Gearhiser Peters Elliott & Cannon Attorneys Selected for 2025 Best Lawyers ®️

Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott, & Cannon, PLLC

Gearhiser Peters Elliott & Cannon Attorneys Selected for 2025 Best Lawyers ®️

Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott & Cannon, PLLC announced that 5 lawyers have been included in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers has earned the respect of the profession, the media, and the public as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals. Lawyers on The Best Lawyers in America list are divided by geographic region and practice areas. They are reviewed by their peers based on professional expertise and undergo an authentication process to make sure they are in current practice and in good standing.

Congratulations to the following GPEC lawyers named to the 2025 The Best Lawyers in America list:

• Lee Ann Adams: Litigation – Trusts and Estates; Tax Law; Trusts and Estates

• Wade Cannon: Litigation – Real Estate
• Sam D. Elliott: Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Labor and Employment; Litigation – Land Use and Zoning; Litigation – Municipal; Municipal Law

• Robert L. Lockaby, Jr.: Commercial Litigation
• R. Wayne Peters: Litigation – Trusts and Estates; Litigation and Controversy – Tax; Tax Law; Trusts and Estates

David McDowell was elected to serve as the Vice President of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Fellows

July 10, 2025
At the 144th Annual Tennessee Bar Association Convention, David McDowell was elected to serve as the Vice President of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Fellows, and began another term of service as the East Tennessee Governor on the Tennessee Bar Association Board of Governors.

Longtime Legal Leader Sam D. Elliott Takes Helm of Tennessee Bar Foundation

July 10, 2025
On July 1, 2025, Sam D. Elliott, a member of the firm, assumed the chairmanship of the Tennessee Bar Foundation Board of Trustees. A member of the Board since 2019, Sam will serve a one-year term as chairman. The Tennessee Bar Foundation was established in 1982. Its mission is to administer Tennessee’s IOLTA (Interest On Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) program, honor distinguished attorneys as "Fellows," and support law-related public interest projects. The IOLTA program supports Tennessee’s Legal Aid programs and other non-profit organizations which provide legal services to the poor and/or work to improve the administration of justice. Sam is a former president of the Tennessee and Chattanooga Bar Associations and also currently serves as Chairman of the Tennessee Historical Commission.