OverviewKate Van Namen is the Co-Chair of Butler Snow's Construction Task Force and a member of the firm's Commercial Litigation Practice Group. She is licensed to practice law in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas and concentrates her practice in all areas of construction law, including contract drafting and negotiation, project delivery systems, liens, licensing issues, construction mediation, litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution procedures. Kate has experience drafting and negotiating all types of construction contracts, including lump sum, guaranteed maximum price, cost plus, construction management, design build, and design services agreements on behalf of owners, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and design professionals. She also has experience representing sureties on multi-state performance bond claims and asserting and defending payment bond claims. Kate has previously counseled clients on international construction projects and helped navigate project delivery and project management issues with foreign governments.
In addition to her construction practice, Kate also represents clients in general commercial litigation matters, including cases involving interference with business relationships, unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, and other complex litigation.
Kate is an active member of the Tennessee Association of Construction Counsel, where she serves as West Tennessee Director, as well as the Construction Law Committee of DRI, and the ABA Forum on Construction Law. She actively contributes to publications on construction law issues, including the Tennessee Handbook on Construction Law. Experience
- Experience counseling and representing clients in all aspects of the construction industry, including contract negotiations, project management issues and complex construction litigation
- Experienced in cases involving unfair competition including trade secrets, trademarks, breaches of the duty of loyalty, tortuous interference and unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
- Obtained temporary injunction prohibiting sales representatives from working on behalf of a primary competitor in violation of non-compete agreement.
- Represented owner of construction project in arbitration concerning construction defects and commercial construction disputes.
- Successfully prosecuted copyright and trademark infringement claims in federal district court.
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of product manufacturer in case involving an Arkansas rice mill.
- Represented contractors and subcontractors in construction disputes involving both private and public projects.
- Defended national medical device manufacturer in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas state and federal products liability actions.
- Representation of Federal banking regulatory agency in multi-million dollar director and officer liability suits.
- Successfully moved for summary judgment on all claims in federal breach of contract construction dispute.
- Won favorable award in breach of contract arbitration based on services agreement in Chicago, Illinois
Recent Trials
- Zaniewski v. Tiffin Motor Homes, Inc., et al., USDC, Western District of Tennessee, Western Division (Trial – September 2019)
Distinctions
- Best Lawyers in America®
- Commercial Litigation, 2024-2025
- Super Lawyers®
- Mid-South Rising Star, Business Litigation, 2022-2023
- Best of the Bar, Memphis Business Journal, 2022
Bar Admissions
- Tennessee, 2012
- Mississippi, 2012
- Arkansas, 2020
- U.S. District Courts
- Tennessee: Eastern, Western, Middle
- Mississippi: Northern, Southern
- Arkansas: Eastern, Western
- U.S. Court of Appeals
Education
- University of Mississippi, J.D., magna cum laude, 2012
- Notes & Comments Editor, Mississippi Law Journal
- Moot Court Board National Appellate Advocacy Team
- Order of the Barrister
- American Jurisprudence Award
- Delta State University, B.A., English & Political Science, summa cum laude, 2009
Associations
- American Bar Association
- Tennessee Bar Association
- Mississippi Bar Association
- Memphis Bar Association
- Defense Research Institute (DRI)
- Young Lawyers Steering Committee
- Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association
- Tennessee Association of Construction Counsel
- Associate Member, Leo Bearman, Sr. American Inns of Court
- Leadership Memphis, FastTrack Fall 2014
- Nexus Leaders Program Protégé 2015-2016
Papers, Presentations & Publications
- Author, "New Tennessee construction legislation brings significant changes to industry," Nashville Business Journal, August 17, 2020.
- Presenter, “Lessons Learned from a Conveyor Collapse,” Tennessee Association of Construction Counsel, November 8, 2019.
- Presenter, “DRI Trial Skills Series: Trial Strategy,” August 29, 2019.
- Co Author, “Surge in Apartment Construction Fuels Condo Conversions, Liability Concerns in Denver,” Law Week Colorado, Vol. 15, No. 43, October 22, 2018.
- Author, "The Impact of President Trump's IP-Related Appointments," Finding IP Value, January 2017.
- Author, “Privacy and Piracy: Legal Problems with Live Streaming on Periscope and Meerkat,” DRI’s The Voice, Volume 14, Issue 42, October 2015.
- Author, "Facebook Facts & Twitter Tips - Prosecutors and Social Media: An Analysis of the Implications Associated with the Use of Social Media in the Prosecution Function," 81 Miss. L.J. 549 (2011).
- Author, "'Like' It or Not: Sports and Social Media - An Argument for the College Coach's Right to Regulate," Miss. Sports L. Rev. 206 (2011).
Civic Involvement
- Make-A-Wish Mid-South, Associate Board
- Junior League of Memphis Volunteer
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