Claire McClain Cissell

Mr. Overstreet is an Equity Member located in our Memphis office concentrating his practice in general civil litigation and insurance defense. He has experience in a wide spectrum of cases involving trial and appellate practice in both Tennessee State and Federal Courts. Mr. Overstreet is also licensed in Mississippi. REPRESENTATIVE CLIENT WORK Represent Insurance Companies in coverage analysis and declaratory judgment actions regarding coverage disputes Represent Insureds Business Owners in ...

Kate Van Namen is the Co-Chair of Butler Snow's Construction Task Force and a member of the firm's Commercial Litigation Practice Group. She is licensed to practice law in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas and concentrates her practice in all areas of construction law, including contract drafting and negotiation, project delivery systems, liens, licensing issues, construction mediation, litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution procedures. Kate has experience drafting and negotiating...

Frank Day devotes his practice to helping clients accomplish business objectives through employment law litigation and counseling. Frank has successfully represented national retailers, health care providers, and various other public and private employers in matters arising under the FLSA, Title VII, the ADA, FMLA, ADEA, USERRA, and various other federal and state statutes. He has extensive litigation experience in many different forums, and he has helped many clients prevail on summary judgm...

Courtney Leyes is a partner in the firm's Gulfport, Memphis and Nashville offices. She represents employers throughout Mississippi and the greater Memphis-metropolitan area, with particular focus on the burgeoning industrial areas in the northern part of the state. Courtney has experience representing employers in litigation related to discrimination and harassment in the workplace, in particular, federal jury trial experience. She also has experience representing employers on wage and hour i...

After graduating from the University of Virginia Law School in 1975, Mr. Cocke moved to Clarksdale, MS to begin practicing in a general litigation firm. In 1982, Mr. Cocke and Mr. Merkel left that firm and established Merkel & Cocke, P.A., and since that time the emphasis of Mr. Cocke's practice has progressed more and more toward medical malpractice. At the present time his practice is exclusively devoted to handling medical negligence cases for the plaintiff, either as a result of direc...

Andy Raines understands that clients need effective representation to ensure that their property taxes are fair and equitable. He knows that property taxes are a significant, and often burdensome, expense that can dramatically affect the bottom line. He is committed to and has focused his practice on utilizing the property tax appeal process as a vehicle to achieve relief for taxpayers. Mr. Raines has represented taxpayers in property tax appeals for over 35 years. During that time he has bee...

Richard Nichol concentrates his practice in the areas of corporate law and business transactions as well as federal and state taxation. Richard also has extensive experience representing local, regional and national lenders in real estate and asset-based loan transactions. He has been involved in: the structuring of new businesses mergers, spin-offs and sales acquisitions involving corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies. His taxation experience includes not only tax planni...

Wendy Smith is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Real Estate Law. Wendy, who practices law in Memphis, Tennessee, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Wendy is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Don L. Hearn, Jr. is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law and Litigation - Insurance. Don L., who practices law in Memphis, Tennessee, has been recognized since 2018. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Don L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

B. Douglas Earthman concentrates his practice in the areas of real estate law, secured lending transactions, and transactional work, including municipal bond and other tax-exempt financing transactions. He serves as bond counsel in a variety of tax-exempt bond matters, including general municipal finance, industrial development, health care and housing matters, and in other capacities, such as trustee's counsel, developer's counsel, issuer's counsel, credit provider's counsel, underwriter's c...