Waller elects 5 partners in 3 practice areas

Friday, January 11, 2019, Vol. 43, No. 2

Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP has elected five partners from the firm’s Healthcare Compliance and Operations, Finance and Restructuring Corporate, and Litigation & Dispute Resolution practices.

The new partners are:

Caitlyn W. Page, who assists investor-owned hospitals and health systems in mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, managing all aspects of the regulatory diligence that plays a key role in health care transactions. She also advises specialty physician practices and outpatient services providers – including ophthalmology practices, urgent care centers, ambulatory surgery centers and medical spas – as they establish new practices and facilities across the country.

Page earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School. She is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton.

Jonah L. Price, who provides counsel to health care companies, financial services institutions, specialty lenders and private equity firms in domestic and cross-border acquisition financing, asset-based lending, working capital financing, corporate restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings. Before joining Waller, Price gained extensive commercial finance experience in the New York offices of Proskauer Rose, LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Mayer Brown LLP.

Price earned his J.D. from Indiana University Maurer School of Law. He also is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Stephen Quinn, who assists clients across the health care industry in complex mergers and acquisitions and securities and corporate governance matters. His transactional and securities experience spans hospitals and health systems, behavioral health care providers, physician practices and ambulatory surgery centers, as well as private equity health care investors and specialty lenders.

Quinn earned his J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where he graduated Order of the Coif and served as editor-in-chief of Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law. He also is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis.

Wells Trompeter, who represents corporate clients, as well as executives, business owners and other individuals in high-stakes government investigations and civil and criminal enforcement actions. Her experience includes assisting health care providers, hospital systems, universities, and defense contractors, in disputes with the government, up to and including federal False Claims Act matters.

Trompeter earned her J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she graduated Order of the Coif. She earned her B.A. from the College of Charleston.

Joseph L. Watson, who is a commercial litigator with experience spanning a broad variety of industries. Watson represents real estate owners, developers and contractors in disputes related to construction defects and delays, payment disputes and construction lien issues. He also assists banks and financial services institutions in disputes involving commercial and consumer financial arrangements.

Watson earned his J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where he graduated Order of the Coif. He also is a graduate of Furman University.

Stites & Harbison promotes 2 in Nashville

Stites & Harbison, PLLC has promoted two attorneys in its Nashville office to member status. They are:

Brenton Lankford, family law. Lankford practices primarily in the field of domestic relations, assisting clients with divorce and post-divorce matters, including issues of child custody, child support, alimony and financial and property disputes.

Sean Ritchie, intellectual property & technology service. Ritchie is a registered patent attorney, and his practice focuses on all aspects of patent and trademark protection. With an academic background in bioengineering, Ritchie’s patent practice primarily focuses on chemical, life sciences and materials science technologies.

Curry reaches member level at Sherrard Roe

Attorney Lauren Curry has been named a member at Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison. Curry’s practice focuses on business litigation and insurance coverage disputes. She has been with the firm since 2012.

Curry was selected for inclusion in the Nashville Bar Foundation’s 2017-18 Leadership Forum program. She was a finalist for the Nashville Emerging Leader Award in both 2017 and 2018. She has also been listed in “Super Lawyers” as a Mid-South Rising Star since 2014. Curry is a member of the Nashville Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association and the American Bar Association. She served as District Representative of the Young Lawyers Division of the Tennessee Bar Association for two years.

Curry earned her J.D. in 2011 from Vanderbilt University Law School, where she was senior articles editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and elected to the Order of the Coif. Curry received several Vanderbilt Scholastic Excellence Awards as well as the Lightfoot, Franklin & White Best Oralist Award and the Mock Trial Quarterfinalist & Top Litigator Award. She was a member of Phi Delta Phi and recipient of a Law School Merit Scholarship. Curry earned a degree in psychology at the University of the South in 2004.

Prior to law school, Curry served the citizens of Davidson County for nearly four years as a patrol officer with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, where she was also certified as a Mounted Horse Patrol officer.

GSRM Law attorney promoted to member

Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin PLLC attorney Will Smith has been elected to member level in the firm.

Smith is a member of the firm’s Real Estate section. His practice is focused in the areas of finance, real estate, commercial transactions, commercial leasing, and general business planning. Will regularly represents both borrowers and lenders on loan transactions, assisting with both asset-based and real estate secured financing.

Will graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where he served as executive editor of the Tennessee Law Review. He also graduated from Davidson College. He is also a 2005 graduate of Montgomery Bell Academy.

Adams and Reese announces 2 new partners

Adams and Reese has elected Kristina Montanaro Schrader and Rob Breunig, both in the Nashville office, to partnerships in the firm.

Schrader practices is Adams and Reese’s anti-counterfeiting team leader. She crafts modern brand and content protection strategies for a wide range of multinational businesses in her global intellectual property practice, which also includes representation in the areas of cybersecurity, entertainment and new media.

Schrader earned her LL.M. from the George Washington University Law School in 2011, her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2010 and her B.A. from College of Charleston in 2007.

Breunig helps clients with issues surrounding executive compensation and compensatory benefit plans, and represents companies in mergers and acquisitions. He also drafts and revises plan documents and employee communications, investment policies and investment management agreements, trust agreements, and other plan service-provider contracts.

Breunig earned his LL.M. and J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2013 and 2012, respectively. He is a 2006 graduate of University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Martin to retire as FirstBank general counsel

Longtime Nashville attorney Will Martin will retire from his position as general counsel for FirstBank and its parent holding company, FB Financial Corporation, on Jan. 15.

In addition to FirstBank, which he joined in 2007, Martin’s career has spanned law practice, business, government service and the non-profit world. He served for five years in the Clinton-Gore administration as deputy assistant secretary for International Affairs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he headed international policy. He served for 13 years on the board of trustees for the Marine Stewardship Council, a London-based global environmental organization, and from 2005 to 2013, he was executive chairman of the board. He teaches international environmental law at Vanderbilt Law School.

He is on the board of directors for the Ocean Conservancy in Washington, D.C., and previously served on the board of the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. He was a senior fellow for the World Wildlife Fund in Washington for more than a decade. Locally, Martin is a board member and former chairman of The Maddox Charitable Fund, serves on the board of The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, and is former chairman of the Tennessee Conservation Commission and a former chairman and board member of Friends of Warner Park.

After graduating from Vanderbilt University Law School, Martin became a partner with Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis and later co-founded the law firm of Harwell Barr Martin & Sloan, later known as Harwell Howard Hyne Gabbert & Manner.

Bridgestone Americas names VP/govt. relations

Bridgestone Americas, Inc. has named Tom Lehner vice president, government relations. He will be responsible for the strategic direction and management of the company’s government relationships, including political affairs and public policy advocacy with U.S. federal, state and local governments, as well as developing government relations strategies for Latin America and Canada.

In addition, he will advise on compliance, risk, legislation and policy issues within the industries Bridgestone serves, as well as lead the company’s involvement in national industry trade associations.

Prior to joining Bridgestone, Lehner spent more than five years as vice president of public policy for the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA), where he represented the largest manufacturing sector in the U.S. in support of issues such as connected vehicles, fuel economy and telematics, among others. From 2009-2012, he served as vice president of government and industry affairs for Toyota.

His government experience includes working for six U.S. senators, including as chief of staff to Senator Charles S. Robb of Virginia. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from San Francisco State University.