Jason I. Epstein and Gary C. Shockley, shareholders in the Nashville office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, have been recognized as “Lawyers of the Year” by The Best Lawyers in America 2012. Mr. Epstein was named Nashville’s “Information Technology Law Lawyer of the Year,” and Mr. Shockley was named Nashville’s “Environmental Litigation Lawyer of the Year.”

Best Lawyers selects a single attorney in each specialty in each community to be honored. Across the Firm, 19 Baker Donelson attorneys were recognized as “Lawyers of the Year” for 2012.

Fifth Third adds to mortgage operations

Keith Payne joins Fifth Third Bank as one of five new mortgage loan originators. He has 18 years of experience in the mortgage industry with Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Keith holds several certifications in renovation lending and is a graduate of the University of South Carolina.

Rodney Jones has worked in the mortgage industry for 16 years and was previously employed by Bank of America. Rodney was named 2010 Top Producer for Middle Tennessee while working for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. He is a member of the Middle Tennessee Home Builders Association, Nashville Mortgage Bankers Association and an affiliate member of the Sumner Association of Realtors.

Scott Caden has worked in mortgage lending for 11 years, previously working for Bank of America and HSBC Bank.

Barbie Shannon, previously at Bank of America, is a graduate of the University of Florida and has more than 14 years experience in the mortgage banking industry.

Josh Malnofski was previously employed at Bank of America as the retail sales manager for the home loans division. Josh holds a degree from the University of Tennessee, where he also was a member of the university’s football team, and an MBA in finance from the International University of Monaco.

DeSalvo joins Nashville School of Law faculty

Nashville School of Law has added Ramona P. DeSalvo to its faculty as an intellectual property law instructor.

DeSalvo brings unique perspective from years of practicing entertainment law while simultaneously running talent and management agencies serving songwriters and artists. She has been in private practice with a focus on entertainment transactions since October 2008. In May 2010, she resumed operation of Vision Management, a company she founded in the 1990s to advise artists and songwriters. In addition, she has taught law at Middle Tennessee State University since 2007, including courses in copyrights, contracts, and how to get a job in the recording industry. She earned her J.D. from the University of Cincinnati and a bachelor of arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Werthans opening new showroom

Two members of the Werthan family, longtime Nashville business-owners, are merging their granite and tile businesses and opening a new 3,000-square-foot showroom on Nov. 17.

Werthan Granite owner Jeremy Werthan has recently merged his natural stone manufacturing work with his brother’s company, Werthan Tile. Brothers Jeremy and Michael will now operate Werthan, LLC, from their new showroom at 448 Chestnut Street, which they recently renovated. The company produces home design materials for commercial, construction and residential use.

Werthan, LLC, is a product of 143 years of family-owned Nashville businesses. The first Werthan family business opened its doors in 1866 when Meier Werthan founded Werthan Bag and Burlap Co. Today, the Werthan family businesses have branched out into pet food packaging, real estate, and tile and granite.

Document Solutions names vice president

John Burchfield has joined Document Solutions, Inc., a Nashville-based litigation support, e-discovery and digital forensics company, as vice president of business development.

Burchfield’s role at DSi will focus on identifying new market opportunities, client retention, and managing the sales team and customer service representatives.

Most recently, Burchfield served as general manager of the Middle Tennessee operation for document management company Xerox Metro Center (XMC).

Trauma association taps VUMC’s Morris

John Morris Jr., M.D., professor of surgery and director of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Trauma, Burn and LifeFlight Patient Care Center, has been named vice president for the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma.

The AAST is the oldest and largest scientific organization established to further the study and practice of traumatic surgery and the care of critically ill surgical patients.

Morris will head a task force to set a research agenda for the new field of Acute Care Surgery.

He founded the Trauma Center at Vanderbilt in 1984 and served as division chief from 1986-2011.

Crosslin names director of outsourced audits

Crosslin & Associates, P.C., a regional accounting and consulting firm, is pleased to announce the addition of Dennis J. Belton, CIA, as director of outsourced internal audit services. In this position, he will be responsible for the growth and development of Crosslin’s outsourced internal audit engagements and its team.

Prior to joining Crosslin & Associates, Belton was the director of outsourced internal audit for the General Council on Finance and Administration of the United Methodist Church. He also worked as the chief financial officer for Byrnes Medical Center in Columbia, S.C., and for the South Carolina Department of Mental Health as a senior internal auditor.

Belton holds a degree in financial management from Clemson University and is a certified internal auditor and member of the Institute of Internal Auditors.

McNeely Pigott & Fox adds five staffers

McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations has hired Katie Coppens, Mitchell Despot, Sam Kennedy, Logan Pratt and Kate Vorys as staff associates.

Coppens, a native of Oneonta, Ala., graduated summa cum laude from the University of Alabama in May 2011 with a degree in public relations. Prior to joining MP&F in 2011, Coppens interned with Children’s Hospital of Alabama’s corporate communications department and worked in the media relations department at the University of Alabama.

Despot, a native of Nashville, graduated cum laude from Lipscomb University in August of 2011 with a degree in oral communication and a minor in political science. Prior to joining MP&F, Despot was an intern at the firm in the spring of 2011, when he worked on client teams including the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and AT&T.

Kennedy, a Nashville native, graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in the spring of 2011 with degrees in political science and history. He has served as a legislative intern for the Tennessee Board of Regents.

Pratt, a native of Hot Springs, Ark., graduated in May 2011 from Vanderbilt University with a degree in political science and Spanish. Prior to joining MP&F, Pratt was the summer constituent relations coordinator for Rep. Mike Ross in Washington, D.C.

Vorys, a native of Columbus, Ohio, graduated in May 2011 from Vanderbilt University. She received a degree in communication studies and a minor in English. Prior to being hired at MP&F, Vorys was an intern during the spring of 2011 and was involved in numerous client teams, including Nashville Electric Service, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Corps program.

Moses Townsend & Russ honored

Nashville law firm Moses Townsend & Russ, PLLC, has received a Tier 1 Ranking in the Nashville Metropolitan area in the practice area of Family Law, according to U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers listings of “Best Law Firms” for 2011-12.

The national first-tier rankings will be featured in U.S.News & World Report’s Money issue, on newsstands Nov. 15. The rankings in their entirety are posted online at bestlawfirms.usnews.com.

Two attorneys join Stites & Harbison

Stites & Harbison, PLLC., has hired attorney Matthew Kroplin to work with its Business Litigation Service Group and Patrick Warfield to work with its Creditors’ Rights & Bankruptcy Service Group. Both are associates at the law firm’s Nashville office.

Formerly with Frost Brown Todd, LLC, Kroplin served as a law clerk for Wilkes & McHugh, P.A., and the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General.

He has a degree from Lipscomb University, a master’s of public administration from Tennessee State University and a law degree from Vanderbilt University.

Warfield interned for Senior U.S. District Court Judge Thomas A. Wiseman Jr. and Tennessee Circuit Court Judge and Chancellor James G. Martin III.

Prior to pursuing a law degree, he was a sixth-grade science teacher at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School in Alexandria, Va.

Warfield has a bachelor’s degree from Sewanee: The University of the South and a law degree from Samford University.