Gail Vaughn Ashworth

Wiseman Ashworth Law Group has opened an office in Memphis and will double the size of its office in Nashville.

The firm’s Nashville office, located in the Nashville City Center will increase from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet. The firm will occupy one half of the City Center’s 8th floor. Construction work is underway and is expected to be completed by October 1. In addition to office space for the firm’s staff of six attorneys plus support staff, the expanded office space will include several conference rooms and a Mediation Center. At Nashville City Center, Richard Fletcher was the landlord agent for Parmenter Nashville City Center, LLC. Tracy M. Speake, Managing Partner, Paradigm Realty Advisors, LLC, represented Wiseman Ashworth Law Group.

The Memphis office is managed by firm member Howard B. Hayden. The office is located at 5050 Poplar Avenue, Suite 2413, in the White Station Tower. Hayden has more than 27 years of legal experience and has focused his practice in the areas of healthcare law and litigation. He is also a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 mediator. Prior to joining Wiseman Ashworth Law Group in 2010, he was a member of The Adelman Firm in Memphis.

Wiseman Ashworth Law Group PLC was established in 2010 by attorneys Thomas A. Wiseman III and Gail Vaughn Ashworth. The firm focuses on physician and hospital malpractice defense, health care law, personal injury cases, products liability, insurance coverage, medical ethics and employment law in state, federal and administrative courts. Ashworth and Hayden also have mediation practices.

Southeast Venture adds Bishop

Ashley Bishop has joined Southeast Venture, LLC as a broker and CCIM candidate, company principals announced today.

With 15 years of industry experience, Bishop most recently worked at Retail Property Management, Inc., where he served as a broker and development manager since 2006.

At Southeast Venture, Bishop will specialize in multi-family and retail properties, offering services in both leasing and sales, in addition to market analysis, site selection and land sales.

D.F. Chase hires 3 to management team

D.F. Chase, Inc. expanded its management team with the additions of Brian Murdock as Director of Preconstruction, Scott Freeman as a project manager and Seth Cochran as a project engineer, it was announced today by company David Chase, executive vice president.

“The additions of Brian, Scott and Seth is an example of our commitment to providing the best team and services to our clients and to meet their ongoing needs and those of our future clients,” said Chase.

Murdock has more than 14 years of experience as a construction manager with significant experience in all facets of construction management and general contracting. Most recently, he was a senior project manager with American Constructors, Inc., where he was directly responsible for business development, preconstruction and project management on projects throughout the southeast. A native of Nashville, Brian earned his bachelor of science in building construction degree from Auburn University.

Freeman first joined the D.F. Chase team for the rebuilding of the Opryland Hotel after the flood in 2010. He currently is managing projects for the company in Pennsylvania, Memphis and Connecticut. Freeman graduated from MTSU with a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management.

Cochran joins D.F. Chase after also working on the Opyland Hotel project, where he continues to assist with their projects. He earned his master’s degree in building construction from Auburn University.

Former public defender moves to Dodson Parker

The law firm of Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella, PC is pleased to welcome Tyler Chance Yarbro as its newest associate. Yarbro joins the firm’s litigation section, with an emphasis in business, employment and personal injury matters.

Yarbro most recently spent six years as an assistant public defender for Metro Nashville, making hundreds of court appearances and conducting more than 60 trials. She earned her J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was named a Dillard Fellow and served on the editorial board of the Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law.

Prior to attending law school, Yarbro served as a field director for Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign in a number of states, beginning with the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary and ending with a lesser-known vote recount in the Oregon general election.

Yarbro received her B.A. magna cum laude from Wellesley College, where she graduated with a major in English and minor in economics and was elected Phi Beta Kappa.

A member of the Nashville Bar Association and the Lawyers Association for Women, the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a recent member of the Harry Phillips chapter of the American Inn of Court, Yarbro also sits on the advisory board for the Davidson County Trial Courts’ Community Corrections program.

Bobot joins Barge, Waggoner, Sumner, and Cannon, Inc.

Stefan Bobot Jr., has joined the aviation group of architectural and engineering firm Barge, Waggoner, Sumner, and Cannon, Inc. (BWSC) as Client Services Manager to provide project management for aviation projects and work on business development. Bobot has twelve years of experience with aviation and civil projects including airside planning, landside planning, and civil site design.

Bobot was previously associated with the Nashville office of Atkins where he served as Project Manager for aviation projects. His prior roles in the aviation field include project manager and assistant civil engineer for Edwards & Kelsey, Baltimore, Md., and assistant civil engineer at Rickenbacker International Airport, Columbus, Ohio. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Construction Institute (CI).

He is a 1999 graduate of Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. A native of St. Clairsville, Ohio, Bobot and his family live in White House.

VUMC’s Kim lands Duke Foundation award

Annette Kim, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Pathology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has received a 2011 Clinical Scientist Development Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Kim is one of 16 physician-scientists from across the country selected this year for the award. Each will receive $486,000 in research support over three years.

A practicing hematopathologist, Kim joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2009.

She is also associate director of the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory and co-director of the Human Tissue Acquisition services, part of the Translational Pathology Shared Resource.

Kim’s award will support her research on microRNAs in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a form of blood cancer typically affecting the elderly that is caused by abnormal or inefficient blood cell differentiation.

MicroRNAS (miRNAs) play a key role in cellular differentiation and identity by regulating gene expression.

Attorney Lang joins Waddey & Patterson

Attorney Hilary Dorr Lang has joined law firm Waddey & Patterson, P.C. as an associate. Lang will practice in the areas of patent preparation and prosecution, and enforcement of intellectual property rights, copyright and trademark law, particularly in the areas of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, medical devices and chemical products.

Lang was previously an Associate at Boston law firm Foley Hoag LLP where her practice encompassed patent portfolio management, patent preparation and prosecution, and litigation support for cases involving pharmaceuticals, drug delivery, nutraceuticals, and polymers, working with university and corporate clients. She also supervised the firm’s technology specialists.

From 2005 to 2007, Lang was an Associate at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, Cambridge, MA, where her practice focused on litigation. Prior to receiving her law degree, she was Scientific Advisor at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, Chicago, providing patent prosecution and technical counsel for litigation and interference proceedings with an emphasis on organic chemistry, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and computer-related materials and devices.

Lang received her Juris Doctor from Boston College of Law. She holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry and a M.S. in chemistry, both from the University of Chicago. While at the University of Chicago, she received the Bernard Smaller Prize for Magnetic Resonance Research, the GANN Graduate Student Fellowship, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Petroleum Research Fund Grant, the ACS Women Chemists’ Committee Travel Award sponsored by Eli Lilly, and the University of Chicago’s James Franck Institute Fellowship. Lang is a graduate from the University of California-Santa Cruz with a B.S. in chemistry. She is a member of the ABA, the American Chemical Society / Organic Chemistry Division, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA).

Baker Donelson’s Hicks re-elected to board

John S. Hicks, shareholder in the Nashville office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, has been elected to a second three-year term as a member of the board of directors of Attorneys Liability Assurance Society (Bermuda) Ltd. (ALAS), a leading provider of lawyers’ professional liability coverage.

Mr. Hicks serves as Baker Donelson’s assistant general counsel and, as chair of the firm’s conflicts and ethics committee, serves as the primary ethics counsel for Baker Donelson. He has served several terms on the firm’s board of directors and is the former chair of the Health Law and Medical Professional Litigation Group. His trial practice includes health law litigation, business torts, shareholder and corporate governance disputes, professional liability defense, defense of class action cases including various consumer fraud and insurance claims, insurance coverage disputes and commercial and banking litigation. He is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, the Defense Research Institute and the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Nashville Bank & Trust promotes two

Nashville Bank & Trust officials announced today the promotion of two senior members of the bank’s staff.

Jamie Nicholson has been promoted to senior vice president and team leader within Nashville Bank and Trust’s wealth management services. Andrew May has been appointed team leader of wealth management’s portfolio strategies team.

A graduate of Vanderbilt University’s School of Law, Nicholson worked several years at SunTrust before joining NBT in 2007 as a senior wealth advisor. In addition to leading the portfolio management team, May will continue to serve as Nashville Bank and Trust’s chief financial officer.