Louise M. Aponte

Attorney

Licensed in New York and Maine, and licensed in Tennessee to practice pending her admission, Louise Aponte has a broad array of practice experience. She began her career in a large New York law firm before joining the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, where she was a member of the Violent Gangs unit. In civil practice for the last twenty years, Ms. Aponte focuses her practice in the representation of professionals, including doctors and lawyers, as well as commercial litigation.

Gregory Brown

Managing Attorney

First licensed in 1999, Mr. Brown’s background is in ethics and complex civil litigation at the trial and appellate level.  He is licensed in nine states (six by exam) and many federal jurisdictions, has represented clients in court in approximately 25 different states, and has extensive experience litigating a broad array of subject matters, including healthcare, construction, environmental, real estate, intellectual property, professional malpractice, and products liability litigation.  He began his career in Boston and came to Lowe Yeager & Brown PLLC after practicing for several years in a large Washington, DC, law firm.  He is listed by the Tennessee Supreme Court as a Rule 31 civil mediator and attorney mentor, and has testified as an expert witness on subjects related to professional ethics, the Rules of Professional Responsibility, and the standard of care applicable to attorneys practicing in litigation.

Based on this broad background, Mr. Brown represents clients in select, complex litigation matters; advises and represents professionals, executives, and public officials regarding ethical, licensing, and professional liability issues; and advises corporate clients regarding conflict avoidance and resolution, often in the healthcare, environmental, and real estate development markets.  Mr. Brown holds commercial single-engine and multi-engine pilot licenses that he uses to work from both of the firm’s offices in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Washington, DC, and to address client needs throughout the Southeast economically and efficiently.

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W. Scott Hickerson

Attorney

Licensed since 2007, Mr. Hickerson’s background is in civil litigation. With most of his legal practice focusing primarily on general and professional liability defense, Mr. Hickerson has experience with both the defense and plaintiff’s bars where he works closely with individual clients, members of the insurance industry, and with representatives of local, regional, national, and multi-national companies and corporations.

Mr. Hickerson came to Lowe Yeager & Brown PLLC after practicing for over a decade with a state-wide law firm in both Memphis and Knoxville handling a variety of matters involving personal injuries, slip/trip and falls, wrongful death, automobile and trucking accidents, healthcare liability claims, product liability assertions, insurance coverage matters, employment disputes, and construction defects.

With the background he possesses, Mr. Hickerson consults with and advises clients regarding potential risks and liabilities, possible exposure, and conflict avoidance. He further serves as pre-trial, trial, and appellate counsel and, where warranted, negotiates the settlement and resolution of claims.

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Darryl G. Lowe

Senior Attorney (1985-2020)

First licensed in 1974, Mr. Lowe took senior status at the end of 2018, and passed away in August 2020. Mr. Lowe’s practice consisted of civil litigation involving primarily insurance defense at the trial and appellate level.  He was licensed in Tennessee and admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, United States  District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  In 1985 he started his own firm, Lowe & Shirley, which was the forerunner of Lowe Yeager & Brown PLLC.  His experience included medical malpractice defense, dental malpractice defense, asbestos personal injury property damage defense,  and nursing home defense.  He tried cases in Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, and Illinois.

He began representing lawyers in 1984, and from approximately 1994 Mr. Lowe’s practice consisted almost entirely of legal malpractice defense as well as advising and representing lawyers on matters related to the Rules of Professional Conduct.  Mr. Lowe was elected by his peers as one of the Best Lawyers in America under the category of Legal Malpractice for many years beginning in 1994. Mr. Lowe also qualified and testified as an expert witness in the field of legal malpractice.

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Amy J. McMaster

Attorney

Ms. McMaster is a 2003 Order of the Coif graduate of the College of William & Mary School of Law, where she served as an Articles Editor on Law Review and Member of the Moot Court team.  Her law degree followed a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Victoria, Canada.  After graduating from law school, Ms. McMaster worked for an Am Law 100 firm in Washington, D.C., where she specialized in environmental law and achieved the status of Partner in 2014.  In 2015, Ms. McMaster joined an international, billion dollar mining company as VP, Legal & General Counsel, where she was responsible for complex contract review and execution, state and federal permitting, and advising the senior management team on environmental, labor and employment, mine safety and health, immigration, and government relation issues.  Ms. McMaster has published extensively and is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Melinda Meador

Attorney

Melinda Meador is a highly experienced trial lawyer with a background in both civil and criminal litigation. Over the years, she has represented national and international companies in the areas of antitrust, banking, products liability, and environmental clean-up, and she has practiced in some of the major cities in America including Houston, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. She has also worked within both state and federal government as a criminal court prosecutor and as counsel in the professional liability division of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Ms. Meador joined Lowe Yeager & Brown PLLC in 2023. She currently focuses her practice in the areas of professional liability and malpractice as well as construction litigation.
 
Representative highlights:

• Successfully defended major financial institution in complex commercial and RICO litigation involving multi-million dollar real estate development.
• Obtained three summary judgments and one trial verdict for international nuclear fuel corporation in complex U.S. Government-related contract and toxic exposure disputes with multiple subcontractors, and on appeal convinced the Sixth Circuit to uphold all judgments.
• Obtained defense verdict for director of company profit-sharing plan committee charged with ERISA violations in handling of company securities.
• Successfully defended national tobacco company in price discrimination litigation involving 30 plaintiffs.
• Successfully defended national pharmaceutical company in over 100 products liability lawsuits.

G. Alan Rawls

Attorney

Graduating from the University of Tennessee School of Law in 2019, Mr. Rawls is licensed in both Alabama and Tennessee. During school, Mr. Rawls focused his studies on estate planning and transactional subjects, and enjoys applying that knowledge in litigation.

Mr. Rawls is originally from Mobile, Alabama. He and his wife moved to Knoxville in 2016 for law school at the University of Tennessee, where he graduated in 2019. While in law school, Mr. Rawls was a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council and a student attorney in the University of Tennessee College of Law Legal Clinic. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Rawls studied to become a broadcast journalist, but after an internship at a nearby law firm, he realized that his passion was in law.

Alan is a founding member of the firm’s “Terminators,” a group of lawyers within Lowe Yeager & Brown who – in addition to their regular cases – take on cases to terminate the parental rights of children’s parents who need to be adopted into stable, loving homes. He resides with his wife, his adopted son, and one or more foster children in the Forest Ridge community in West Knoxville.

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Daniel A. Sanders

Attorney

Admitted to the bar in 2008, Mr. Sanders served the first twelve years of his practice as deputy law director for Knox County, Tennessee, representing the county and its officials in all levels of trial and appellate litigation. He has expertise in tax, land use, zoning, eminent domain, public works, procurement, and real estate development. His experience also includes a deep knowledge of administrative and legislative procedures.

Mr. Sanders is a native of Knoxville, Tennessee. He received his bachelor’s degree from Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee, and his juris doctorate from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. During law school, Mr. Sanders received the Roger C. Bern Planning Award for outstanding achievement in estate & business planning, legal drafting, and problem solving and the Cali Excellence for the Future Award for excellent achievement in the study of Commercial Real Estate.

Mr. Sanders resides in the Historic Fourth & Gill neighborhood with his wife, Sarah, and their German Wirehaired Pointer, Caswell.

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Mark D. Trenner

Attorney

Mr. Trenner is a 1999 graduate of the University of Denver College of Law, where he served on the Law Review.  His law degree followed a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering and a master’s degree in civil engineering.  Since graduating from law school, Mr. Trenner has obtained an additional bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.  With his three engineering degrees and law degree, Mr. Trenner’s practice focuses on patent law.

Mr. Trenner is certified through the University of New Hampshire Radiation Training Program, and was Senior In-House Patent Counsel for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where he worked with the U.S. Department of Energy in several respects.  Mr. Trenner is licensed to practice law in Colorado and Tennessee.

Hugh B. Ward

Attorney

Licensed in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia, Mr. Ward has been in private practice since 2010, when he retired from twenty-five years of federal service. As a Federal Prosecutor, Mr. Ward was involved in all phases of criminal investigations and prosecutions of federal firearms laws, white collar crime, organized crime, drug trafficking and national security issues. Mr. Ward participated in the Joint Terrorism Task Force in the Eastern District of Tennessee. Mr. Ward held a Top Secret, SCI, security clearance.

Since 2010, Mr. Ward’s practice has focused on commercial, business and general civil litigation, government regulatory affairs, bankruptcy law, criminal defense and administrative law and corporate representation.

Mr. Ward is currently an Adjunct Professor of Business Law at Tennessee Tech University and formerly Roane State Community College. He comments and blogs on legal affairs and national security issues for the University of Tennessee’s Institute for Nuclear Security and WUOT the local affiliate for National Public Radio.

Stephen E. Yeager

Senior Attorney

Achieving senior status at the end of 2017, Mr. Yeager is a 1971 cum laude graduate of Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis, Indiana. From 1971 to 1975, Mr. Yeager served as a Captain in the United States Army Judge Advocate General Corp where he prosecuted and defended accused military personnel. Following his discharge from the United States Army, Mr. Yeager joined the law firm of Stuart & Branigin, Lafayette, Indiana, where he served as a partner in the litigation division. Representative clients included Purdue University, the Norfolk & Southern Railroad, and various insurance carriers.

From 1988 through 2017, Mr. Yeager practiced as a partner with the law firm now known as Lowe Yeager & Brown PLLC.  He practiced in all courts, state and federal, and has tried many cases to the bench, as well as to juries, representing both individuals and companies.

Mr. Yeager has held appointments with the American Bar Association Federal Evidence Committee and Products Liability Committee.  He is also a member of the Tennessee Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, and the Knoxville Bar Association.

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