Steve R. Barrett

Merrill Nelson advises clients on a wide variety of corporate law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital financing and general corporate contracting. Merrill has advised purchasers and sellers in business transactions in the manufacturing, healthcare, video production and industrial supply industries, among others. He has also counseled both founders and investors in negotiating private equity investments for startup and emerging companies. Additionall...

Scott Evan Simmons focuses his practice on employment litigation and preventative counseling in the firm's Labor & Employment practice. Mr. Simmons regularly counsels clients on a wide range of employment-related topics, including wage-and-hour compliance, hiring, termination and creation and modification of general personnel policies. He also has significant experience defending a wide variety of employment-related lawsuits in front of a variety of employment-related forums, including st...

John Bode concentrates his practice on labor relations and employment opportunity. For more than three decades, John has served as lead trial counsel in numerous cases before state and federal agencies and courts and the National Labor Relations Board. He has extensive experience representing many prominent national, regional and Tennessee employers in union organizing campaigns, collective bargaining, arbitrations, strikes, decertification petitions, wage and hour and other state and federal...

Leah Gerbitz practices in the area of civil litigation with an emphasis on healthcare, data security and products liability. She manages diverse complex litigation matters, and she has tried multiple cases to verdict in state and federal courts. The matters she has handled include False Claims Act, fraud and abuse, HIPAA/HITECH, healthcare credentialing/peer review, healthcare risk management and general liability, data security and privacy, data breach response, product liability/mass tort d...

Mr. Godbold is Of Counsel with the firm and represents pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and a leading clinical laboratory. He has successfully defended malpractice cases for various professional disciplines including physicians, attorneys, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, and accountants. Mr. Godbold has experience in litigating product liability cases of all types including significant complex matters involving construction equipment, electrical transformers, chemical pr...

Shaheen Imami is a nationally recognized trusts and estates attorney with more than 30 years of experience. Admitted in Tennessee and Michigan, he brings rare expertise across the full spectrum of trust and estate planning, administration, and litigation. First known for handling complex post-death disputes, Shaheen now primarily focuses on advising high- and ultra-high net-worth clients on sophisticated planning and administration strategies and drafts a wide range of estate documents tailor...

Rob is an experienced trial lawyer in the firm’s Chattanooga office. Rob’s practice areas include tort liability defense to include catastrophic injury cases, trucking and transportation, construction defect litigation, workers’ compensation and automobile liability. A natural problem solver, he enjoys formulating creative trial strategies and solutions for handling claims and lawsuits across industries.Rob has received an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the hi...

Alison Bales Martin is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation. Alison Bales, who practices law in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has been recognized since 2022. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Alison Bales is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

W. Randall Wilson is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Litigation - Construction and Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants. W. Randall, who practices law in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has been recognized since 2003. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which W. Randall is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

J. Patrick Murphy is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Banking and Finance Law, Commercial Finance Law and Corporate Law. J. Patrick, who practices law in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has been recognized since 2005. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which J. Patrick is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.