Barton LLP, a law firm with offices in New York, California, Tennessee, and Virginia is comprised of an elite team of former partners of “Big Law” who have joined together to create a progressive law firm. To us, legal services are business services, and our attorneys and staff are business-people serving business clients to advance their business goals.

Our mission is to provide our sophisticated corporate, financial services, investment fund and entrepreneurial clients with the highest quality legal services delivered in an effective and efficient manner. We accomplish this because we are an organization that does not follow the traditional multi-layered and leveraged law firm model. We believe that a better product, value and client experience is achieved by providing our clients with highly skilled senior attorneys who work directly on their matters with appropriate support from a strong, but lean team of associate attorneys and staff.

We are committed to developing long-term relationships by partnering with our clients so that we thoroughly understand their organizations, objectives and long-term goals. We offer in-house training programs to our clients and take a proactive approach to reviewing clients’ business practices, contracts and relationships to avoid or reduce the incidents of litigation and risk whenever possible.

Our firm structure and experience allows us to offer a wide array of alternative fee arrangements. We understand that hourly billing is frequently not in our client’s best interest, nor does it necessarily represent the value of our services. Our clients provide their goods and services in a competitive marketplace, and yet they rarely, if ever, use an hourly based pricing model. We know that clients have to manage their resources and create efficiencies to stay within budget – and they want lawyers who are able to do the same.

DRS Law is a leading law firm with 2 lawyers recognized by Best Lawyers across 3 practice areas. The firm's tenure with Best Lawyers began in 2008. Having lawyers recognized in Best Lawyers' purely peer review process emphasizes the lawyers credibility and reputation for their practice amongst their peers in their practice area and region. It displays professional validation of the legal talent that DRS Law has on their team. The firm has lawyers recognized in practice areas including: Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs, Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs and Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs.

DRS Law is also ranked by Best Law Firms in 1 practice area. The Best Law Firms rankings are founded on a time-tested and transparent research process that has remained consistent since Best Lawyers launched it in 2010. DRS Law has 1 ranking in 1 practice. Echoing their Best Lawyers awards and team of top legal talent.

Holton & Mayberry PC is a distinguished law firm with 2 lawyers acknowledged by Best Lawyers across 3 practice areas. The firm's association with Best Lawyers started in 1983. The recognition through Best Lawyers' peer review process highlights the lawyers' reputation within their practice areas and region. It serves as professional affirmation of the legal skills present in the team at Holton & Mayberry PC. The firm has lawyers recognized in areas including Nonprofit / Charities Law, Tax Law, and Trusts and Estates.

Holton & Mayberry PC is also ranked by Best Law Firms in 3 practice areas. The Best Law Firms rankings are based on a well-established and transparent research process that has remained consistent since Best Lawyers began it in 2010. Holton & Mayberry PC holds rankings in 3 practices, reflecting their recognized awards and team of proficient legal professionals.

Johnson Evans & Headrick PC is a law firm with two attorneys recognized by Best Lawyers across three practice areas. The firm’s history of recognition with Best Lawyers began in 2016. Inclusion through Best Lawyers’ peer review process reflects professional acknowledgment by other attorneys regarding the firm’s work within specific practice areas and geographic region. Attorneys at Johnson Evans & Headrick PC have been recognized in Commercial Litigation, Copyright Law, and Litigation – Insurance.

Johnson Evans & Headrick PC is also ranked by Best Law Firms in three practice areas. The Best Law Firms rankings are based on a longstanding and transparent research methodology that has remained consistent since the program’s launch in 2010. The firm currently holds three rankings across three practice areas, reflecting peer and client feedback as part of the evaluation process.

Our Practice

Leader Law handles cases across multiple areas of civil litigation. Our firm principally takes on cases involving catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, and defective products. We have successfully prosecuted cases in most substantive areas of civil trial practice including premises liability, liquor liability, medical negligence, trucking/motor vehicle litigation, and others.

Our Philosophy

Our firm's focus is not simply to win cases but to help clients, and we place a special emphasis on knowing our clients well so that we may serve them better. We are committed to helping our clients navigate the legal process with empathy, transparency, and their best interest in mind.

The attorneys at our firm bring a wealth of knowledge and skill unique to their line of practice, gained from their years of experience. Our diverse portfolio of expertise benefits our clients in and out of the courtroom. Success in court stems from working diligently, doing the small things correctly, and having a meticulous eye for detail. Although we cannot guarantee success, we can guarantee the effort that the firm will put forth in order to achieve success.

McDermott Will & Schulte is a leading law firm with 362 lawyers recognized by Best Lawyers across 66 practice areas. The firm's tenure with Best Lawyers began in 1983. Having lawyers recognized in Best Lawyers' purely peer review process emphasizes the lawyers credibility and reputation for their practice amongst their peers in their practice area and region. It displays professional validation of the legal talent that McDermott Will & Schulte has on their team. The firm has lawyers recognized in practice areas including: Commercial Finance Law, Litigation - Bankruptcy, Financial Services Regulation Law, Private Funds / Hedge Funds Law and Life Sciences Practice.

McDermott Will & Schulte is also ranked by Best Law Firms in 56 practice areas. The Best Law Firms rankings are founded on a time-tested and transparent research process that has remained consistent since Best Lawyers launched it in 2010. McDermott Will & Schulte has 189 rankings in 56 practices. Echoing their Best Lawyers awards and team of top legal talent.

Moving Your Ideas Forward 

CLIENT-FOCUSED VALUE

• We are committed to understanding your business and technology because that knowledge is fundamental to providing I.P. protection that furthers your business plan.
• We are a mid-sized firm able to handle large matters, yet not too large to give attention to your needs and the uniqueness of each IP matter. In short, we have the "intellectual critical mass" your I.P. protection requires.
• We have remarkably low turnover where talented attorneys can stay for an entire career. Chances are that the attorney at the beginning of a project will see it through to the end.
• In one case we represented a very successful manufacturer of containers for pharmaceutical products who had been repeatedly threatened with litigation by a competitor in connection with the trade dress claims.  We had already successfully counseled our client in a design around to avoid the other party's patents and viewed the trade dress claims as an effort to continue the patent owner's monopoly.  We counseled the client to bring a declaratory judgment here in the Middle District of Tennessee where its principal place of business is located.  That case was started a few months ago and the parties are on the verge of concluding a settlement agreement which is highly favorable to our client.  At the present time the defendant has requested the terms of the potential settlement agreement, if and when it is consummated, be kept confidential.
• In another case, working on an invalidity opinion, we proposed to the client that we provide a letter stating objective facts in which a U.S. patentee admitted that the claims as issued in the United States were unpatentable over patents not considered by the U.S. patent examiner who issued the case thereby saving our client ten thousand dollars and avoiding an argument that may adversely affect the validity of our client's patent.

EFFICIENT VALUE

• While large firms have checklists that are used in every matter because they cannot otherwise effectively manage their attorneys, we understand that each I.P. matter is unique, thereby allowing us to address each I.P. matter individually -- leading to a better result at lower cost.
• We do not rely upon the economic model of leveraging associates. We do not need to resort to over-staffing your case in order to bolster our fees.
• Our firm's location, culture and work ethic allows us to attract exceptional legal talent at a more modest price. Therefore, we can provide you with the services of our senior attorneys at rates charged for junior associates in larger firms.
• Protecting your intellectual property becomes a more streamlined and value added process.
• In one case we were prosecuted an application where we copied claims from a competitor's patent for the purpose of ultimately invoking an interference proceeding. During the prosecution we were able to obtain allowance of claims broader than the copied claims. We made the strategic decision to simply accept those, and not provoke the interference, because we had achieved most of the benefit we could obtain in interference with none of the cost and risk.
• In another case, we advised a client that a full Freedom to Operate opinion was not necessary in a non-core business area, by conducting a search for expired prior art covering the subject matter.

SKILLED VALUE

• Having successfully prosecuted thousands of patent and trademark applications and represented their clients in hundreds of court cases, our legal team has the unique combination of practical experience and value-driven legal performance it takes to move your ideas forward.
• We are a seasoned legal team of 14 talented and experienced I.P. attorneys.  We have breadth and depth of experience and technical backgrounds that allow us to deliver superior I.P. legal services.
• Our associates are trained at our expense, and will not be trained on your projects. New associates go through an extensive patent drafting class that is not charged to you.
• In one case, a former collaboration partner of our client obtained a patent on technology our client believed had been derived from our client, after the client's former patent counsel had determined the technology was not patentable. We designed and prosecuted an application and request for interference proceeding. The interference was initiated, which led to a settlement in favor of our client.

CAPABLE VALUE

• We foster a work environment where the best legal minds can stay for an entire career.
• We create value through continuity, because continuity yields wisdom, experience, and the ability to work quickly and efficiently.
• All of our attorneys earned technical degrees, and virtually all have had work experience that preceded their legal education.
• We go to great lengths to be sure you'll never be billed for the learning curve of a new associate.
• For a large medical device company, we provided a freedom to operate opinion within a month, so decision-makers could act in a timely manner.
• In a recent case, the client retained us to resolve a dispute with a major Fortune 500 company that was in fact a customer of the client. The dispute resulted from the customer having filed and obtained a patent on a system invented by our client and disclosed to the customer. The client assumed that litigation would be necessary. Upon reviewing the facts and concluding that the client had a strong case, we contacted their customer, openly presented the facts to the customer’s patent counsel, and convinced the customer to cooperate in the filing of certificate of correction papers to correct the inventorship. Our client was able to achieve joint ownership of the patent without litigation. Litigation would have most likely placed a significant cloud upon the patent’s validity and would have strained the relationship with the customer, both of which were avoided by our approach.

Client satisfaction is a central focus of our practice. We work to meet our clients’ expectations by delivering thoughtful legal counsel and practical advice in a timely and efficient manner. This commitment is supported by careful hiring and retention of attorneys and staff and by maintaining consistent service standards across all matters we handle.

Since 1975, the Firm has provided quality, timely, and cost-effective business and litigation services through more than 50 attorneys licensed in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, Indiana, and Georgia. Our full-service law firm, with offices in Tennessee (Memphis, Martin, Jackson, Nashville, and Chattanooga) and Kentucky (Fulton), represents local, regional, and national clients.

Our practice areas include insurance coverage and defense, alternative dispute resolution, banking and creditor relations, education law, employment law, estate planning and elder law, general corporate practice, healthcare and professional liability law, real estate transactions, taxation, workers’ compensation, civil rights defense, and tort litigation. We represent clients before state and federal courts and regulatory agencies throughout the Southeast.

The Firm’s philosophy emphasizes timely and efficient representation while maintaining high standards of ethics and professionalism. We recruit graduates from respected law schools and, when appropriate, bring in practicing attorneys with relevant experience to address the evolving needs of our clients. The Firm’s continuity is reflected in the long-term commitment of many attorneys who have remained with the Firm since law school graduation or judicial clerkship.

Our attorneys and staff contribute their time, resources, and support to programs and organizations that strengthen our community and participate in national, state, and local professional associations. A number of the Firm’s attorneys have been peer rated with Martindale-Hubbell and have received an AV rating. Many have also been selected by their peers for inclusion in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Lawyers® in America and Law and Politics magazine’s Super Lawyers rankings. Our attorneys regularly speak at seminars, workshops, and educational programs and remain committed to serving our clients, our community, and one another.

A full service Southeastern-based law firm representing clients across the United States and internationally, Stites & Harbison PLLC is known as a preeminent firm managing sophisticated transactions, challenging litigation, and complex regulatory matters on a daily basis. The firm represents a broad spectrum of clients including multinational corporations, financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, health care organizations, manufacturers, private companies, nonprofit organizations, family-owned businesses and individuals. Tracing its origins to 1832, Stites & Harbison is one of the oldest law practices in the nation.

The firm maintains 11 offices across six states--Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia--and is able to service the needs of international clients with its memberships in Business Counsel, Inc. and Lex Mundi. Additionally, Stites & Harbison is a member of The Harmonie Group, the national network of top litigation law firms, and is the Kentucky representative to the prestigious Southern Law Network.