Attorneys

Douglas L. TabelingAssociate

DOUGLAS L. TABELING is an Associate in the Atlanta office of Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP.  Since joining Smith Currie in 2006, Doug has represented a variety of construction owners, developers, construction managers, general contractors, trade contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers in negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and litigation throughout the United States.  Doug’s practice is primarily devoted to avoiding and resolving disputes on both public and private construction projects.  He has experience in contract negotiation and formation and with asserting and defending against construction claims.  Doug also has significant interest and experience in government contract law.  He has defended government contractors against civil actions under False Claims Act, advised government contractors on compliance with the unique public-reporting requirements and Buy American provisions of the 2009 stimulus bill, and negotiated subcontracts on federal government construction projects.

Doug attended the University of Kentucky College of Law, where he received the James & Mary Lassiter Fellowship.  While in law school Doug served as the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Natural Resources & Environmental Law.  He was a member of the Honor Council, responsible for implementing the College of Law's Honor Code.  He earned awards for excellence in courses in Negotiations and Trusts & Estates.  He also volunteered for the Internal Revenue Service Income Tax Assistance Program, assisting low-income families and his fellow students prepare their federal and state tax returns.  Doug was a law clerk for the Civil Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 2004 to 2006.

Doug obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from the University of Kentucky, where he was an Otis A. Singletary Scholar, a National Merit Scholar, a member of the Honors Program, and a College of Arts & Sciences Ambassador.  While in college he was a Senate intern during the 1998 Kentucky General Assembly and was an intern with the Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General in Washington, D.C.  Upon graduation Doug joined Accenture, a global management and information technology consulting firm, where he worked in the firm's Government Contracts market unit until 2003.

Articles & Publications

• Georgia Construction and Design Law, in A State-by-State Guide to Construction and Design Law (Carl J. Circo & Christopher H. Little eds., 2d ed.) (Co-Author).
• Owners’ Amending ConsensusDOCS 200, Contractors’ Amending ConsensusDOCS 200, Contractors’ Amending ConsensusDOCS 750, and Subcontractors’ Amending ConsensusDOCS 750, in Alternative Clauses to Standard Form Construction Contracts (S. Gregory Joy & Eugene J. Heady eds., 3d ed. 2009).
• Building Information Modeling, in New Risks – Legal Considerations on Changing Risk Allocations, Associated Builders & Contractors Construction Education Conference 2008 (Co-Author).
• Do These Things Give Me a Fair Shake? ConsensusDOCS and Subcontractors, Focusing on the ConsensusDOCS 750 Subcontract Form and Comparable Documents, American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry Fall Meeting 2008 (Co-Author). 
• Construction Contracts, in Commercial Real Estate Transactions Handbook (Mark A. Senn ed., 3d ed. Supp. 2008) (Co-Author). 
• Relying on Subcontractor Quotes, Lorman Education Services Construction Update Newsletter (Apr. 2007). 
• A Construction Attorney’s Ethical Obligations regarding Electronically Stored Information arising from the Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry Annual Meeting 2007 (Co-Author).

Classes & Seminars Taught

• Current Issues in Subcontracting, Georgia Branch, Associated General Contractors of America
• Understanding & Appreciating Your Contracts and Revisions to Georgia’s Lien Law, Georgia Branch, Associated General Contractors of America
• What to Do When Construction Projects Go Bad, Lorman Education Services
• The Fundamentals of Construction Contracts: Understanding the Issues in Georgia, Lorman Education Services