Best Lawyers has published its list of the best attorneys in the U.S. for 2018 - and more than 70 Chattanooga lawyers made the cut.
Best Lawyers also recognized many local attorneys as “Lawyers of the Year,” a designation given to individuals in high-profile specialties in large legal communities. Best Lawyers honors only one attorney in each community for each specialty.
The 2018 edition of The Best Lawyers in America is based on extensive peer-review surveys in which more than 83,000 eligible attorneys cast more than 13 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas.
Best Lawyers has published their list for over three decades. The publication covers almost 70 countries and 142 practice areas.
Lawyers and specialties for which they were recognized:
Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan
- Craig R. Allen: Construction Law; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
- C. Douglas Dooley: Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants; Litigation - Insurance
- Alan Easterly: Insurance Law; Transportation Law; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
- James Exum III: Insurance Law
- William Godbold III: Insurance Law; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants; Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
- Marc Harwell: Construction Law; Insurance Law
- Gary S. Napolitan - Insurance Law; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
- David Noblit: Insurance Law; Mediation
- Meredith B. Weaver - Workers’ Compensation Law - Employers
- Thomas Williams: Insurance Law; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott & Cannon
- Wade Cannon: Litigation - Real Estate
- Beverly Edge: Real Estate Law
- Sam Elliott: Commercial Litigation; Bet-the-Company Litigation; Municipal Law; Litigation - Land Use and Zoning; Litigation - Municipal
- Robert Lockaby: Commercial Litigation; Bet-the-Company Litigation
- R. Wayne Peters: Tax Law; Trusts and Estates; Litigation and Controversy - Tax; Litigation - Trusts and Estates
Pierce Law Firm
- Martin Pierce: Trusts and Estates
Baker Donelson
- Kenneth Beckman: Banking and Finance Law; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Public Finance Law; Real Estate Law; Securitization and Structured Finance Law
- Joe Conner: Commercial Litigation; Construction Law; Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law; Energy Law, Litigation - Construction; Litigation - Real Estate
- J. Wayne Cropp: Environmental Law
- Robert Divine: Immigration Law
- Richard Faulkner, Jr.: Real Estate Law
- Richard Gossett: Banking and Finance Law; Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Business Organizations; Litigation - Bankruptcy; Litigation - Real Estate
- Russell Gray: Employment Law - Management; Labor Law - Management; Litigation - Labor and Employment
- Carl Hartley: Corporate Law; Litigation and Controversy - Tax; Non-Profit/Charities Law, Tax Law
- Thomas Helton: Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Litigation - Intellectual Property; Litigation - Patent; Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants; Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
- Cameron Hill, Sr.: Construction Law; Litigation - Construction
- Micheline Kelly Johnson: Copyright Law; Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television; Patent Law; Trademark Law
- Misty Kelley: Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
- James Levine: Business Organizations
- Virginia Love: Business Organizations; Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law; Trusts and Estates
- Joshua Powers: Litigation - Healthcare; Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
- K. Stephen Powers: Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants; Transportation Law
- Susan Elliott Rich: Banking and Finance Law; Real Estate Law; Securitization and Structured Finance Law
- William Robinson: Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Ross Schram III: Real Estate Law
- Louann Smith: Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Public Finance Law; Securitization and Structured Finance Law
- Philip Whitaker: Commercial Litigation; Real Estate Law; Trusts and Estates
Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel
- William Aiken: Health Care Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Corporate Law
- T. Maxfield Bahner: Commercial Litigation; Bet-the Company Litigation; Litigation - First Amendment; Litigation - Antitrust
- Justice William Barker: Mediation; Arbitration
- Richard Bethea: Commercial Litigation; Litigation - Intellectual Property; Litigation - Patent; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
- Mark Cunningham: Health Care Law
- Timothy Gibbons: Construction Law
- David Hill: Copyright Law; Patent Law; Trademark Law
- Rosemarie Hill: Commercial Litigation; Litigation - Antitrust; Litigation - Labor and Employment
- Frederick Hitchcock: Energy Law
- Richard Hudson: Real Estate Law
- J. Nelson Irvine: Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Corporate Law; Non-Profit/Charities Law
- Anthony Jackson: Litigation - First Amendment
- Hugh Moore: Commercial Litigation; Bet-the-Company Litigation; Litigation - Municipal
- Harold North: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law
- Dana Perry: Trusts and Estates; Elder Law
- William Pickering: Litigation - Labor and Employment; Labor Law - Management; Employment Law - Management
- Michael St. Charles: Real Estate Law
- Mark Turner: Real Estate Law; Securitization and Structured Finance Law; Business Organizations
- Paul Weidlich: Patent Law
- Gregory Willett: Trusts and Estates
- Jay Young: Project Finance Law; Banking and Finance Law
Miller & Martin
- Donald Aho: Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Litigation - Securities
- Evan Allison: Real Estate Law
- Roger Bailey, Jr.: Mergers and Acquisitions Law
- John Bode: Employment Law - Management; Labor Law - Management; Litigation - Labor and Employment
- Edward Boehm: Antitrust Law
- William Brown: Arbitration; Mediation; Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
- Christie Kizer Burbank: Health Care Law
- Christopher Crevasse: Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Richard Crotteau: Real Estate Law
- Robert Dann: Real Estate Law
- Mark Degler: Corporate Law
- Roger Dickson: Arbitration; Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Mediation
- Marcia Meredith Eason: Litigation - Banking and Finance; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
- Kyle Eiselstein: Commercial Litigation; Litigation - Insurance
- Gary Gerbitz: Criminal Defense: General Practice; Defense: White-Collar
- Leah Gerbitz: Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
- James Haley IV: Banking and Finance Law; Real Estate Law; Securitization and Structured Finance Law
- R. Alston Hamilton: Corporate Law
- Thomas Hayslett III: Real Estate Law
- John Henry, Jr.: Mergers and Acquisitions Law
- E. Mattias Jannerbo: Mergers and Acquisitions Law
- Douglas Johnson: Copyright Law; Patent Law; Trademark Law
- Charles Lee: Employment Law - Management; Labor Law - Management; Litigation - Labor and Employment
- Howard Levine: Health Care Law
- Allen McCallie: Real Estate Law
- W. Scott McGinness, Jr.: Corporate Law; Securities/Capital Markets Law
- Donald Morton: Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law; Trusts and Estates
- Ansley Moses: Tax Law
- J. Patrick Murphy: Banking and Finance Law; Corporate Law
- Ward Nelson: Health Care Law
- W. Scott Parrish: Litigation - Construction
- Richard Rose: Health Care Law; Litigation - Construction
- Hugh Sharber: Corporate Law
- Alfred Smith, Jr.: Public Finance Law
- Carlos Smith: Antitrust Law; Corporate Law; Energy Law; Litigation - Antitrust
- Karen Smith: Employment Law - Management; Litigation - Labor and Employment
- Mark Smith: Economic Development Law
- Stephen John Stark: Litigation - Intellectual Property; Patent Law; Trademark Law
- C. Crews Townsend: Commercial Litigation; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
- William Trumpeter: Arbitration; Employment Law - Management; Labor Law - Management; Litigation - Labor and Employment
- Franklin Williams: Mergers and Acquisitions Law
- James Williams: Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants
- W. Randall Wilson: Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Litigation - Construction; Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants