KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Burns & McDonnell and Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C., announced that G. William Quatman, FAIA, DBIA, will leave the Kansas City-based law firm to join Burns & McDonnell in October as vice president and general counsel.

He will succeed Gerry Bukowski, who is retiring at year-end 2008. Quatman is currently a principal and a lead attorney in the Shughart Thomson & Kilroy construction practice. He has been with Shughart Thomson & Kilroy for nearly 20 years.

“I am excited to be taking the next step in my career with a company I greatly respect in my hometown,” Quatman said. “As an ‘outside lawyer,’ I have been serving as general counsel to design firms like BDY, BNIM, Gould Evans and 360 Architects. This has been a great foundation to take on the in-house role as general counsel at Burns & McDonnell and its many divisions. Having been in private practice now for 24 years, I have wanted to finish my career with an in-house position in the design and construction industry. Burns & McDonnell offered me the perfect opportunity to do just that.”

Quatman added: “I have the greatest respect for my friends and partners at Shughart Thomson & Kilroy and know that their construction practice group will continue to grow and prosper in my absence.”

“We are sorry to see Bill Quatman leave after nearly 20 years of service to our clients, but are happy that he will be joining a great organization like Burns & McDonnell,” said Jack Kilroy Jr., president and CEO of Shughart Thomson & Kilroy. “Bill is a terrific addition to their team with his legal and architectural background, but particularly in view of his recognized national expertise in design-build.”

“We will greatly miss Bill's contributions to our firm and particularly to our construction industry practice group,” said Roy Bash, chair of the construction industry practice group at Shughart Thomson & Kilroy. “We are excited to be working with him in his new role as general counsel of Burns & McDonnell, as we have a good working relationship with their company when they have needed outside legal counsel. While we will miss his counsel and day-to-day friendship, we recognize the opportunity his new role provides to him and wish him the very best success.”

Quatman is a registered architect in Missouri, a leader in the design-build industry and an attorney named annually as one of the Best Lawyers in America for construction law. In addition, he is a nationally recognized author and speaker on many legal issues related to the design and construction industries. He has been an instructor on design-build and construction law at the University of Kansas and is the first person to ever become both a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) and a Designated Design-Build Professional of the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA). He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in environmental design and in 1983, received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from KU. In 1984, Quatman received his juris doctor from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and he has been combining his dual degrees in law and architecture ever since.

“Bill has accomplished a great many things in his career and has achieved national stature for his expertise in legal issues affecting the design-build, architecture and engineering professions,” Bukowski said. “But in spite of all those accomplishments, he has remained humble and ego-free. That’s a big reason why he will fit right in with the Burns & Mac culture. I have known Bill for more than 20 years and am proud to have a lawyer of his stature succeed me.”

Bukowski is retiring as vice president and general counsel of Burns & McDonnell after a 28-year career with the company. Before joining Burns & McDonnell in 1980, Bukowski was an attorney for six years with the Kansas City law firm of Knipmeyer, McCann, Fish & Smith. He received his juris doctor degree in 1974 from UMKC. A St. Louis native, Bukowski received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Washington University in 1969 and worked for two years as a mechanical engineer for Westinghouse Corp.

“Gerry has been a key player in every phase of our firm’s growth and success,” said Greg Graves, president and CEO of Burns & McDonnell. “While there is a certain amount of emotion at seeing a good colleague move on to retirement, we are absolutely thrilled to have someone of the caliber of Bill Quatman succeeding him. We’re a 110-year-old firm, but in many ways, we’re just getting started, and it is going to be great having Bill along for the ride.”