J. Alexander’s LLC, operator of J. Alexander’s restaurants and Stoney River Legendary Steak restaurants, has promoted Jessica Hagler to assistant vice president and controller.

Hagler, a licensed CPA, joined J. Alexander’s as director of compliance and served in that post until March 2012 when she was named director of financial reporting and compliance.

Prior to joining J. Alexander’s, she was a senior manager in the audit services division of KPMG LLP. Hagler holds both a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and a Master’s of Business Administration degree from Middle Tennessee State University.

Trompeter joins Neal & Harwell

Laurie Wells Trompeter has joined Neal & Harwell, PLC as an associate, with a focus on general litigation. Prior to joining Neal & Harwell, Wells Trompeter was a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan in Knoxville.

Wells Trompeter received her J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she was Order of the Coif. With several academic awards, she graduated summa cum laude in May, 2011. In 2006, she graduated magna cum laude from the College of Charleston with a B.A. in Political Science and German.

Remar appoints Kolff to leadership post

Kevin Kolff has been named as director of business development, healthcare and hospitality for Lebanon-based Remar, Inc.

Kolff had previously served as director of national accounts for Alliance Energy Solutions in Oxford, Conn., and more recently ran his own business, Hockey Plus, a hockey equipment store located in Nashville.

Prior to Alliance, he served in multiple roles for nearly a decade at W.W. Grainger in Nashville.

At Remar, Kolff will focus on the strategic direction and growth of Remar’s health care industry products and services, and work with hospitals and GPO clients to better fulfill their needs. Remar is an approved supplier of exterior and interior signage products for the MedAssets, HealthTrust and Magnet GPOs, and sells HD LED hospital-grade TVs designed specifically for the health care industry.

Tennessee chapter of HIMSS names new board members

The Tennessee Chapter of the Health Information Management Systems Society has announced its 2013-2014 board of directors. Officers are:

• Brian Moyer, president; EVP & CIO, HealthTech Solutions Group
• Connie McGee, president-elect; CEO, EvolveWomen
• Justin Lanning, past president; VP of business development and marketing, Midas+
• Helen Lane, treasurer; partner & health care practice leader, C3 Consulting
• Mary Silva Doctor, secretary; consulting partner, The Table Group
• Todd Charest, VP communications; CIO, Cogent Healthcare
• John Kepley, VP membership; CEO, Teknetex
• Susan Newbold, VP professional development; director, Nursing Informatics Boot Camp
• Jennifer LeMieux, VP programs; VP strategic accounts, The Outsource Group
• Silas Deane, VP sponsorships; chairman & CEO, Deane, Smith & Partners
• Tod Fetherling, VP workforce development; chairman, Stratasan
• Kyle Duke, treasurer-elect, chief information security officer, HealthSpring
• April Marbury, CIO council co-chair; CIO Clinical Solutions, Walgreens
• Sean Tuley, CIO council co-chair; CIO, LifePoint
• Laurene Vamprine, East TN co-chair; VP & CIO, Erlanger Health System
• Mike Ward, East TN co-chair; CIO, Covenant Health
• Didi Davis, HIE liaison; president & principal, Serendipity Health, LLC
• Adam Ray, EHR interface analyst, LifePoint

Ryan Search adds Dunbar to board of advisors

George Dunbar, a Franklin entrepreneur and management consultant in the life sciences arena, has been named to the board of advisors of Ryan Search & Consulting, a Franklin-based consulting firm that provides talent acquisition and talent development services to clients in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, life sciences and economic development fields.

Dunbar heads Franklin-based The Dunbar Group LLC and is a venture partner with Arboretum Ventures, a venture capital firm specializing in the health care sector.

He also currently serves as the executive chairman of the board of directors at CerviLenz, and serves on the boards of directors for KFx Medical and IntelliCyt Corporation.

Bradford Group announces 1 addition, 1 promotion

Nashville-based public relations and marketing firm the Bradford Group has added Susan Upton to its staff as account associate and promoted Molly Garvey to account executive.

Upton comes to the Bradford Group from The Advisory Board Company, a health care consulting and technology firm, where she served as marketing associate in the company’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.

She graduated from Wake Forest University with a bachelor’s degree in communication and minors in entrepreneurship and journalism.

Garvey joined the Bradford Group in 2012 as account associate and supported a wide-range of clients through her work in social media, print media and project management.

Prior to joining the Bradford group, Garvey served as social media coordinator for Gatehouse Lane and Ivy Halls, two North Carolina-based bedding companies, and interned for ShowCase Marketing in Greenville, S.C.

Library Foundation adds new board members

Katy Varney, Nashville Public Library Foundation Board chairwoman, has announced six new board members for 2013-2014.

Board members are elected for two-year terms and sit on various committees furthering the mission of the Foundation, which is to enhance the programs, collections and facilities of the Nashville Public Library.

New board members include Denine Torr, director of community initiatives at Dollar General; Laura Anne Turner, philanthropist and board member of the Laura Goad Turner Charitable Foundation and James Stephen Turner Family Foundation; Joe Steakley, senior vice president of the Internal Audit and Enterprise Risk Department for Hospital Corporation of America; Jerry Williams, executive director of Leadership Nashville; Keith Meacham, marketing maven for early reading app, Learn With Homer; and Joyce Searcy, director of community relations at Belmont University.

Other members of the Nashville Public Library Foundation board of directors include: Beth C. Alexander (Past Chairwoman), Jean Ann Banker, Mary Dorrian Bettis, Richard Bovender, Mayor Karl Dean, Townes Duncan (Treasurer), Johnny Garrett, Lucy Haynes, Lydia Howarth, Cathy Jackson, Bill King, Mike Lovett, Mark Magnuson, Rusty Miller, Juli Mosley, Kent Oliver (library director), Larry Papel, Ann Patchett, Margaret Ann Robinson (secretary), Keith Simmons, Byron Smith, Clint Smith, Byron Trauger and Brenda Wynn.

Two corporate associates join Nelson Mullins

Thallen Brassel and Lori Brewer, two associates with corporate backgrounds, have joined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP’s Nashville office.

Brassel concentrates on business, tax and insurance regulation law, advising clients on business formation and planning, estate planning, and tax aspects of various corporate transactions, including lending and borrowing arrangements, securities offerings, and bankruptcy restructurings.

She is a former associate with Burr and Forman LLP in Nashville and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCoy LLP in New York.

Brewer practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, debt financing, and business technology. She represents clients in connection with angel, venture capital, and debt financing. She also represents portfolio and growth companies and negotiates from both vendor and supplier perspectives, including cloud computing and network based application hosting agreements.

She previously served as an associate in the Banking Department of Otterbourg, Steindler, Houston & Rosen P.C. in New York and in the Global Finance/Corporate Department of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in Charlotte, N.C.

Adams & Reese hires entertainment, IP lawyer

Entertainment and intellectual property/technology litigation attorney Phil Kirkpatrick has joined Adams and Reese as special counsel.

Practicing his entire career in Nashville, Kirkpatrick has been a federal court litigator since 1979.

He formerly was with Dickinson Wright PLLC.

Kirkpatrick also handles products liability litigation and commercial litigation, and is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel and the Federal Bar Association.