OUR STORY

Patrick, Beard, Schulman & Jacoway, P.C. was founded May 1, 1984 by Gary R. Patrick and John W. Beard. Mr. Patrick and Mr. Beard decided to leave one of the largest law firms in the South to start a firm dedicated to providing the same high quality legal services offered by their former firm in an atmosphere conducive to enjoying the practice of law and their colleagues. They believed that practicing law in such an environment would facilitate the provision of the highest caliber legal services and their vision has reached fruition.

Over time, the firm, which started as a small enterprise, has grown organically as the needs of firm clients required. The growth has been managed primarily by identifying firm and client needs and then targeting attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their fields within these areas of need. This disciplined growth has produced a mid-sized, agile law firm with attorneys who practice at the highest-levels in the region. As evidence of this expertise, many of the firm’s lawyers have been recognized by their peers for excellence and honored with recognition by publications such as Best Lawyers of America, Martindale Hubbell, Super Lawyers, US News, and Who’s Who and by professional associations through the grant of fellowships and similar awards. But, even better evidence of the firm’s quality legal services than the peer accolades is the trust placed in the firm by its clients. Many of the firm’s clients, for example, have used the firm for years if not decades as the firm and its attorneys have been trusted advisors for these clients through thick and thin. The firm, in point of fact, has represented three and even four generations of some families in their business and other legal needs.

Since its inception, the firm has focused primarily on servicing the across the board needs of businesses and business owners. The firm’s business clients reflect the Chattanooga region’s economic makeup and include construction companies, financial institutions, logistics companies, manufacturers, real estate developers, service providers, and other businesses. The firm’s lawyers provide services to businesses in starting-up a business venture, governing the business, drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts, guiding the business through acquisitions and dispositions, guiding the business through employment policies and procedures and other matters, and in protecting intellectual property and trade secrets. The firm, moreover, assists clients in avoiding litigation through pre-litigation conflict resolution. But, when necessary, the firm has a strong litigation department to address business and commercial litigation and construction litigation when disputes need to be prosecuted or defended in court or in arbitration. The firm’s lawyers uniformly litigate to win and have a strong track record of outstanding outcomes for clients in the full-range of business, commercial, and construction litigation disputes.

The firm, in addition to its full-service business practice, offers complementary legal services to individuals. The firm provides estate planning, including the drafting of wills and trusts, to individuals, estate and trust administration, and estate and trust litigation, including contested estate administration and will and trust contests. It also provides legal services to individuals who have been injured by another person or product in personal injury litigation. The firm, further, provides legal services in domestic relations ranging from representing individuals in divorces and post-divorce matters to child custody and support. The firm also represents individuals and institutions that are the target of government investigations or enforcement, institutions that need to perform an internal investigation, individuals who are the subject of internal investigations, and individuals and institutions that have been charged criminally by state or federal prosecutors or charged civilly by state or federal agencies.

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