Recent News

David McDowell was recently elected to serve his second term as the East Tennessee Governor on the Tennessee Bar Association Board of Governors, and as treasurer for the YLD Fellows. David has previously served as the 3rd District Governor for the Board of Governors, and as the YLD President. David is a fellow of the Tennessee Bar and American Bar Foundations.

Gearhiser Peters Elliott & Cannon PLLC announces several of its attorneys have been recognized as 2023 Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars for their legal work in Tennessee, earning recognition as top-rated attorneys in their respective practice areas. The Gearhiser Peters attorneys selected for the 2023 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars list are honored for their high levels of professional achievement and peer recognition. The 2023 Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars list includes Gearhiser Peters attorneys: Lee Ann Adams – Estate & Probate Wade K. Cannon - Banking Sam D. Elliott – Business Litigation Justin B. Faith – Business Litigation (Rising Star) Robert L. Lockaby, Jr. – Business/Corporate R. Wayne Peters – Estate & Probate Gearhiser Peters Elliott & Cannon is a full service and multi-faceted litigation, business, tax, and estate planning law firm in Chattanooga that has served local, regional, and national business and individual clients since 1974. Each year, no more than 5% of the lawyers in Tennessee are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to be included on the Super Lawyers list and no more than 2.5% are included on the Super Lawyers Rising Stars List. Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive, and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys. For more information about Super Lawyers, visit SuperLawyers.com .

GPEC attorney Justin Faith was recently honored and named as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (ABF).

After 20 years of raiding drug houses, eavesdropping on hackers and keeping tabs on terrorists, FBI Special Agent Jason Lawless decided to do something less stressful – become an attorney.

Chattanooga lawyer Justin B. Faith has been appointed as the State Membership Chair for Tennessee by American Bar Association (ABA) President Deborah Enix-Ross.

David G. McDowell has recently been elected a Fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation, an association of 840 attorneys across the state. Invitations to membership, which is a position of honor, were extended to 27 attorneys by the Board of Trustees. The introduction of new Fellows took place at the annual Fellows' Dinner in Nashville. The Bar Foundation's purpose is two-fold: to recognize attorneys who have distinguished themselves in the community and the profession and to administer a grant making program. That project, known by its acronym “IOLTA” (Interest On Lawyers' Trust Accounts), has awarded grants in excess of $25,000,000 to law-related, public interest projects throughout Tennessee.  McDowell is a Member in the firm of Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott & Cannon PLLC and has been practicing law in Chattanooga for 18 years. He is a graduate of Furman University and of the University of Memphis School of Law.

Newest Member of Our Firm

By David Laprad Growing up, Will Hitchcock often found himself at odds with his brothers, who were close to his age. Like all siblings, they had to figure a way to live together peacefully instead of existing in constant conflict. A Cookeville native, Hitchcock found himself in a similar situation when he boarded at Baylor School in Chattanooga during high school. “I lived in a dorm with 60 other guys, and we had to figure out how to get along,” recalls Hitchcock, 27. Hitchcock encountered the same living dynamic at Chapman University in Orange, California. While at Chapman, Hitchcock interned with Orange County Human Relations, where the peacemaking skills he’d acquired helped him to perform small claims mediations. He also realized the law would allow him to do similar work professionally. Although he never pictured himself going toe-to-toe against other attorneys in court, he says the transactional side of the law did appeal to him. As a new associate with Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott & Cannon in Chattanooga, where he’s focusing on commercial leases, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, business organization, and estate planning and administration, Hitchcock says the side of the law in which he’s chosen to practice suits him well. “I liked helping people think about the things they could live with or without in a transaction and guiding them toward a compromise. This is the kind of thing I had in mind when I decided to go to law school.” Hitchcock says he also enjoys the way his practice facilitates relationships. “I’m working closely with a couple of the attorneys here and their clients, and I like getting to know everyone on a personal level.” Hitchcock connected with Gearhiser through a job post at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville College of Law. During his first interview with the firm, he was able to present attorneys Lee Ann Adams and Eleanor LaPorte with a resume that demonstrated his eagerness to take advantage of opportunities that further his experience. While at UT, Hitchcock received two Academic Excellence Awards for earning the highest grade in his Legal Process and Contract Drafting classes, for example. He was also a member of the Tennessee Journal of Race, Gender and Social Justice and served as a student attorney in the University of Tennessee Wills Clinic, where he drafted and executed a variety of estate planning documents. In addition, Hitchcock worked as a research assistant under professor Alex Long and for the UT Institute of Agriculture. Before attending law school, Hitchcock availed himself of another unique opportunity when he worked as a seasonal farmer in New Zealand after completing his undergraduate degree. “I wanted to take a break before jumping into law school,” he laughs. “So, I worked for a while to save money to travel to New Zealand and then spent six months hopping around various apple and kiwi orchards with a friend. It was fun.” Hitchcock says he was thrilled to return to Chattanooga after law school to begin working and living the life for which school had prepared him. He and his girlfriend, Katy, live in a house in the Ridgedale neighborhood. The residence serves as a haven at the end of each workday and a base of operations from which he embarks on bicycle rides and travels to play adult kickball in a league he joined. Moving forward, Hitchcock says he’s looking forward to deepening his ties at Gearhiser and expanding his practice as he learns more about the law. “I’m going to follow the lead of the people at my firm and trust them to train me and get me to where I need to be.” Click here to read full article.

Gearhiser Peters Elliott & Cannon PLLC announces five of its attorneys have been recognized as 2022 Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars for their legal work in Tennessee, earning recognition as top-rated attorneys in their respective practice areas. The Gearhiser Peters attorneys selected for the 2022 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars list are honored for their high levels of professional achievement and peer recognition. The 2022 Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars list includes Gearhiser Peters attorneys: Lee Ann Adams – Estate & Probate Sam D. Elliott – Business Litigation Justin B. Faith – Business Litigation (Rising Star) Robert L. Lockaby, Jr. – Business/Corporate R. Wayne Peters – Estate & Probate Gearhiser Peters Elliott & Cannon is a full service and multi-faceted litigation, business, tax, and estate planning law firm in Chattanooga that has served local, regional, and national business and individual clients since 1974. Each year, no more than 5% of the lawyers in Tennessee are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to be included on the Super Lawyers list and no more than 2.5% are included on the Super Lawyers Rising Stars List. Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive, and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys. For more information about Super Lawyers, visit SuperLawyers.com.