Special Counsel
CurrentI have practiced law 40 years, primarily as a trial lawyer in product liability, personal injury/tort claims, transportation, workers’ compensation, professional negligence, construction, insurance coverage. I represent major manufacturers, international companies, trucking companies, distributors, insured, self-insureds, churches, and insurance companies. I have completed tractor-trailer driver training programs and numerous industrial seminars. Product liability work includes industrial… Show more I have practiced law 40 years, primarily as a trial lawyer in product liability, personal injury/tort claims, transportation, workers’ compensation, professional negligence, construction, insurance coverage. I represent major manufacturers, international companies, trucking companies, distributors, insured, self-insureds, churches, and insurance companies. I have completed tractor-trailer driver training programs and numerous industrial seminars. Product liability work includes industrial machinery, commercial and recreational vehicles, sport and utility equipment and food industry litigation. Four decades of trials and jury verdicts include defense of industrial equipment related deaths, closed head injuries, vehicle accidents and premises liability accidents involved fatalities and multiple severe injuries, and use of product and medical experts in various specialties. Successful defense of catastrophic injury, multiple fatality accidents, and multi-million dollar damage claims has been achieved through examination of expert witnesses, surveillance data and witnesses, application of statutory and case law, focus groups, and mediation. I Co-Chair the Knoxville Bar Association Judicial Committee and hold memberships in the Insurance Section of the Tennessee Bar Association, Knoxville Bar Foundation, and Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association. I am a seminar speaker on transportation, workers’ compensation, and employer-employee issues. I served in the United States Air Force in medical air evacuation and emergency-room medicine before beginning my law practice. I am a former shareholder with the Lewis-Thomason Law Firm and founding member of Stokes-Rutherford Law Firm. I have a B.S. Degree from East Tennessee State University and law degree from the University of Tennessee where I served as President of Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity. Show less
