Chuck looks for the truth in every case. He uses his background in journalism to investigate the facts and uncover the real story. He provides his clients with honest, detailed evaluations of their cases. He doesn’t make promises he can’t keep.
Chuck became a lawyer because he likes helping people, and he doesn’t like how big companies avoid responsibility. He understands that when his clients come to see him, they are having a bad day. He watches insurance companies devalue human life and cause more pain to his clients. Chuck knows it is hard on a person when they are unable to work due to a work injury or an accident that was not their fault. It is even harder when the insurance adjuster refuses to fairly compensate the person for their losses.
Personal Injury
As a trial lawyer, it’s frustrating to Chuck that juries are not made aware that a defendant has insurance in a personal injury case, especially when the insurance company is often the one calling the shots on the other side. While Chuck agrees that the fact that someone has insurance is not relevant in deciding the amount of a client’s damages, he thinks it would be a fairer system if the jury knew how the insurance company acted in handling a claim. Time after time, he has seen a client’s stress after an accident made worse by insurance companies. Sometimes, it is the client’s own insurance company who is fighting them. Clients faithfully pay their premiums for years only to have their insurance company call them a liar and a faker. A fairer system would let the jury also assess some of the damages against the insurance company directly for its conduct in handling a claim. He trusts juries to do the right thing, unlike the insurance companies.
Workers’ Compensation
In workers’ compensation cases, Chuck helps clients navigate a broken system. In 2014, the Tennessee General Assembly took the lead in the race to the bottom in caring for injured workers. Most people are shocked to learn that even if an employer is grossly negligent, an employee may only recover the limited benefits available under workers’ compensation. The employer’s insurance company also gets to choose what doctor you see.
To make things even worse, the insurance companies also lobbied to create a “cookbook of care” that limits treatment. In some cases, the law now declares a person to be as good as they are going to get after a certain number of months, even if the doctor disagrees.
Social Security Disability
In Social Security Disability cases, Chuck helps get benefits for people who can no longer work due to an injury or their health. Many of his clients have worked since their teens, often in tough jobs that destroyed their bodies over the years. Clients come in sad and anxious about meeting with a disability laywer because working is part of who they are. Chuck goes over the disability process and the test Social Security uses in detail. He explains what evidence they need to prove they are disabled and how to get it. When the Social Security Judge wrongly or unfairly denies a client, he often sues Social Security in federal court.
Experience
Chuck tries cases before juries, judges, and administrative law judges. He handles, and has experience handling, cases in just about every kind of court in Tennessee:
- General Sessions Court
- Court of Workers’ Compensation
- Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board
- Claims Commission
- Tennessee Court of Appeals
- Tennessee Supreme Court
Chuck is admitted to the following federal district courts:
- Western District of Tennessee
- Middle District of Tennessee
- Southern District of Illinois (PHV)
- Western District of Washington (PHV)
He is admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Chuck is also active in several lawyer groups. He is a member of the American Association for Justice, the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, the Tennessee Bar Assocation, and the Jackson-Madison County Bar Association.
Personal
Outside the office, Chuck enjoys spending time with his family. He volunteers with his son’s Cub Scout Pack and is the unofficial team photographer for his daughter’s travel soccer team.
Submit your case to Chuck for a free review today.