Nashville, Tenn., (January 21, 2025) – Bass, Berry & Sims is pleased to announce the following 10 attorneys have been promoted, nine to Member and one to Counsel: Shayan A. Ahmed, Hannah Choate, Margaret Dodson, Jeremy A. Gunn, Courtney A. Hunter, Sara K. Morgan, Elaine C. Naughton, Brianna R. Powell, Taylor M. Sample and Katherine Smalley.
“We are excited to promote these excellent attorneys as they represent the next generation of leaders within our firm, industry and community,” said Todd Rolapp, managing partner of Bass, Berry & Sims. “Each of these attorneys demonstrate a high level of professionalism and commitment to client service, and we are extremely fortunate for their hard work and the continued pipeline of quality leaders carrying our firm into the future.”
Shayan A. Ahmed (Nashville) – Ahmed was promoted to Member. He counsels clients on corporate and securities issues including mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, private equity financings, and securities regulations matters and filings. Prior to joining the firm, Ahmed was an attorney with Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, LLP. He earned a law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law (2016), and an M.A. (2013) and a B.A. (2012) from Vanderbilt University.
Hannah Choate (Nashville) – Choate was promoted to Member. She advises clients related to government and internal investigations, with a particular focus on fraud and abuse matters in the healthcare industry. Choate works with clients to respond to allegations of healthcare fraud and abuse from various regulators, including the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, and various United States Attorneys’ Offices. Previously, Choate was an Assistant United States Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky and an attorney with Baker & Hostetler LLP. She earned a law degree from New York University School of Law (2012) and an undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee (2008).
Margaret Dodson (Nashville) – Dodson was promoted to Member. She represents clients in complex business disputes, including securities class actions, derivative suits, indemnification disputes, inspection demands, and litigation related to mergers and acquisitions and breach of fiduciary duty. In addition, she advises public and private clients involved in internal investigations and on governance issues. Before practicing law, Dodson worked in public and legislative affairs for a telecommunications company in Washington, D.C. She earned a law degree from Vanderbilt Law School (2016) and a B.A. from the University of Georgia (2009).
Jeremy A. Gunn (Nashville) – Gunn was promoted to Member. He focuses his practice on complex commercial disputes involving consumer and antitrust class actions, contracts, products liability, and unfair competition. Gunn also provides antitrust counseling and represents clients in a variety of merger, pre‑merger notification, and compliance issues, and investigations brought by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, including experience in handling Second Requests. After law school, Gunn served as a law clerk to the Honorable John Preston Bailey of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. He earned a law degree from West Virginia University College of Law (2014) and an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University (2009).
Courtney A. Hunter (Nashville) – Hunter was promoted to Member. She represents clients in a wide variety of complex commercial litigation, including product liability and toxic tort claims as well as large-scale business disputes involving fraud, breach of contract, trade secrets and restrictive covenants. Prior to joining Bass, Berry & Sims, Hunter was an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City. She also served as a federal judicial clerk to the Honorable G. Murray Snow in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Hunter earned a law degree from Vanderbilt Law School (2016) and a B.A. from the University of Florida (2013).
Sara K. Morgan (Nashville) – Morgan was promoted to Counsel. She represents clients in class action claims, tax disputes, civil and criminal investigations, mass torts, complex business disputes and property-related disputes. Morgan represents clients in every stage of litigation – from filing a complaint through a jury trial and works closely with companies across many industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, and pharmaceutical sciences. Morgan earned a law degree from Vanderbilt Law School (2016) and a B.A. from Purdue University (2010).
Elaine C. Naughton (Nashville) – Naughton was promoted to Member. She provides healthcare regulatory counsel as it relates to compliance, operational and transactional matters. Naughton works with a wide range of clients in the healthcare and life science industries, including physician practices, hospitals, academic medical centers, clinical laboratories, pharmacies, and private equity firms, among others. Prior to joining Bass, Berry & Sims, Naughton served as a law clerk to the Honorable David J. Hale of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. She earned a law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law (2016) and a B.A. from the University of Chicago (2013).
Brianna R. Powell (Nashville) – Powell was promoted to Member. She advises on healthcare regulatory, operational, and compliance matters to clients, including physician groups, hospices, hospital systems, long-term care providers, and private equity firms. Additionally, Powell helps clients respond to and appeal payor claims audits, navigate EMTALA issues, conduct internal compliance investigations, develop and assess compliance programs, and analyze regulatory and compliance risks in healthcare mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Bass, Berry & Sims, Powell served as a law clerk to the Honorable Julia Smith Gibbons of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and to the Honorable Bernice Bouie Donald for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She earned a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law (2015) and an undergraduate degree from Loyola University (2011).
Taylor M. Sample (Nashville) – Sample was promoted to Member. He concentrates his practice on complex litigation and investigations, with a focus on healthcare fraud and abuse, and data privacy and security. Sample has significant experience representing clients in response to government investigations and defending False Claims Act litigation. He also assists clients in response to potential data breaches and related litigation. His experience extends to the representation of clients in complex business litigation in both state and federal courts. Prior to joining the firm, Sample served as a law clerk to the Honorable Sarah Evans Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. He earned a law degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law (2015) and a B.A. from Lipscomb University (2011).
Katherine Smalley (Nashville) – Smalley was promoted to Member. She represents public and private borrowers, private equity sponsors and financial institutions in negotiating and documenting financing transactions. Smalley’s practice also extends to capital market debt transactions and financing components of corporate mergers and acquisitions. She earned a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law (2016) and a B.S. from Centre College (2013).
Bass, Berry & Sims PLC is a professional limited liability company rather than a partnership. Professional limited liability companies have ‘members’ instead of ‘partners.’
About Bass, Berry & Sims PLC
Bass, Berry & Sims is a national law firm with more than 350 attorneys dedicated to delivering exceptional service to numerous publicly traded companies and Fortune 500 businesses in significant litigation and investigations, complex business transactions and international regulatory matters. Our people are true partners who work seamlessly across substantive practice disciplines, industries and geographies to deliver highly-effective legal advice and innovative, business-focused solutions. In 2022, the firm celebrated its centennial anniversary and continues to build on our foundational attributes of agility, tenacity and collaboration. For more information, visit www.bassberry.com.