Litigation & Appeals

Stites & Harbison attorneys Bailey Browning, Kelly White Bryant, Jennifer Cave, Jackson Hurst-Sanders, Robin McGuffin and Sarah Cronan Spurlock will be speakers at the Kentucky Academy of Healthcare Attorneys webinar, Medical Cannabis Seminar being held November 13, 2024.

Governor Andy Beshear recently appointed Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Olivia C. Keller to Gateway Community and Technical College’s Board of Directors. She will serve in this role until July of 2030.

The Leadership Louisville Center has selected Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Jennifer Henry Jackson to participate in the Ignite Louisville Class of Spring 2025. The six-month class teaches the key components of leadership to young professionals between the ages of 25 and 45 years old.

The 2025 edition of Benchmark Litigation names 11 Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys as “Litigation Stars” and three as “Future Stars” in Kentucky. The guide honors the firms and attorneys who have demonstrated the ability to consistently handle complex, high-stakes cases in multiple jurisdictions.

Part 1 of webinar series, "A Forever Chemicals Primer: When, Why, How, Who, and Where?," where attorneys Jennifer Cave and John Tate discussed identifying common commercial and industrial applications of PFSA; providing up-to-date human health and environmental testing data; and discuss state and federal regulatory status of forever chemcials.

Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that it has achieved 2023-24 Mansfield Certification. Mansfield is a year-long structured certification process designed for law firms to ensure all lawyers have an opportunity to advance into leadership.

Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Brian Butler was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) on September 28, 2024, at the Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tenn. ACTL is composed of preeminent members of the Trial Bar from the United States and Canada.

Lawdragon has named Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Carol Dan Browning to the 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America. This is the second consecutive time that Browning has been recognized by Lawdragon for her work in professional liability and drug and medical device litigation. She is one of only two Kentucky attorneys honored in 2025.

Chambers High Net Worth selected Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Gregory D. Smith for inclusion in its 2024 guide in the category of Family/Matrimonial for USA: Tennessee. He is one of only three attorneys honored for Tennessee. Chambers High Net Worth ranks top lawyers and law firms in the international private wealth market.

On Tuesday, August 20, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered an order preventing the FTC’s rule on noncompetes from going into effect nationwide. For the time being, employers do not need to comply with the FTC’s rule, which was scheduled to go into effect on September 4, 2024. Employment attorneys Shannon Hamilton, Robin McGuffin, and Zac Losey take a look at that decision in this Stites & Harbison Client Alert.

Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 97 of its lawyers are 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 according to the publication. Additionally, 12 Stites & Harbison attorneys are named as “Lawyer of the Year” and 30 attorneys are recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, which recognizes attorneys early in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States.

Leadership Lexington has selected Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Katie M. Glass as a member of the 2024-25 Leadership Lexington program. Through the eleven-month program, participants are provided with opportunities to gain a better understanding of Lexington and the challenges it faces by meeting with and learning from today’s leaders.

On July 23, 2024, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied a company’s motion to enjoin the enforcement of the FTC’s rule banning nearly all noncompetes. This contradicts the Northern District of Texas’s order on July 3, 2024, which granted a preliminary injunction enjoining the rule as it applies to the plaintiffs in that case. With opposing rulings, employers remain in limbo as the rule’s September 4, 2024 enforcement date approaches. Employment attorneys Shannon Hamilton, Robin McGuffin, and Zac Losey take a look at what happened.

Stites & Harbison, PLLC has named attorney Richard S. Myers, Jr., as its Nashville and Franklin Office Executive Member. He succeeds Gregory D. Smith, who has served in this role for nine years.

On July 3, 2024, a Texas federal Northern District Court granted a preliminary injunction to the Plaintiff and the four Intervening Plaintiffs in the matter of Ryan v. Federal Trade Commission. The preliminary injunction enjoins the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Final Rule prohibiting non-competition agreements from being implemented and enforced as to the Plaintiff and Intervening Plaintiffs only. In addition, the Court enjoined the effective date of the Final Rule, again limiting the injunction to the Plaintiff and Intervening Plaintiffs only. Employment attorney Shannon Hamilton takes a look at the update in this Stites & Harbison Client

The Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Final Rule increasing the salary level for exempt positions and increasing the number of employees eligible for overtime goes into effect today, July 1, 2024, for all 50 states, with the exception of the state of Texas as an employer. The Overtime Rule does apply to private employers in Texas. Employment attorney Shannon Hamilton takes a look at what that means to employers in this Stites & Harbison Client