Nashville/Memphis, Tenn., (January 15, 2010) – Bass, Berry & Sims PLC is pleased to announce that Scott W. Bell; Christopher Y. Chi; Mary Beth Fortugno; John S. Seehorn; T. Gaillard Uhlhorn, V; Kathryn Hannen Walker and Kristen C. Wright have been elected to membership in the firm.
Scott W. Bell (Nashville) has a general corporate practice that includes advising clients on public and private mergers and acquisitions; registered and exempt securities offerings and securities law compliance; venture capital financings; domestic and international commercial contracts; and general corporate governance issues. Prior to joining Bass, Berry & Sims PLC, Bell practiced at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in Washington, D.C. Bell earned a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as executive articles editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. He received a B.A. in Economics and English from Vanderbilt University.
Christopher Y. Chi (Nashville) has a corporate practice that includes mergers and acquisitions, financings and corporate governance. He advises companies in the healthcare, entertainment, food and beverage and technology industries. Before joining Bass, Berry & Sims PLC, Chi practiced for four years at O’Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles. He earned a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was awarded a legal research and writing fellowship. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a B.A. in history and literature. Before attending law school, Chi worked as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Chi is currently a board member of Tennessee Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
Mary Beth Fortugno (Nashville) focuses her practice on representing healthcare companies and leads interdisciplinary teams in the acquisition and disposition of hospitals, hospices and surgery centers. She also advises clients on complex healthcare regulatory, operational and compliance matters. Prior to joining Bass, Berry & Sims PLC, Fortugno served as operations counsel for IASIS Healthcare where she provided regulatory advice to hospitals and oversaw healthcare litigation matters including responding to governmental investigations. Before joining IASIS, Fortugno was a member of the healthcare practice at Harwell Howard Hyne Gabbert & Manner. She graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School where she was elected to Order of the Coif. She received a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and an M.S. from Florida State University.
John S. Seehorn (Nashville) has a practice that includes commercial lending, secured transactions, real estate and general commercial law. Seehorn graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and Phi Kappa Phi. He received a B.S. in engineering management from the United States Military Academy. Before beginning his legal education, he completed seven years of service as an officer in the United States Army, graduating from the United States Army Flight School in 1992. He served with the 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Stanley, Korea, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and the 3rd Infantry Division, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. Seehorn is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.
T. Gaillard (Gil) Uhlhorn, V (Memphis) concentrates his practice in the areas of real estate, financial transactions and real estate capital markets. He works on matters concerning the acquisition, development, structuring, leasing and financing of commercial real estate projects, including multifamily housing, office buildings, shopping centers, hospitality developments and retail and mixed-use developments. He also represents companies in a wide variety of mergers and acquisitions and provides general commercial and corporate representation to various privately held companies. He earned a J.D. cum laude from the University of Tennessee and a B.A. cum laude from Washington & Lee University.
Kathryn Hannen Walker (Nashville) focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation. She has represented clients in both jury and bench trials, as well as other forms of alternative dispute resolution. Walker has extensive experience in electronic discovery for complex litigation and spends a considerable portion of her practice devoted to data management and e-discovery issues. She represents businesses in a wide-variety of industries, including insurance, publishing and healthcare companies. Prior to attending law school, she was an art historian and art curator. She earned a J.D. and an M.A. from Vanderbilt University, and a B.A. from Augustana College.
Kristen Collier Wright (Memphis) focuses her practice on complex commercial and bankruptcy litigation, emphasizing the areas of commercial and banking, intellectual property and technology, and business restructuring and bankruptcy. She is licensed to practice law in both Tennessee and Arkansas and practices frequently before state and federal court in both jurisdictions. Wright serves on the firm’s Law School Recruiting Committee and the Professional Development Committee. She earned a J.D. and a B.A. from the University of Arkansas, both with high honors, where she was a Fulbright Senior Scholar, elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a member of the Arkansas Law Review. Wright is the mother of 4-year-old twins.
Bass, Berry & Sims PLC is a professional limited liability company rather than a partnership. Professional limited liability companies have ‘members’ instead of ‘partners.’
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