Two former Chambliss Law summer associates have joined the firm as newly minted attorneys: Hannah-Claire Boggess and Peter Newman.
Boggess will serve the firm’s real estate practice while Newman will focus on litigation and risk management cases.
A lifelong Chattanoogan, Boggess says she was first attracted to the law as a profession when her parents adopted her younger brother.
“An attorney helped my parents navigate the process. As I grew older, I learned to appreciate how the practice of law offered a variety of avenues to help others.”
Boggess counsels business and real estate clients on leasing, property sale, acquisition and development matters. She also assists developers with rezoning applications, warehouse transactions, sales of shopping centers and condominiums and acquisitions of multi-tenant shopping centers.
Boggess says helping clients positively impact their communities is the most gratifying aspect of her work.
“Whether a project concentrates on Chattanooga or on the surrounding communities, I have a small role in shaping the area.”
Boggess graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with a degree in public relations and a minor in business. She continued her education at UTK’s College of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude.
While in law school, she served as a member of the Tennessee Law Review and Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law.
Boggess is currently a member of the Chambliss Startup Group, where she counsels entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses.
While in Knoxville, Boggess was involved with her church’s foster care program, which connected foster families with volunteers to provide tangible, emotional and spiritual support. She says she’s hoping to become involved with a similar program in Chattanooga.
Boggess says she and her husband, Avery, like to work out at Sportsbarn. To keep mentally fit, she reads as often and as much as she can, she says.
“I was an avid reader during law school and hope the same will be true as I practice law.”
Newman grew up in Murfreesboro and then left Tennessee for college and law school. He says he pursued the practice of law because the legal profession made sense given his skills and temperament.
“I’ve long loved to read and to write, to think and to ponder, to weigh and to argue. I’m intellectually curious, and the law can be an intellectually rewarding profession.
“And while it might not always feel this way in the day-to-day lives of lawyers, the legal profession deals squarely with some of the weightiest matters of human affairs – with justice and mercy, rule and equity, authority and discipline. All this added up to me feeling led to go to law school to become a lawyer.”
Newman’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation. He often assists clients in the health care, manufacturing, financial services and transportation and logistics industries with matters related to product liability, contracts and payment disputes and other commercial affairs.
He says he enjoys serving a variety of clients. “I might be working with a bank one day, a health care group the next day and a manufacturing company the next. Learning about so many different industries – especially as a young attorney who’s not yet sure how he’d like to specialize – is rewarding.”
Newman graduated cum laude from Wheaton College and the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he served as articles editor for the North Carolina Law Review.
He says his education continues at Chambliss, where his colleagues have been supportive and helpful.
“There’s so much about the law, especially about the mechanics and customs of legal practice, I just don’t know. And the only way to learn it is to do it – or to observe others doing it. This is where having good mentors comes in handy – and Chambliss is chock full of them.”
Newman and his wife, Hannah, have a 1-year-old son and are members of North Shore Fellowship in Chattanooga.
He’s also in the process of becoming a volunteer mentor in a local prison ministry.
Chambliss president and managing shareholder Mark Cunningham says he’s pleased to welcome Boggess and Newman to the firm.
“With Hannah-Claire’s creative mind and Peter’s problem-solving skills, I’m confident they’ll enhance our client service in fresh and innovative ways.”