Zack England is ready to make a name for himself.
He’s paid his dues, laid the groundwork and done his due diligence. Twice before, actually. Fortunately, the third time is the charm, as the saying goes.
An attorney with a history of serving personal injury clients in Chattanooga and beyond, England is starting his own firm after 13 years at Warren & Griffin and a brief stint with Best & Brock. He named his new concern after an aspiring deejay who became an attorney instead and then blundered his way into practicing personal injury law – himself.
“My kids once asked me what I wanted to do as I was growing up,” England, 41, smiles. “I told them I wanted to be a deejay.”
England certainly has the voice for it. Listening to him speak, it’s easy to imagine his baritone pipes calling out hit singles or assessing the latest Vols triumph or tragedy on a radio talk show.
However, England became an attorney instead. More than that, he became a personal injury attorney rather than a criminal defense lawyer, which he initially thought he’d do. But as he opens the door to England Personal Injury, he’s taking the reins of his destiny for what appears to be truly the first time.
Or so people are saying with back-slapping enthusiasm. However, England talks as if engraving his name on his own shingle is simply another day at the office.
“A lot of people have congratulated me for opening my own firm, but it’s more of the same,” he insists. “The bigger jump was leaving Warren & Griffin in 2020 because, even though I worked under the same roof as Garth (Best) and Matt (Brock), I handled the personal injury cases and they handled the criminal matters. I stayed in my corner, and they stayed in theirs.”
England is also modulating his comments about his exit from Best & Brock, calling it a business decision and nothing more.
“We tried to establish a formal partnership, but we couldn’t come up with something that made us all comfortable. It wasn’t personal or contentious. We simply agreed it would be easier to break up before we got married versus after.”
So, in October, England loaded his files, office gear and small staff into his Ford F-150 and moved into a pair of temporary offices at e|spaces in the University Tower on East 4th Street.
“The only thing that’s changed is the roof over our heads,” he repeats.
Putting together a team
Projecting stability is surely important as England starts his new venture. More than that, bringing his tried-and-true crew with him – associate Radonna Gaddis, paralegal Tommy Crump and director of operations Madison Littlefield – has been a wellspring of comfort for the budding firm leader.
“After I left Warren & Griffin, I thought I’d like hiring my own employees, but that’s the worst part of being your own boss,” England laughs. “The right staff doesn’t magically appear.”
England didn’t take any of the employees at Warren & Griffin with him. However, about a month after settling in at Best & Brock, he found himself nose-deep in a river of work and needing help. So, he let his former firm know he was pilfering Littlefield, who he first met as she was riding an elevator up to her interview to be a runner for Warren & Griffin.
“C. Mark (Warren) and John Mark (Griffin) were very professional about that,” England notes.
Littlefield says her trust in England made the decision to join him at his fledgling firm easy.
“I loved working for Zack at Warren & Griffin, so when he said he wanted me to work for him, I said, ‘I’m going where you go.’”
Crump, who left a 24-year gig with attorney Herbert Thornbury to join England at Best & Brock in 2020, echoes Littlefield, saying, “I was technically employed by Best & Brock, but there was never any question in my mind that I worked for Zack, and where he goes, I go.”
Gaddis grew up in the legal profession alongside England as his paralegal at Warren & Griffin. She graduated from the Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law in 2019 and then joined England in November after his departure from Best & Brock.
“I loved working with everyone at Warren & Griffin,” Gaddis says. “But, I believed Zack would offer me opportunities I might not get at Warren. I trusted him, and I felt like working with him had more potential, so here I am.”
Making a name for himself
With the launch of England Injury Law, England joins many established Chattanooga firms – as well as out of town players – in serving local clients with a particular need. However, unlike his competition, which will include Warren & Griffin, Massey & Associates, Dennis & King and others, the name of his endeavor includes the kind of law he’ll be practicing.
England says his decision to attach his name to the words “injury law” was born partly out of his frustration with being unable to effectively promote his services while working with Best & Brock, which is known for its criminal defense work.
“We were serving two masters – criminal clients and personal injury clients – and it was difficult to do advertising and branding that promoted both practices,” England says. “I’d catch myself being hesitant to advertise my work because I wasn’t using my brand. That made communicating what I do difficult.”
Once England was free to develop advertising that promoted one brand – him – he recruited professional help in the form of Ryann Norman, a marketing veteran with experience supporting companies in the manufacturing industry.
England has tasked Norman with building his firm’s digital presence and kick-starting an “aggressive” billboard campaign, all in the hopes of helping England Injury Law to become a force in the community for years to come, he says.
“There are still a lot of people who think I do criminal, and I need to make sure they know all we do is personal injury,” explains England. “Ryann will be a crucial part of that. Having someone who can allot all of their time to marketing and not be distracted by anything else will be a big help.”
England is more than happy to hand the marketing reins over to Norman, as he already has plenty of work on his plate. A few things also weigh heavy on his mind, including his ability to make a name for himself in a city well-populated with competitors, he admits.
However, England is keeping something else in mind as he looks to the considerable work that lies ahead. “Someone told me, ‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’ If I’m peeking over the fence, then I’m not doing myself any good, I’m making things harder. And if I let my competition distract me, then I’ll never move forward. So I plan to keep my eyes on my side of the fence.”
No more blundering
A native of Rossville, Georgia, England had one other ambition before he became an attorney; He wanted to become a sports agent.
England certainly has the personality for it. Listening to him speak, it’s easy to picture him screaming, “Show me the money!” into the phone as he rallies his courage during a call with a client.
“Everyone who likes sports had seen ‘Jerry Maguire’ and wanted to be a sports agent,” England said in a 2020 interview with the Hamilton County Herald. “I started to mention that to one of the student liaisons [at the University of Cincinnati College of Law], and I hadn’t even finished saying ‘sports agent’ before his eyes were rolling back in his head.”
After setting aside his thoughts of pursuing his dream job, England went to work for Warren & Griffin, where he’d worked as a runner during his days as an undergraduate student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. As he settled into his role at the firm, he says he “blundered” into personal injury law.
“I was thinking I’d do criminal work, but I was Warren & Griffin’s first associate, so I rolled with what they did.”
As England looks back on his development as a lawyer, he sounds humble for someone whose face is about to be peering down from Chattanooga billboards.
“I don’t know if I’m ever going to call myself a fabulous or even a very good attorney, but I feel like I have a knack for developing a rapport with clients, insurance company adjusters and defense attorneys. Much of this business is based on relationships, and I was able to foster those at Warren & Griffin.”
England also seems reluctant to toot his own horn as he discusses recently pulling some mulish cases across the finish line.
“I resolved a case in which a young man was hurt on the job and is now confined to a wheelchair. An insurance company and defense firm fought us tooth and nail on everything. It was a fight not only for his medical care but also his home accommodations, and the pushback from the other side was constant,” England explains.
To help bring the three-year case to a conclusion, England teamed with the husband-wife team at Arnold & Arnold.
“Jenny and Prairie are workers’ comp nerds and were terrific. It was a long fight but ultimately gratifying because it put my client in a position to better care for his sons and aging parents.”
One person who will boast about England is Warren, who says he’s happy to see his former apprentice “spread his wings and fly.”
“I’ve always expected great things out of Zack,” Warren says. “He builds relationships with others and surrounds himself with quality people. He also serves the marginalized in our community. I was fortunate to hire him out of high school and provide a place for him to work while he was in law school.”
When England spoke with the Herald in 2020, he expressed gratitude for all he’d learned at Warren & Griffin. He now does the same for Best & Brock, which he says was instrumental in helping him to build his business acumen and the confidence he needed to take the reins of his destiny.
“It’s going to be a lot of work, but the right people helped me to get here, and I have the best people to help me move forward,” England says. “I’m excited about what’s next.”