Barnes & Thornburg LLP is opening a new office in Nashville that will be anchored by the arrival of five partners: capital markets partners Jay H. Knight and Taylor K. Wirth, health care partners J.D. Thomas and Elisa Harris, and white-collar litigation partner Joy Boyd Longnecker.

Knight and Wirth join the Securities and capital markets practice group in the firm’s corporate department, with a focus on securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, real estate capital markets, and general representation of public companies and underwriters. Knight, who previously was with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance in Washington, D.C., will co-chair that practice group.

The health care Industry practice has more than 90 attorneys that provide legal services to companies across the health care and life sciences industries. Thomas and Harris advise health care clients on a range of matters, including regulatory compliance, fraud and abuse, government investigations, operations, managed care contracting, payor audits and policy. Longnecker and Thomas both bring prosecutorial backgrounds and extensive defense work within the health care industry, which add depth to the firm’s White Collar and Investigations Practice.

Barnes & Thornburg’s Nashville office will temporarily reside at the Moore Building, 827 19th Avenue, Suite 930, with plans to move into a permanent space next year.

Baker Donelson adds 5 Nashville attorneys

Baker Donelson has added 14 associates across nine cities, including five in Nashville: Jordyne C. Johnson, Ryan P. Loofbourrow, Jack Ritossa, Dominic Rota and Sarah Sexton.

Johnson assists clients with construction litigation and arbitration matters, including complex commercial construction disputes involving breach of contract, wrongful termination, construction defect, delay, differing site conditions, extension of time/additional work, and lien and bond claims. She is a graduate of Tulane University Law School and Georgetown University.

Loofbourrow represents clients in state and federal courts throughout Tennessee and has conducted trials in the General Sessions and Circuit Courts. He completed a two-year clerkship with the Hon. Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. He also clerked for the Hon. Jerome T. Kearney of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas and for the Hon. Royce Taylor of the 16th Circuit Court in Tennessee, Division Four. He is a graduate of Azusa Pacific University and Vanderbilt University Law School.

Ritossa clerked for an international law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., where he handled corporate matters in the blockchain and cryptocurrency group. His experience includes helping clients establish a regulatory practice that is compliant with U.S. federal and state regulations, as well as regulations from the SEC, CFTC, FinCEN and state-level regulators. He is a graduate of the University of Nottingham, the University of Law and the University of Pennsylvania Law School (LL.M.)

Rota is member of the firm’s intellectual property group. As a registered patent attorney, he has prosecuted patents before and through the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He also has experience in prosecuting trademarks, as well as litigating patents, trademarks and trade-dress claims in federal court. He is a graduate of Belmont University and the Belmont University College of Law.

Sexton concentrates her practice in the areas of corporate and business law and mergers and acquisitions. During law school, Sarah served as a judicial extern for Chief Magistrate Judge Tu M. Pham, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, and as a judicial extern for Chief Magistrate Judge Diane K. Vescovo, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. She is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and the University of Memphis School of Law.

Wealth Strategies promotes Harris to associate adviser

Wealth Strategies Partners has promoted Dalton Harris to associate adviser. Harris will work with clients on an individual basis to create customized, strategic, financial plans that are tailored to their unique needs.

He previously spent three years at Edward Jones and assisted with the management of more than $200 million in assets.

Harris is a graduate of the University of Kentucky.

Mayor appoints director of Homeless Services

Mayor John Cooper has named April Calvin director of the Office of Homeless Services, a new department focusing on getting our unhoused neighbors in permanent homes and connected to the resources and services they need to remain in stable housing.

Calvin will spearhead Metro’s homelessness response, utilizing her over 25 years of leadership and social service experience. She previously served as interim director of Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County’s Homeless Impact Division, which was a division of Metro’s Social Services Department. The Office of Homeless Services is a standalone department with the director reporting directly to the Mayor.

Metro is in the first phase of the three-year plan. Last year, Metro’s Homelessness Impact Division set a goal to house 25 chronically unhoused people each month. It is now housing 31 per month, the Mayor’s Office reports.

XSOLIS welcomes Vincion as chief financial officer

XSOLIS, the artificial intelligence technology company creating a more efficient health care system, has named Rachel Vincion the company’s chief financial officer.

Vincion leads XSOLIS’ finance and people management teams, partnering with senior leadership to drive the long-term objectives of the company. With 25 years of experience bringing transformational change to startups and health care technology companies, she will support the continued development of sustainable financial and people processes to align with XSOLIS’ strategic growth and enterprise values.

She previously was chief financial officer at iN2L, the leading provider of engaging and empowering content to residents of over 3,700 eldercare centers. She also served as vice president of finance and people at PlayMaker (aquired by Trella Health) and Qualifacts Systems, Inc. Vincion began her career in public accounting and has a bachelor’s degree from Saint Mary’s College of California.

Belmont taps Winans as first artist-in-residence

Bestselling and most-awarded female gospel artist of all time CeCe Winans will partner with Belmont University as an Artist in Residence in the fall of 2023. As part of her residency, Winans will perform at Belmont’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts Sept. 15 on her Believe For It Tour.

In addition to the concert, select Belmont students will have the opportunity to attend soundcheck and participate in a Q&A session with the world-renowned artist who has sold more than 17 million albums worldwide. Winan’s residency at Belmont also includes a chapel service and other unique and meaningful opportunities for interactions with students.

The third single released from Winans’ 2021 “Believe For It” live album, “Goodness of God,” has topped 200 million U.S. streams, 148 million video views, 110 million TikTok views and is #1 on CCLI’s Top 100 chart measured from over 250,000 church worship services.

United Community Bank names statewide president

United Community Bank has selected veteran banker Kelley Kee as Tennessee state president.

Kee steps into this role after his predecessor, John Wilson, announced his retirement. Wilson will transition into a United consulting role. Kee will lead the bank’s commercial and retail operations in Tennessee.

Kee comes to United with nearly 30 years of banking experience in the greater Nashville area. He previously worked with Regions Bank, holding several leadership roles, most recently as executive vice president, in consumer and business banking. He spent the last 19 years as a commercial banking executive in Nashville. Additionally, he has worked with First American and AmSouth.

REED PR promotes 1, adds 3 to account team

REED Public Relations has hired three new team members and promoted another. Tayhlor Blackwell has been promoted to vice president, while Jessi Boozer has been named account manager and Brook Farrell and Kate Shepherd have joined the agency full-time as account coordinators.

Blackwell, who earned a degree in journalism from Middle Tennessee State University, has been employed by REED since 2018 when she joined the team as an intern. Blackwell oversees the team’s professional development program in addition to her account duties.

Boozer is a graduate of Belmont University. She honed her communications skills with public relations and marketing agency roles in Nashville.

Farrell and Shepherd joined REED last year through the company’s inaugural account coordinator training program, which gives promising young public relations professionals a place to grow and learn crucial skills while on the job. After completing the 90-day program, both were offered full-time account coordinator roles.

Farrell is a graduate of Auburn University, while Shepherd is a graduate of California State Polytechnic University-Pomona.