Class Notes
Class of 2020
Shea Luna has joined Stites & Harbison, PLLC in the Lexington, Kentucky office as part of the health care service group.
Bethany Vanhooser has joined Bone McAllester Norton PLLC in Nashville, Tennessee.
Class of 2019
Kelso Stevens has joined Stites & Harbison, as a member of the business and finance service group in Nashville, Tennessee.
Class of 2018
Danny Bihrle has joined Jacobson, Magnuson, Anderson and Halloran’s Federal Indian Law practice as an associate attorney in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Machen Picard Bihrle has joined Faegre Drinker Biddle and Reath’s Finance and Restructuring practice as an associate attorney in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Kelsey Trace has joined Winstead’s Real Estate Finance Practice Group as a staff attorney in the Charlotte office.
Class of 2017
Sam Ferguson has joined has joined the Goosmann Law Firm at its Sioux Falls, South Dakota location.
Class of 2016
Rachel Dix Bishop was selected for the Nashville Bar Foundation Leadership Forum Class of 2022 and has earned the 2021 Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association Rising Star Award.
William J. Kent has joined Bass, Berry & Sims PLC in Nashville, Tennessee as an associate in the Corporate & Securities Practice Group. Kent will counsel clients on corporate and securities issues including mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, and securities matters and filings.
Chandler A. Lawson has joined the Chattanooga office of Leitner, Williams, PLLC.
Kaya Grace Porter has been selected to participate in the 2020 Nashville Emerging Leaders program that brings together promising Middle Tennessee young professionals with the region’s top community and business leaders.
Class of 2015
Ashley Goins Alderson of Stites & Harbison has been recognized by the Tennessee Bar Association as the recipient of the 2022 Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award. This award recognizes significant pro bono contributions made by a private attorney.
Elizabeth Anne Bowden has joined Stites & Harbison, PLLC, in its Nashville, Tenn., office as an attorney in the Creditors’ Rights & Bankruptcy Service Group.
W. Casey Dunlap was one of 18 new attorneys to join the Nashville firm of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP in 2015. Dunlap assists hospitals, health systems and other healthcare providers with compliance issues related to Medicare and Medicaid regulations and change of ownership filings, license applications required in healthcare mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures.
R. Kent Francis has joined the Memphis office of Wiseman Ashworth Law Group as an associate. Francis is involved in all phases of litigation and trial preparation and appears in all state courts of record in West and Middle Tennessee.
Alex J. Porter was one of 18 new attorneys to join the Nashville firm of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP in 2015. Porter assists publicly traded and privately held companies in the healthcare and financial services industries in transactional matters involving the acquisition and disposition of real estate assets. He also provides counsel to real estate developers and owners in the development of mixed-use and multi-tenant office properties.
Jeremy A. Poynter was one of 18 new attorneys to join the Nashville firm of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP in 2015. Poynter focuses his legal practice on healthcare regulatory compliance and operations, including federal and state anti-kickback regulations and self-referral prohibitions and other regulatory and operational issues. He also assists with change of ownership filings and license applications required in healthcare mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures.
Brandon K. Thompkins was one of 18 new attorneys to join the Nashville firm of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP in 2015. Thompkins assists employers in the healthcare, retail and manufacturing industries in employment law matters involving lawsuits and charges brought under a wide range of federal labor and employment laws.
Logan Threadgill recently joined the Chattanooga office of Carr Allison as an associate.
Class of 2014
Matt San Roman of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP has been selected for the Fall 2016 Class of the Nashville Young Leaders Council.
Willie Santana was recently awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. award for Service and Advocacy by the Morristown Task Force on Diversity during their annual MLK Day breakfast on January 18, 2016 for his work with HOLA Lakeway. Through Santana’s efforts, the Morristown Utility System now allows all persons living in Morristown to change their utility service to another address using a form of identification other than a driver’s license or passport. Previously, many people (particularly those of Hispanic descent) were living in substandard housing because they could not change the address of their utility service.
Class of 2011
Mary Elizabeth Anderson has been named a partner at Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP. She concentrates her practice in the areas of estate planning, trust administration, estate tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, probate and business planning.
Justin B. Faith has been promoted to member at the Chattanooga law firm of Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott & Cannon, PLLC. Faith currently serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Young Lawyer Division as the group’s treasurer.
Gadson William (Will) Perry, an attorney at Butler Snow’s Memphis office, was recently selected for the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s Fellows Program. LCLD is an organization of more than 265 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who have dedicated themselves to creating a truly diverse U.S. legal profession.
Stephen Quinn has has been named a partner at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP in Nashville, Tennessee. He assist clients across the healthcare industry in complex mergers and acquisitions and securities and corporate governance matters.
John P. Rodgers has been made a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a member of the labor and employment practice group.
Gil Schuette has been made a partner at Sims|Funk, PLC. He represents the firm’s clients in a broad range of complex business disputes.
Wells Trompeter has been named a partner at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP in Nashville, Tenn. She represents corporate clients, executives, and business owners in government investigations and civil and criminal enforcement actions.
Joseph L. Watson has been has been named a partner at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a commercial litigator with experience in a variety of industries.
Class of 2010
Federico A. Flores has joined the Knoxville firm of Spicer Rudstrom PLLC. He has a strong background in criminal litigation, with particular practice in DUI litigation. He is also experienced in immigration litigation against the federal government.
George Green has been promoted to member at the Atlanta, Georgia law firm of Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial.
Charles M. Hartman has been promoted to shareholder at Maynard Cooper & Gale. He is a member of the firm’s Corporate, Securities & Tax Practice.
Norene Napper has been promoted at Winstead PC to Of Counsel. She is a member of the firm’s real estate finance practice group in Dallas.
Jeremy A. Oliver was one of 18 new attorneys to join the Nashville firm of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP. Oliver assists clients in complex business and commercial litigation involving contract disputes, partnership disputes, business torts, claims of tortious interference, products liability matters and debtor-creditor disputes.
Jared S. Renfroe was promoted to partner at Spicer Rudstrom, PLLC. He has been an associate with the firm for the past three years practicing primarily in Workers’ Compensation and Employment Law.
John K. “Jack” Shelton of Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh, PLLC, was recently named to the West Tennessee District Export Council by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce for his international trade leadership and influence in Memphis. In his new role, Shelton will serve as a valuable resource to U.S. exporters, especially small and medium-sized enterprises in the area. He will serve alongside representatives from FedEx, Drexel Chemical, Mueller Industries and several other Mid-South entities.
Brad Vaughan was recently named staff attorney to Judge Charles J. Bethel of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Brad joins the Court of Appeals staff after spending time as a lobbyist for the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia and a legislative analyst for the Georgia Senate.
Class of 2009
Nicholas Jackson has been named partner at Dentons US LLP. Jackson is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property & Technology practice and resident in the Washington, D.C. office.
Sarah Walters has recently joined the Dallas office of Winstead PC, a national business law firm with more than 325 attorneys. Walters is now a Corporate Commercial Transactions and Outsourcing Counsellor. She will advise companies on planning, structuring, implementing franchises, and distribution and licensing.
Class of 2008
Lillian Blackshear has been elected to membership at Bass, Berry & Sims. She represents an array of governmental entities, investment banks and commercial banks on public finance matters and debt issuances throughout Tennessee. Blackshear earned a J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law (2008) and a B.A. from Spelman College (2005).
Leslie (Morrow) Ford has been elected to membership at Bass, Berry & Sims.
Burke Keaty has been named a shareholder in the Law Offices of John Day, P.C. in Nashville, Tennessee. Burke focuses his practice on helping victims of negligent driving and other careless conduct resulting in personal injury and wrongful death. He is a 2008 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law. He has earned an AV Preeminent 5.0 Martindale-Hubbell ranking and has been selected as a Super Lawyers Mid-South Rising Star from 2014 to 2016.
Tamara J. (Tilley) Lindsay will join the law firm of Holland & Hart in Denver, Colorado, in November 2016. She continues her focus on construction-related matters as a member of the REConFB (real estate, construction, financial institutions and bankruptcy) team.
Tamara was also selected to serve as the U.S. Commercial and Contracts Director for MWH Constructors and will direct the legal and commercial aspects of over $1 billion annually in construction projects throughout the United States.
Holly N. Mancl has joined the Charlotte office of labor and employment law firm Fisher Phillips as an associate. Before joining Fisher Phillips, a firm of 350 attorneys across 33 offices, Mancl served as an associate at PennStuart in Bristol, Tennessee. She graduated summa cum laude from Queens University of Charlotte with a Bachelor of Arts in both Political Science and Business Administration.
Madeline McNeeley has been named a partner at Harris Lowry Manton LLP, a trial law firm with offices in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia.
Troy Weston was sworn in as a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department in summer 2020. His first assignment will be with Mission Mexico.
Class of 2007
Brockton B. Bosson was named as a finalist for the inaugural Excellence in Compliance: Anti-Corruption award by Compliance Week magazine. He is a partner in the New York office of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, where his practice focuses on internal investigations, compliance counseling, white-collar criminal defense, and securities litigation.
Amy Allen Hinson has been elected as a new member (partner) of Nexsen Pruet. Hinson strategizes with clients concerning intellectual property protection and portfolio management, prepares and prosecutes patent, trademark, and copyright applications in the U.S. and internationally, and enforces patent, trademark, and copyright rights for clients through litigation and proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Jennifer G. Rowlett has joined Adams and Reese as Special Counsel in the Litigation Practice Group in its Nashville office. Practicing law since 2007, Rowlett is an accomplished trial attorney with significant experience serving as first chair in insurance defense jury trials. She focuses her practice on complex litigation involving health care liability, motor carrier liability and labor and employment matters. She represents physicians, medical groups, hospitals and long-term care facilities throughout the state of Tennessee in medical malpractice and nursing home litigation.
Melissa Hunter Smith was featured in the 2018 edition of Mid-South Super Lawyers on the Rising Stars list. Super Lawyers is a Thomson Reuters rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.
Class of 2006
Brooklyn Sawyers Belk has joined the Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial’s Atlanta office as Of Counsel.
Miranda Christy has been named a shareholder in the Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella, PC law firm.
Aretha “Nikki” Jones was recently selected to the position of Administrative Appeals Judge (AAJ) with the Social Security Administration’s Appeals Council.
Matthew J. Lindsay has joined the Colorado Attorney General’s office as an Assistant Attorney General for the Public Utilities Commission.
Brad Morgan was named director of the Bettye B. Lewis Career Center at the University of Tennessee College of Law.
Charles R. Patrick was recently named a Member of Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, PLLC. Patrick is with the firm’s Memphis office and his practice focuses primarily on general civil litigation, personal injury defense and workers’ compensation.
Joshua Phillips was recently elevated to partner in the Nashville office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings. Phillips’ practice concentrates on complex business and commercial disputes, enforcement of non-competes, healthcare litigation, products liability defense, and representing financial institutions and mortgage companies in civil litigation matters.
Class of 2005
Marissa Moses Russ, a partner at MTR Family Law, PLLC, has been elected president of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Nashville.
Candi Henry has been named a shareholder at Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella.
Class of 2004
Dana Dalton has joined the Office of Audit & Compliance at the University of Tennessee.
Luke William Hunt, a former law clerk, FBI special agent, and now an assistant professor of criminal justice at Radford University, has authored the book “The Retrieval of Liberalism in Policing.” It has been published by Oxford University Press and is forthcoming in October, 2018.
Class of 2003
Gerald Miller received the Alleghany County North Carolina Board of Education Principal of the Year Award.
Erica Bell Vick has been named a member at Bass, Berry & Sims PLC.
Class of 2002
Chris Caiaccio has joined Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton as counsel on the Labor & Employment Team in the firm’s Atlanta office.
Benjamin A. Whitehouse has joined the law firm of Butler Snow LLP in their regulatory and business groups and will focus on captive insurance and taxation matters.
David P. Wright has been named partner at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP. Wright Real Estate represents commercial landlords, tenants, and real estate developers primarily in the healthcare industry.
Class of 2001
Matt Hardin has been elected president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association for 2019-2020. Matt is the owner of Matt Hardin Law, PLLC, which handles plaintiff personal injury matters throughout Tennessee and Kentucky.
Class of 2000
Lori Bibb has been elected partner with Morris, Manning & Martin’s corporate and securities practice groups. Bibb concentrates on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and other complex business transactions with a particular focus on insurance and technology companies.
Brad A. Lampley has been named Partner in Charge of Adams and Reese LLP’s Nashville office, which is home to nearly 50 attorneys and staff. Lampley is a well-known figure throughout Tennessee and the region thanks to his successful government relations practice as well as his business and philanthropic service. Lampley currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, and also serves on the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees, the UT Athletics Board, and Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors.
John T. Winemiller, a partner with Merchant & Gould, has been inducted as a fellow to the American Bar Foundation. Winemiller is based in the Knoxville, Tennessee, office of the national intellectual property law firm. The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation are a select group of lawyers, judges and legal scholars recognized and elected by their peers for dedication to the community and legal profession. Membership is limited to less than 1 percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction.
Class of 1999
Phillip P. Welty was recently made managing partner of Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin PLLC (GSRM). The managing partner chairs GSRM’s four member Firm Committee that provides leadership and strategic direction for the firm. Welty has been with GSRM since 1999 and practices in the firm’s Litigation section.
Heather White was named the CEO of Yellow Stone Forever, the non-profit that supports Yellow Stone National Park. Yellow Stone Forever is represents the merger of what was previously two different organizations, and White is the first CEO of the combined entity. She oversees the $20-million organization with more than 65 year-round employees and 75 seasonal employees in two offices and 12 Park Stores, more than 50,000 supporters, and an online community of more than 300,000 worldwide. White received a B.A. in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar and a J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law magna cum laude. Early in her academic career, she also studied conservation biology at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and comparative natural resources law in Nairobi, Kenya.
Class of 1996
Michael Russell was recently elected chair of the Tennessee Bar Association Labor and Employment Section. He is a partner at Gilbert Russell McWherter Scott & Bobbitt in Nashville.
W. Kenneth Marlow was recently elected to serve on the board of directors at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, a leading provider 0f legal services in the healthcare, financial, technology, retail, and hospitality industries.
Class of 1995
Michael Gallion has joined the Labor and Employment Practice Group at Kelley Drye as a partner. Mr. Gallion has previously been recognized as a leading practitioner in the field by Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and Super Lawyer. Mr. Gallion is a recognized leader in the LGBT community, donating significant time and resources to community organizations. Most recently, he has served as outside general counsel to GLAAD, overseeing the organization’s legal affairs.
Kenyen Brown has recently joined Maynard Cooper & Gale’s White Collar Criminal Defense and Litigation Practice. Previously, Brown was a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama for seven years. In his new position, Brown will work closely with members of the firm’s White Collar Criminal Defense practice groups where he will assist with developing defense strategies.
Class of 1994
Jonathan Cole was sworn in as president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents in early August. Cole is the former president of the Nashville Bar Association and a shareholder in the Nashville office of Baker Donelson where he concentrates his practice in the area of business litigation. He also serves as a director of the American Bar Endowment, was awarded the Young Leader of the Year Award by the Young Leaders Council and the 2008 NELA (Nashville Emerging Leader Award), and was selected to Leadership Nashville’s Class of 2010.
Derek Crownover has been named “Best of the Bar” by the Nashville Business Journal. As Dickinson Wright PLLC’s Entertainment Law Practice Group Leader, Derek represents songwriters, publishers and producers, as well as some of the most active entrepreneurs in the entertainment and intellectual property (IP) sectors in the South.
Chris Dunn, a partner with Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, has been named a fellow with the American College of Construction Lawyers, an invited association of construction law practitioners, professors, and judges.
Class of 1992
Garry Kellar recently topped the list for the “Most Prolific Trial Attorneys of 2015” as published in The Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter Year in Review 2015 Edition. In 2015, Keller defended multiple litigations in the Nashville area, including trying cases in Sumner and Montgomery Counties. His 11-year total is 26 cases tried–ranking him fifth among trial attorneys from 2005 to 2015.
Class of 1991
Scott D. Hall was awarded The Robert E. Lee Award from the Sons of Confederate Veterans at the national reunion held in Franklin in July by the Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Thomas V. Strain. The Robert E. Lee Award is the second highest award that can be bestowed upon a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV). Hall is an attorney in Sevier County, Tenn. and serves as the judge advocate-in-chief for the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Jeff Yates, a professor of political science at Binghamton University, recently released a new book, “These Estimable Courts: Understanding Public Perceptions of State Judicial Institutions and Legal Policy Making,” published by Oxford University Press.
Class of 1989
Mark A. Pinkston was recently recognized by the Best Lawyers directory as “Lawyer of the Year” for serving Asheville in the area of bankruptcy and creditor’s rights for 2016.
Class of 1987
M. Douglas Campbell, Jr. has joined Covenant Health as general counsel and executive leader.
Class of 1986
Richard A. Johnson, of Waller Tax Partners in Nashville, has been recognized in the 2017 edition of the Chambers High Net Worth guide. Waller is the only Tennessee law firm to receive a top ranking in the publication, and Johnson is one of only Tennessee practitioners honored with Band 1 rankings.
J. Steven Collins has recently joined the downtown office of Spicer Rudstrom, PLLC. Serving in an Of Counsel role, Steve’s practice involves representing parties in the grocery, financial, manufacturing, not-for-profit and trucking industries, as well as providing counsel on government compliance, hiring agreements and severance packages for employers. He has also handled numerous wills contests.
Class of 1985
Susan Fahey Desmond was recently featured in the Chambers USA 2020 Guide, a publication ranking the leading lawyers and law firms across the United States. Desmond is a principal in the New Orleans, Louisiana office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She focuses her practice in the areas of labor and employment and civil litigation.
Patricia Head Moskal is the recipient of the 2018 Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey Award from the Lawyers’ Association for Women, Marion Griffin (Nashville) Chapter. The award recognizes active members who model personal and professional achievement in the practice of law, promote the visibility of women in the legal field, and encourage female lawyers to excel.
Class of 1983
Floyd S. Flippin was recently installed as the 39th chair of the Tennessee Bar Foundation and will chair the the organization until June 2021.
Randy Hafer has received the Best Lawyers 2018 Litigation – Construction “Lawyer of the Year” award in Atlanta.
Stephanie Webster has re-joined the firm’s Charlotte office in an Of Counsel position. Webster will serve as an attorney in the Employment Law and Municipal & Public Entities Practice Groups.
Class of 1982
Todd J. Campbell retired in December 2016 as District Judge for the Middle District of TN after 21 years of service. He presided over 10,000 civil and criminal cases and was Chief Judge from 2005-2012. Previously, he was Counsel to the Vice-President of the United States and in private practice in Nashville, TN.
Mark L. Hayes has been installed as the 36th chair of the Tennessee Bar Foundation.
Class of 1981
Sam Elliott’s new book, “John C. Brown of Tennessee: Rebel, Redeemer and Railroader,” was recently published by the University of Tennessee Press. It is his fifth book.
Class of 1980
Linda Crook Martin of Doerner, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson has been listed in the 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
Jane Wilder Powers, of the Powers Law Firm in Crossville, Tennessee, has been selected to serve as a fellow on the American Bar Association’s General Practice-Solo Diversity Board.
Class of 1979
Nathan Ridley was elected as the Nashville Bar Association’s president-elect by the NBA’s Board of Directors and will serve as president in 2017.
Class of 1977
Kathleen “Kathy” Hogan has been named managing partner at McGuane and Hogan, PC.
Class of 1976
Margaret L. Behm was named to the Nashville Business Journal’s 2017 Best of the Bar list in the field of Labor and Employment Law. She is a multiple-recipient of the honor, having been named to 2016’s list in the field of Government Law. She managing partner of Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella, PC in Nashville, Tennessee.
L. Gino Marchetti, Jr., managing partner of Taylor, Pigue, Marchetti and Blair PLLC, was recently recognized for inclusion in the 2022 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America®.
Class of 1974
Bill Killian has received an appointment to serve his alma mater as a member of Board of Directors of the UT Knoxville Alumni Association. Killian earned both his bachelor’s and JD from UT.
Class of 1973
Brent E. Zepke’s new book “One Heart-Two Lives: Managing Your Rehabilitation WELL” is now available on Amazon. This is his true story. On January 10, 2007, Brent’s heart stopped beating. For 97% that is the end. But he was recalled to life although being recalled was only the beginning of his journey to re-learn how to breathe, eat, digest food, sleep, think, walk, and even marital relations. Today he is convinced that thinking “like a lawyer” not only helped him get through the long days, and longer nights, but also provided a structure for creating a road map for others. This book is a valuable resource for heart patients, their care givers, and others trying to return to an independent lifestyle.
Class of 1967
Peter von Elten has joined the Transactional Practice Group at Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP. This will be Haight’s 15th practice group and falls on the heels of the firm’s one-year anniversary of opening its Sacramento, CA office.
View class notes submitted prior to 2016 here.
Contact Us
Alumni and Development
1505 Cumberland Ave.
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1810
Phone: 865-974-6691
Office: Suite 248
E-mail: law@utk.edu
Contact Us
Alumni and Development
1505 Cumberland Ave.
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1810
Phone: 865-974-6691
Office: Suite 248
E-mail: law@utk.edu