Maja A. Hartzell (labor & employment), K. Brianne Kerbyson (trusts & estates) Anna Kaufman Looney (real estate & debt financing transactions) and Adam Pfeiffer (corporate & securities) have joined Bass Berry & Sims as associates in Nashville.
These additions mark the firm’s continued growth strategy after announcing 56 new attorneys in 2022 across its four offices in Tennessee and Washington, D.C.
Hartzell advises clients in a range of labor and employment law matters, defending against claims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation before federal and state courts and other administrative entities. Hartzell previously served as a law clerk at the Public Employees Relations Commission and the Florida Commission on Human Relations, both in Tallahassee.
She earned a law degree and a business law certificate from Florida State University College of Law, as well as master’s and undergraduate degrees from Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.
Kerbyson assists clients on estate planning, tax law and business law. She earned a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law and an LL.M. in taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She also earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee.
Kaufman Looney counsels clients on real estate and commercial finance transactions across a variety of industries. She previously was with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP in New York. She earned a law degree from Cornell Law School and an undergraduate degree from The George Washington University.
Pfeiffer assists clients on corporate and securities issues, including mergers and acquisitions, cross-border transactions, capital markets transactions, private equity financings and securities regulations matters and filings. He previously was an associate at a boutique law firm in Lincoln, Nebraska, that specialized in corporate transactions in the trucking and transportation industry.
Pfeiffer is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska College of Law.
Campbell promoted at Southwestern Advantage
Trey Campbell, a 24-year leader at Southwestern Advantage, has been promoted to vice president of communications & government relations.
A member of Southwestern Family of Companies, SWA was established in 1868 and is the oldest entrepreneurial sales and leadership program for college and university students in the world.
Campbell, a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, is accredited in public relations and is a past president of the Nashville Chapter of PRSA. He is a board member with the Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky.
ESa adds to architecture, construction admin. teams
Local architecture firm ESa has added to its roster of architects and contract construction administrators.
Daniel Judy, project manager, holds degrees in architecture and environmental design from Kent State University. Judy comes to ESa from a local architecture firm.
Shirin Sabbagh has been hired as a member of the architecture team. She earned master of architecture degree from Azad Art and Architecture University.
Joseph Plummer has also joined the architecture team. He holds a degree in architectural studies with a minor in construction management from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
Jennifer Vandercook joins the firm as a member of the architecture team. She earned a degree in human environmental sciences in interior design from the University of Alabama.
Tim Bass has been hired as a member of the construction contract administration team. He has 27 years of contract administration experience. He attended Ohio State University and served in the United States Navy for four years.
TVMA renames award to honor Clark
The Tennessee Veterinary Medical Association has honored longtime member Dr. Walter R. Clark of Nashville’s Grassmere Animal Hospital for his years of dedicated service to the veterinary profession and the TVMA by naming its distinguished service award in his honor.
Clark has been a member of the TVMA since 1983. In 1995, he became the first University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine graduate to serve as president of the association. He has served as TVMA’s liaison to the Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, a member of the TVMA Legislative Committee and Liaison to UTCVM.
He has maintained Diplomate status in the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (Canine and Feline) since 1990. In 2020, his practice, Grassmere Animal Hospital, became the first in Tennessee to celebrate 50 years as an AAHA accredited hospital.
Clark received TVMA’s Young Veterinarian of the Year Award in 1993, the TVMA Distinguished Service Award in 2002 and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
Buffkin / Baker names Ross newest partner
Buffkin / Baker, a partner-led executive search firm, has promoted Jackson Ross to partner.
Ross joined Buffkin / Baker in 2021 as a principal and was promoted to associate partner in 2022.
He has secured executive leadership talent in the health care, digital and private equity practices for both national and global clients.
Ross previously was part of the leadership team and helped launch the U.S. operations for United Imaging Healthcare.
Ross is a native Nashvillian and holds a degree in business administration and marketing from the University of Mississippi.
Sturgis takes role with Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation of Williamson County has named Tyrus B. Sturgis its chief officer of engagement, a new leadership position that will be focused on elevating community engagement and visibility for the foundation and its efforts across its divisions.
Sturgis will provide strategic oversight for public relations and marketing, Downtown Franklin Association and the Foundation’s major events, including Main Street Festival, PumpkinFest and Dickens of a Christmas.
Sturgis joins the Heritage Foundation most recently from United Methodist Communications where, as director of leader communications, he created and curated resources for leaders at all levels of the denomination, managed external relationships and developed digital communication strategies.
He previously was a public relations instructor at Auburn University, served as the director of marketing and strategic communications at Alabama State University and worked with some of the largest brands in the world at Purry Communications Group in Los Angeles as a business development and corporate strategist.
He has also worked as a litigation attorney at Balch & Bingham and a public affairs specialist at State Farm Insurance.
Sturgis earned an undergraduate degree from Alabama State University in marketing and went on to garner both a J.D. from Cumberland School of Law and a master’s degree in advertising and public relations from The University of Alabama.