About Dorsey
Dorsey practices in the firm’s Construction Law and Commercial Litigation groups. He has represented numerous developers, owners, general contractors, subcontractors, sureties, architects and engineers within the construction industry.
Dorsey attended Mississippi State University where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree, graduating magna cum laude. He received his J.D. from the University of Georgia where he served as Vice-President of the Student Bar Association as well as Articles Editor for the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law. While in law school, Dorsey also attended the London Law Consortium at the University of London, where he interned with Queen’s Counsel Jerome Lynch of the Middle Temple.
Dorsey is admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi, the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia, the Southern District of Illinois, and the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
Dorsey has held memberships with the Mock Trial Board, Blue Key, Who’s Who: American Law Students and Outstanding Young Men of America. He is currently a member of the Mississippi, Georgia and American Bar Associations, where he serves on a steering committee for the Forum on the Construction Industry, and the Association of General Contractors, Associated Builders & Contractors, American Subcontractors Association, Construction Specifications Institute and Lawyers Club of Atlanta.
Dorsey has published the following articles and chapters:
- “Contract Disputes”, Inside the Minds: Contract Dispute Resolution, Aspatore, 2008.
- “Construction Delay Claims,” Lorman Education Services, 2006.
- “Mississippi Construction Law”, State Public Construction Law, CCH Incorporated, 2002, Chapter co-author.
- “Construction Claims in Georgia,” Lorman Education Services, 2001.
- “Mississippi: No Damages For Delay,” Common Sense Contracting, Vol. 15, No. 1 (2001).
- “Construction Lien and Public Contract Bond Law,” Lorman Education Services, 2000-01.
- “Is Hot Weather An Excusable Delay?,” Common Sense Contracting, Vol. 14, No. 1 (2000).
- “Pass Through Delay Claims,” Common Sense Contracting, Vol. 13, No. 3 (1999).
- Mississippi Practitioner’s Foreclosure Manual, University of Mississippi Press, 1999, Chapter co-author.
- “Remembering Dean Rusk,” Summer 1996, Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law.
- “Entering Into Construction Contracts and Subcontracts,” Construction Law For Architects, Engineers, and Contractors, HalfMoon, LLC, 2008.
What is your favorite thing about the law?
I enjoy working directly with my clients, learning about their businesses, and then helping them find solutions and resolve their problems. On those occasions where there is no resolution without full litigation, I really enjoy the strategy and old fashioned story-telling associated with presenting that case to a judge or jury.
What community projects are you involved in?
Meals on Wheels: My wife and I cook and deliver meals to inner-city elderly on the first Saturday every other month.
Preserve Sight Mississippi: Supporter and former Board President of non-profit organization which conducts statewide testing to prevent visual impairment and blindness in Mississippians of all ages and economic backgrounds.
Stewpot: Regularly serve meals at this inner-city homeless soup kitchen.
Habitat for Humanity: Work on the annual Martin Luther King “Peace House” with members of various faiths (Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu).
What was your first job?
I had my own yard cutting venture when I was in seventh grade. I borrowed money from the bank to purchase my first lawn mower, and then paid it off by the end of that summer.
My first employment was a summer job at a water park named Waterland, U.S.A. when I was fourteen years old. I went from cooking and park cleanup that first summer to bumper boats and water slides the next. By the third summer, I had obtained the coveted spot of wavepool lifeguard.
What are your hobbies?
Travel, kayaking, sailing, mountain hiking, scuba diving, music, art.
What advice would you give to a young student in law school?
The practice of law is a marathon, not a sprint.
What is your favorite lawyer joke?
I’ll have to know you a little better before I can tell that one.
How do you define a “good day?”
Am I still alive? If so, then God has given me another good day.
How do you spend your weekend?
In the spring and summer, I try to spend as much time as possible outdoors—preferably sailing on the Reservoir, lounging by the pool, or kayaking down a river. The fall is for football and Mississippi State tailgating.