Family Law

• Divorce
• Child Custody and Visitation
• Adoption
• Guardianship
  Estate planning and probate. We work with clients to create comprehensive estate plans which reduce income and estate tax liability while addressing the specific needs of the individual client. We also counsel clients in matters of probate and trust administration, post-mortem planning, marital agreements (both prenuptial and postnuptial), guardianship and conservatorship actions for minors and incapacitated adults, and the preparation of gift and estate tax returns.

Criminal Law

• Criminal Defense
  Trial practice. Notwithstanding our experience in negotiating favorable resolutions, our team has tried hundreds of civil and criminal matters against governmental authorities. We have also handled appeals, and threats of suspension, debarment and exclusion.
• Wrongful Death
  Tried to a successful jury verdict the first long term care wrongful death case to go to verdict in more than a decade, for one of the largest privately-owned nursing home chains in the country.
• Fraud
  Health care and pharmaceutical fraud. Our Health Care Fraud team regularly responds to multi-faceted health care-related investigations, including those with criminal, civil and administrative implications, by government entities. Our ability to partner a significant collection of attorneys with government experience alongside our in-house regulatory specialists ensures that we have the knowledge and experience to help clients navigate the layers of potential risks. Our clients include some of the nation's largest hospital systems, individual long-term care facilities, pharmacy and lab chains, and smaller physician practice groups, among others. Clients benefit from the litigation and trial advocacy experience of the former prosecutors, agents and white collar defense attorneys, many of whom have decades of experience helping health care providers navigate the nuances and requirements of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its agencies and contractors.
• White Collar Crimes
  White Collar Crime. Baker Donelson has decades' worth of experience representing individuals and corporations who are under investigation or otherwise entangled in the criminal process at all levels of prosecution – local, state or federal. Over the years, the Firm has successfully guided corporate entities, C-level officers, board members, senior executives, elected or appointed public officials, and a host of other professionals through complex criminal investigations. While each case presents its own set of unique facts yielding different strategies for our clients, our GEI group has had a number of successes in criminal litigation against the government. Some of our best successes have come in connection with representations of individuals or entities during which our attorneys have persuaded government prosecutors, during the investigatory phase of a criminal matter, from bringing criminal charges altogether. Other successes have come by closely examining the work of the investigators after litigation has commenced, resulting in pre-trial dismissals of criminal cases by courts. Finally, on the merits, we have had a number of successes by persuading juries and/or judges as to our clients' innocence; in other words, taking our clients' cases to trial and winning. Our GEI group is made up of a number of former prosecutors, former federal agents and former governmental counsel with decades of experience in working on white collar criminal matters. Our lawyers have received a number of accolades for their work on criminal matters, including recognition in
• Theft
• Money Laundering
• Manslaughter
  Represented an offshore oil and gas producer in a federal criminal investigation and prosecution regarding an explosion on a company-owned platform. The explosion resulted in three fatalities, for which the company was criminally charged with multiple counts of manslaughter. After a multi-year investigation and prosecution, the company received a substantially reduced sentence – including a technical violation of environmental regulations and a minimal fine – and manslaughter counts were dismissed by the DOJ.

Business and Corporate Law

• Corporate Law
  Corporate representation. Our attorneys represent companies in the aviation and aerospace industries with regard to general corporate counseling, corporate governance, corporate finance and securities matters.
• Mergers and Acquisitions
  Baker Donelson represents companies in connection with securities law compliance, reporting, mergers and acquisitions, public and private offerings (both debt and equity) and a wide variety of related matters governed by federal and state securities laws.
• Business Disputes
  Pharmaceutical, medical device and life science companies confront the same types of commercial disputes as other businesses. Our litigators’ deep knowledge of these industries, gained through our business, regulatory and product liability experience, enables us to fully appreciate our clients’ specific dispute resolution goals and concerns. Our teams provide a full spectrum of services, including work on commercial, intellectual property and contract disputes, antitrust actions, regulatory counseling and assistance with government investigations.
• Business Transactions
  Our lawyers assist clients daily with the wide-ranging issues of business technology law. With more than 150 years of cumulative experience within our Business Technology Group, Baker Donelson provides clients with counsel on all types of business transactions involving the purchase, sale and licensing of technology products and services.
• Limited Liability Companies
  Prepared numerous limited liability companies and trusts to transition the operation and transfer the ownership of real estate, active businesses, oil and gas interests, and other assets to accomplish orderly and tax-efficient transfers to the next generation of managers and family members.
• Construction Contracts
  A well-drafted contract is often the best defense against litigation. Our team has more than 100 years of combined experience handling construction projects from idea inception through project completion. We advise on a full range of issues, including licensing and insurance requirements, indemnity provisions, liquidated damages, performance and schedule guarantees, and issues surrounding LEED projects. We negotiate critical contract provisions relating to unforeseen conditions, defective or non-conforming work, time extensions, progress and final payments, warranty and lien claims, additional compensation and project closeout.
• Trade Secrets
  Management of global intellectual property portfolios, including registration and enforcement of copyrights, trademarks and patents and trade secret protection
• Intellectual Property
  Represented a software company in a breach of contract dispute with a state agency, resolving intellectual property issues arising from the contract.
• Unfair Competition
  Successfully defended a physician hospital organization against claims that it conspired to boycott a surgery center and two of its physician investors from the outpatient surgery market in the Memphis area in violation of the Sherman Act, as well as state law unfair competition and tortious interference claims in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
• Antitrust
  Represented a former director of an international seafood company in connection with criminal antitrust investigation and parallel civil lawsuits. Criminal investigation yielded several criminal convictions, including individual corporate employee criminal convictions, as well as corporate felony convictions for antitrust violations. Our client, though targeted for criminal prosecution, was never criminally charged, nor named or found liable in any civil matter.

Employment Law

• Workers Compensation
  When managing the 2019 novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, employers who are already navigating the ever-changing landscape of federal, state, and local laws frequently overlook the potential liability and costs associated with increasingly complex workers' compensation claims. The number of workers' compensation claims are expected to balloon exponentially, thanks in no small part to COVID-19. Workers' compensation claims can implicate a host of other laws, including federal and state employment and discrimination laws as well as the Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970 (OSHA). Employers are already beginning to see a host of new claims associated with diagnosed cases of COVID-19 purportedly from workplace exposure.
• Wrongful Termination
  Baker Donelson attorneys regularly counsel long term care employers on compliance with federal and state labor and employment laws, as well as wage and hour issues, noncompetition agreements, breach of contract, employment discrimination and wrongful termination. We also handle claims brought before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, and state and local agencies. Our team's knowledge also extends to special areas governing long term care employers, including ERISA compliance and litigation governing all forms of employee welfare benefits plans, immigration matters, OSHA-compliant safety and health procedures, and minimizing the threat of union organizing activity.
• Employment Discrimination
  Successfully defended an international auto parts company in a FMLA and age discrimination case that was dismissed on summary judgment.
• Employment Contract
  Obtained summary judgment for a mental health facility and its individual board members in an action alleging breach of employment contract, section 1983 claim, freedom of association, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
• Employment Litigation
  Our lawyers are committed to the industry. We know how transportation industry companies operate, we know the regulations and laws that are unique to it, and we know how to tie it all together. Clients rely on us for all of their needs, from every type of litigation issue to the full scope of labor and employment issues. They come to us for help with appropriations, DOT and FAA regulation concerns, national and international mergers, consolidations, sales, acquisitions and roll-ups, 24-hour emergency accident investigation assistance and more. They know we understand and will help them comply with federal, state and local regulations, and when needed, reach out to appropriate governmental personnel on their behalf.
• Sexual Harassment
  Successfully defended and obtained full summary judgment on behalf of a national restaurant client in a hotly contested case in which the plaintiffs claimed sexual harassment, retaliation, and gender discrimination and sought over $400,000 in damages and reinstatement.

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation
  For persons already holding gaming licenses or other gaming approvals, we can provide a number of services. Team members can advise them regarding the structure of proposed financing and equity transactions (e.g. private placements, public offerings and extensions of credit) so as to minimize gaming issues and assist them in obtaining any regulatory approvals required in connection with those transactions. We can aid in their efforts to obtain gaming device, system and equipment approvals. We can represent them in disciplinary matters before gaming regulators and in casino patron disputes. Our team can apprise them of, and analyze for them, pending legislation that could potentially affect the gaming industry. We can aid them in drafting and implementing compliance plans. Our attorneys can also provide guidance and representation to gaming licensees and their affiliates regarding real estate matters, contract disputes, labor and employment issues, construction disputes, collection matters, financings, tort and insurance matters, securities transactions, tax matters, marketing and advertising issues and general commercial matters.
• Premises Liability
  Litigation. When litigation occurs, we provide a vigorous defense. Our litigators represent automotive clients in an array of complex and routine disputes, including product liability covering a wide array of alleged defects, breach of warranty, dealer litigation, premises liability, contract disputes, and general commercial litigation, among others. We have served as lead trial counsel for major domestic and foreign automobile manufacturers in Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Indiana, Michigan, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
• Construction Litigation
  Represented a provider of infrastructure services in connection with various issues concerning an engineering, procurement and construction contract regarding the Maurepas Pipelines Project, which has three separate pipelines measuring approximately 100 miles in aggregate, and three new pumping stations. The project spans Ascension, St. Charles, St. James and St. John the Baptist parishes in Louisiana and will provide local refineries with pipeline access to domestically produced crude oil. The latest issue has involved contesting $20+ million in liens asserted by the pipeline owner in four parishes.
• Real Estate Transactions
  Baker Donelson's Real Estate Group advises clients on a wide spectrum of real estate transactions, including developments, financings, single asset and portfolio sales and acquisitions, leasing, like-kind exchanges and title insurance.
• Eminent Domain
  Settled an eminent domain matter on behalf of a fast food restaurant corporation involving a corner interstate site in Clayton County in metro Atlanta. The Department of Transportation condemned the principal access to the site, thus decreasing the value of the property. The DOT paid $2.3 million pursuant to the consent judgment to conclude the settlement, which represented a 200 percent increase over the original sum offered by the DOT.
• Easement
• Land Use and Zoning
  Wireless Telecommunications. The Firm's wireless telecommunications practice enjoys one of the largest and most robust practices in the country in the support of the network real estate needs of carriers and infrastructure providers. The wireless team handles cell site development, ground leases, tower colocations, in-building and distributive antenna system licensing, and small cell technology licensing on a national basis, including comprehensive due diligence associated with the deployment of network real estate. The wireless team also boasts land use and zoning attorneys of significant experience and reputation to assist with the difficult permit requirements often associated with such facilities. Lawyers within the group also have more than a decade of experience in handling acquisitions and dispositions of tower portfolios and all other real estate aspects of spectrum and market acquisition, and disposition activity.
• Property Damage
  Obtained summary judgment for an automobile manufacturer in a product liability case involving high exposure property damage claims after successfully excluding an expert witness who attempted to offer fire cause and origin opinions on the grounds that his opinions were unreliable.

Immigration Law

• Citizenship and Naturalization
• Family Immigration
  More than 78 days into the Biden Administration, less dust than expected or hoped has settled on the landscape for business and family immigration to the U.S. This article briefly assesses the state of play concerning COVID-based proclamations, appointment availability, and other issues.
• Employment Immigration

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  Product Liability. Baker Donelson has a deep bench of attorneys with extensive product defect experience in the automotive industry. We manage single cases and multiple-suit, mass-tort, large class actions as well as high stakes "bet the company" cases involving serious personal injury or death. We have a strong track record defending such cases in some of the nation's most dangerous venues, and we have proven experience with the complex technical, scientific, and medical/health issues involved with these claims. For more than 20 years, we have served as the go-to law firm for product defect cases for one of the largest automotive manufacturers in the U.S.
• Medical Malpractice
  Baker Donelson's attorneys work with facilities to develop policies, procedures and strategic plans designed to minimize or avoid litigation. If litigation becomes unavoidable, we employ early case resolution methods such as mediation, settlement or arbitration. Should the matter proceed to trial, our attorneys are licensed in more than 30 states and have tried cases in virtually every jurisdiction. We defend the full gamut of claims, including abuse and neglect, medical malpractice, slip and falls, and violations of federal and state regulations. Our team represents long term care facilities in survey appeals. We also manage litigation and discovery for our clients, overseeing other outside counsel in the defense of claims.
• Auto Accidents

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  Our tax attorneys work closely with lawyers in our firm's other practice areas to provide comprehensive representation. We advocate effectively for clients on a vast array of federal and state tax, estate planning, retirement planning and business succession planning matters, including...
• Wills
  On April 9, 2020, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee issued Executive Order No. 26, "An Order Suspending Provisions of Certain Statutes and Rules in Order to Facilitate Remote Notarization and Witnessing of Documents" (sometimes, the "Order"). The Order specifically permits remote execution and notarization of many documents commonly used in estate planning, including trusts, wills, living wills, and durable health care powers of attorney. Documents commonly used in real estate transactions such as deeds are also specifically authorized to be executed remotely. The Order also provides more generally that "other legal documents" may be executed remotely.
• Trusts
• Power of Attorney
  Presented oral argument before the Tennessee Supreme Court on an issue of first impression involving whether the existence of a durable power of attorney lifts the tolling of the statute of limitations for an incompetent resident.
• Probate

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
  The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) expands a new law that streamlines the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process for small businesses to include a larger group of small businesses. The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA) went into effect in February 2020. Under the original provisions of SBRA, a small business debtor filing under SBRA could not have more than $2,725,625 in noncontingent, liquidated, secured, and unsecured debts as of the petition date, excluding debts owed to affiliates or insiders. The CARES Act, signed into law by President Trump on March 27, expands the debt cap to $7,500,000 (effective for only one year), which will greatly increase the number of debtors who can utilize the debtor-friendly provisions of SBRA. It is widely expected that SBRA will increase the small business debtor's ability to successfully reorganize, retain control of its business, and reduce the procedural costs and burdens ordinarily associated with Chapter 11 filings.
• Foreclosure
  Bankruptcy and Restructuring. Baker Donelson's bankruptcy attorneys have represented a number of clients in the automotive bankruptcy and restructuring area, including floor plan lenders, secured lenders, mezzanine lenders, dealership owners, and buyers and sellers of distressed automotive assets. We have represented floor plan financing lenders with repossessions, foreclosures, and bankruptcies involving multiple automobile dealerships across the southeast, and obtained substantial judgments against dealer principals. We have also had numerous trials before U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for major automotive creditors of consumer credit issues, including relief from automatic stay, objections to confirmation, defense against adversary proceedings, and complaints for turnover.
• Tax Law
  Baker Donelson's tax team advises clients on the full range of individual and business tax matters. Our team of more than 55 tax lawyers counsels individuals and businesses throughout the United States.