Taylor D. Forrester

John W. Elder received his undergraduate degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 2000. He received his law degree, with high honors, from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2003 and joined Paine Bickers in August of the same year. Since joining the firm, he has represented numerous individuals and entities on local, regional and national levels in all types of complex civil litigation. John is a 2007 graduate of IADC Trial Academy and a 2010 graduate of the Tennessee Bar A...

Brandon D. Fersten is the owner of Barnes & Fersten, PLLC, a Knoxville, Tennessee law firm dedicated to criminal defense, including general criminal matters, DUI / DWI defense, and juvenile defense. Brandon regularly appears in General Sessions Court, Criminal Court, and Juvenile Court throughout East Tennessee, where he represents individuals facing misdemeanor and felony charges. His practice includes defending clients through negotiations, hearings, bench trials, and jury trials. Brand...

Betsy J. Beck is a Partner and a member of the Firm’s employment law team. Ms. Beck has spent her career litigating issues involving employment discrimination, retaliation, wage and hour and other compensation issues, and all other aspects of the employer-employee relationship both in federal or state court and in front of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Department of Labor (DOL), and various other state and federal administrative agencies. Business owners, in-house ...

Mark Castleberry, a shareholder based in the firm’s Knoxville office, has a varied litigation-based practice focusing on the area of health care law to include medical malpractice and long-term care defense, as well as, product liability defense, business litigation, insurance law, personal injury defense, and professional negligence. Mr. Castleberry has extensive experience as lead counsel representing numerous clients in complex, high exposure litigation in trial courts in both state ...

Robyn Jarvis Askew is a shareholder in Lewis Thomason's Knoxville office, focusing on comprehensive real estate, corporate, and business law in Tennessee and other regions of the United States. Robyn represents corporations, joint ventures, partnerships, and limited liability companies in various aspects of entity formation, financing, and operations. Her experience spans multiple industries, with a particular focus on the preparation, review, and negotiation of complex commercial contracts. ...

Edward (“Ward”) Phillips has a wealth of knowledge and trial experience in his practice areas of Labor and Employment Law. Ward represents management exclusively in all areas of employment and labor relations, including state and federal employment litigation and in administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the United States Department of Labor, and the National Labor Relations Board. He is a forceful, effective litigator. Ward has been describ...

Sam C. Doak is a shareholder in Lewis Thomason’s Knoxville office. Sam has been a trial attorney for over 35 years and focuses his practice primarily on civil trial litigation, arbitration and mediation in practice areas ranging from complex construction matters, product liability, marine product liability, commercial business disputes, employment litigation, transportation litigation, and general insurance defense. Sam served in several leadership positions in the Knoxville Bar Associa...

Shannon Coleman Egle's extensive legal knowledge, coupled with a practical and responsive approach, allows her to help her clients achieve their business goals, which ultimately results in their businesses operating more smoothly and profitably. Her practice areas include healthcare regulation and transactions, general business consulting and transactions, as well as real estate acquisition and development and representation of individuals in civil tax controversies before both the IRS and th...

J. Eric Butler is a Shareholder in the firm. Mr. Butler focuses his legal practice in the areas of federal and state taxation, business formations, complex commercial litigation, tax controversy matters, white collar criminal defense, and estate planning/probate matters. Mr. Butler handles a large range of business and tax matters for clients across the United States involving the Internal Revenue Service and state taxing authorities. Mr. Butler has extensive experience representing clients b...

Jack Burgin has a diverse legal practice, primarily advising and defending employers on a variety of labor and employee benefit related topics and on representing and advising government contractors about costs and labor issues. Jack's advice and litigation practice focuses on Representing and advising employers on all types of employment discrimination issues, including questions relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Representing and advising plan administrators and plan sponsors ...