Quinn moves practice to Neal & Harwell

Friday, October 12, 2018, Vol. 42, No. 41

Attorney John E. Quinn, previously a partner at Manier & Herod, has joined Neal & Harwell, PLC, as of counsel.

His practice is in the defense of all aspects of civil litigation, including commercial, professional negligence, personal injury, products liability, employment and insurance litigation. He has extensive trial experience and has conducted more than 50 trials in both state and federal courts, as well as arbitrations in Tennessee and Europe.

Quinn earned his J.D. at Vanderbilt University Law School and holds degrees in political science and history from Southern Methodist University. He is a member of the Nashville and Tennessee Bar Associations, the Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association, the Defense Research Institute, and the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, where he currently serves as a vice chair on the admissions committee, meeting sites committee, and law practice management sections, and is the state representative for Tennessee.

He also is a member of the Alternative Dispute, Appellate Law, Commercial Litigation, Employment Practices & Workplace Liability, Law Practice Management, Premises and Security Liability, Professional Liability, Transportation, Trial Tactics, and Practice and Procedures Sections in the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel. He is the past chair of the Law Practice Management Section.

Sherrard Roe adds associate from California

Attorney Christina R.B. Lopez has joined Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison as an associate, announced member Bill Harbison.

Lopez most recently served as judicial clerk to the Honorable Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen of the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in Pasadena, California. She was previously associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Irvine, California. She served as an extern for both the U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, and the United States Attorney’s Office in Santa Clara.

Lopez is a graduate of UCLA School of Law, where she was Order of the Coif, served as managing editor of the UCLA Law Review, and was on the UCLA Mock Trial Team. She was a recipient of the Shepard Broad Award and was a Michael T. Masin Scholar. A participant in UCLA Internal Advocacy competitions, she was a Moot Court competition winner and received awards in mock trial tournaments. She earned a B.A. in Public Policy at Duke University, with minors in Spanish and cultural anthropology.

Lopez is a member of the State Bar of California, Central District of California Bar, and the Orange County Bar Association.

Communities in School hires Williams as COO

Communities In Schools of Tennessee, a major partner with school districts to reduce chronic absenteeism by supporting students’ needs, has hired Derrick Williams as the organization’s chief operating officer. Williams will be tasked with maintaining organizational standards and overseeing human capital operations and employee relations.

Since beginning his career at Metro Nashville Public Schools as a behavioral specialist in 2009, Williams has supported the district’s students and families through a variety of positions, such as family involvement specialist, community outreach specialist and behavior support team coordinator.

Williams holds a degree in psychology from South Carolina State University, where he was a member of Psi Chi and Pi Gamma Mu honor societies and the recipient of the Presidential Scholar Award – Bronze five consecutive years.

He also has earned a master’s in psychology at the University of Phoenix and has completed coursework in applied behavioral analytics at Lipscomb University, where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Theta Honor Society.

Mayor’s Office hires former Metro councilman

Mayor David Briley announced today the appointment of former Metro Council Member Lawrence E. Hall, Jr. to head the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods and Community Engagement.

As director, Hall will work closely to appreciate the needs of neighborhoods across the city and to drive strategic partnerships with community leaders, stakeholders and residents. Hall’s portfolio will also include significant work in key priority areas such as affordable housing, transportation, financial empowerment, sustainability, public safety and education.

Hall, who represented District 5 in East Nashville from 1999 to 2003, is joining the administration from Meharry Medical College. Most recently, Hall held the position of vice president of External Affairs and Business Development at the college as well as interim vice president of External Affairs, assistant vice president of External Affairs and director of State Governmental Affairs. Previously, Hall worked as a research analysis and liaison to the House State and Local Government Committee at the Tennessee General Assembly.

A Nashville native, Hall is active in the community and is a former board member of the Margaret Maddox YMCA and The Tennessee Lobbyists Association. He has also served in The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Citizen Academy and is past president of the Highland Heights Citizens Advisory Committee.

Hall holds a degree in business administration from Trevecca Nazarene University and a master’s in public administration from Tennessee State University.

Swann named director chief of Nashville Fire

William Swann has been selected to serve in the position of director chief of the Nashville Fire Department.

Swann, who was previously the first African-American deputy director in Nashville history, is now also the city’s first African-American director chief.

Swann started his career as a firefighter and moved through the ranks of the NFD to training academy instructor, director of the Office of Emergency Management and deputy fire director. Most recently, Swann served as interim chief following the retirement of Ricky White in November 2017.

Director Chief Swann also served in the U.S. Army for five years and is a Gulf War veteran.

Swann holds a degree in management and human relations from Trevecca Nazarene University.

Davidson Homes adds to leadership positions

Alabama-based home builder Davidson Homes recently hired Chris Smith as its division president, Clint Mitchell as its vice president of operations and Dustin Bosworth as its sales manager for the company’s new Nashville office.

Smith graduated from MTSU with a degree in construction management. He has more than 12 years of home building experience serves as a coach and board member for MTSU’s School of Concrete and Construction Management.

Mitchell oversees the day-to-day performance of Davidson Homes’ Nashville office and offers a strategic vision to help the company grow. With more than 31 years of experience in the Nashville home building market, Mitchell graduated from Northeast Louisiana University with a degree in building science before beginning his work at Phillips Builders in Middle Tennessee. Mitchell serves on the board of directors for the Middle Tennessee Home Builders Association.

Bosworth oversees all of Davidson Homes’ communities in the Middle Tennessee area as sales manager. He has been working in the real estate industry for more than 20 years. Most recently, Bosworth served as a new home professional and broker for Signature Homes of Nashville.

Davidson Homes marked its official entrance into the Middle Tennessee market at the end of June, announcing it had purchased nearly 350 home lots across Gallatin, Lebanon, Murfreesboro and Smyrna. The company has broken ground on the Hearthstone community in Lebanon, the Shelton Square, Wynthrope Hall and Rivers Edge communities in Murfreesboro, The Meadows community in Smyrna and the Liberty Creek community in Gallatin.

Industry veteran joins FBMM team

Longtime Sony Music executive and music industry veteran Paul Barnabee has joined FBMM.

A Long Island native, Barnabee moved to Nashville in 1995 to accept a position as senior director of finance at Sony Music Entertainment. He later became senior vice president in sales, finance and operations.

In 2011, he was appointed as senior vice president of marketing for Sony and its three imprints, RCA, Columbia and Arista Nashville. In this role, Barnabee led his department in the creation and execution of strategic marketing initiatives for a number of global music artists. He also directed the development of industry campaigns to attract new artists to the label.

Barnabee has a degree in accounting from the University of Albany, SUNY and earned his CPA license in the state of New York. He served on the board of directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee for five years and serves on the board of the Academy of Country Music as a past chairman. He serves as vice chairman of ACM’s charitable arm, Lifting Lives.

Story, Dreschel change jobs as Wellview realigns

Following a recent injection of growth capital, 5-year-old health care company Wellview Health has announced leadership changes to support continued expansion throughout the U.S.

James Story, Wellview’s co-founder and president, has been appointed as the company’s CEO will succeed Dan Drechsel, who will serve as executive chairman of the board.

Wellview Health works alongside large, self-funded health plans to simplify employee access to health care.

Argent Trust hires Digre as assistant trust officer

Argent Trust Company has hired Tasha Rae Digre as assistant trust officer in the firm’s Nashville office.

She will be responsible for supporting senior trust officers on the daily administration of trust and estate accounts.

Digre has six years of banking experience and most recently was a trust assistant with Regions Private Wealth Management in Nashville. Before that, she was a relationship manager with Bank of America in Portland, Maine.

Digre is studying business management at Trevecca Nazarene University. She also studied political science and government at Pensacola Christian College.