding Key Contract Clauses," Associated Builders and Contractors - Virginia Chapter, October 2003.
- Author: "Accord & Satisfaction: The Dangers of Accepting a Partial Final Payment," Dig It! Heavy Construction Contractors Association, November 2002.
- Author: "Don't Count on that Contract: Subcontractor Listing is No Guarantee of Award," MEInsights, National Electrical Contractors Association Management Education Institute, Summer 2002.
- Co-Author: Chapter 4: Design-Build Claims - Case Law, in Design-Build Risk And Insurance (Ann Hickman ed., 2002), Insurance Risk Management Institute, Inc.
- Author: "Lost in Cyberspace: Personal Jurisdiction in an Era of Non-Physical Presence," Fairfax Bar Association, June 1999.
