KEITH C. DENNEN is a member of the Nashville law firm of Farris Bobango, PLC, where his main areas of practice are litigation, franchise law, hospital law, health care, commercial law, corporate law, intellectual property, and employment. He is a frequent lecturer on ethics and has spoken to various groups, including the American Bar Association's Forum on Franchising. Mr. Dennen is the editor of the Tennessee Ethics Handbook - 2nd edition. He is a former chair of the American Bar Association's Young Lawyers Ethics and Professionalism Committee. Mr. Dennen earned his B.B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Memphis.

J. GREGORY GRISHAM is a partner with the law firm of FordHarrison, LLP. He has more than 25 years of successful experience counseling and representing employers in all aspects of workplace law in Tennessee and across the United States. Mr. Grisham has successfully litigated hundreds of administrative charges, employment lawsuits, and arbitration demands on behalf of employers, including federal and state law claims alleging discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, defamation, invasion of privacy, breach of contract, wage and hour violations, among others. He also represents employers before the National Labor Relations Board in unfair labor practice proceedings. He represents employers in the enforcement of post-employment restrictive covenants such as non-compete, non-solicitation and non-disclosure, agreements and related trade secret litigation. Mr. Grisham’s practice also includes the defense of property owners and property management companies in federal and state housing discrimination charges and litigation. He is a regular speaker at public seminars and webinars on workplace law issues and has authored numerous articles on a variety of labor and employment law related topics. Mr. Grisham has been selected for inclusion in Mid-South Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America for employment litigation-management side. He was elected as a 2016 fellow to the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and recently elected as a fellow to the American Bar Foundation. Mr. Grisham currently serves as chair of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Section. He earned his B.S. degree from the University of Tennessee, his M.B.A. degree from the University of Mississippi and his J.D. degree, with honors, from the University of Memphis.

ROBERT W. HORTON is an attorney in the law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC, where his practice is devoted to representing management in all areas of labor and employment law. Mr. Horton both litigates and advises clients on a day-to-day basis regarding various employment related issues. He also assists clients with various disability and leave issues under the ADA and FMLA, wage and hour issues, drug and alcohol testing, veterans' employment rights, union avoidance and other issues. Mr. Horton is a certified Rule 31 general civil mediator. He earned his B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Louisiana State University; his M.Div. degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; and his J.D. degree, with highest honors, from the University of Tennessee. Mr. Horton is a member of the Nashville and Tennessee bar associations.

KERRY E. KNOX is a sole practitioner, primarily focusing on employment litigation. He has tried multiple cases in state and federal courts, including race discrimination, gender discrimination, age discrimination, retaliation, violations of the Family & Medical Leave Act, and violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Mr. Knox has also briefed and argued cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Tennessee Supreme Court, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and the Tennessee Court of Appeals. He served as a law clerk to the Hon. Ann E. Vitunac in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Mr. Knox graduated, magna cum laude, from Middle Tennessee State University; and earned his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Tennessee College of Law.

CINDY COLE ETTINGOFF has practiced labor and employment law representing both employers and employees for over twenty years in OSHA, wage and hour, FMLA, ADA, and other employment law matters. In recent years, one of the major focuses of her practice has been assisting growing employers in the development of their employment policies and practices, including drug testing policies, disciplinary policies, workers' compensation policies, and performance policies, as well as in contract drafting and negotiation. In addition, Ms. Ettingoff also serves as a mediator on employment-related disputes. She earned her J.D. degree from the University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review.

MATTHEW G. GALLAGHER is an attorney with Littler Mendelson P.C., where he represents employers in federal and state courts, as well as in proceedings before administrative agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and National Labor Relations Board, in a broad range of labor and employment law matters. He has significant experience representing management clients in the healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing and transportation industries. In his litigation practice, Mr. Gallagher regularly handles matters involving discrimination and harassment claims; wrongful discharge and related state tort claims; unfair competition and trade secret issues; wage and hour issues; and unfair labor practices. He earned his B.A. degree from St. Lawrence University and his J.D. degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Mr. Gallagher is admitted to practice in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, New York, and New Jersey. His professional and community affiliations include the Tennessee Bar Association (member, Labor and Employment Section), the Memphis Bar Association (member, Labor and Employment Section), the American Bar Association (member, Labor and Employment Section), the New York State Bar Association, New Jersey State Bar Association, The Mississippi Bar, the Mississippi Oil & Gas Lawyers Association, the Memphis World Trade Club, and the Mississippi World Trade Center.

MYRA HAMILTON serves as general counsel for Hamilton Entertainment & Employment Law LLC, where she handles federal and state workplace matters inclusive of those regulated by the United States Department of Labor, United States EEOC Experience, Tennessee Human Rights Commission, and the Tennessee Department of Labor. She has been retained by employers to conduct workplace investigations of personnel records, interviews employees, and write the official defense position statement directly to the Unites States EEOC and state agencies in response to allegations of unlawful and discriminatory employment practices in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, as well as the EEOC federal sector and EEOC hearings unit before Administrative EEO judges (in cases involving Federal agencies). Ms. Hamilton has served on the City of Memphis Collective Bargaining Team during union negotiations, as well as counseled managers with union grievance issues. She has provided training on sexual harassment, FMLA, labor laws, and policies, and has conducted new hire orientation for the City of Memphis. Ms. Hamilton earned her undergraduate degree from Virginia Union University and her J.D. degree from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.

RUSSELL W. JACKSON is an attorney with FordHarrison LLP, where he represents management in employment-related matters on federal, state, and local levels. Mr. Jackson’s representation includes claims relating to discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge, restrictive covenants, wage and hour violations, unemployment compensation, and other aspects of the employee-employer relationship under federal and state employment laws, including Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, NLRA and the OSH Act. He also works closely with employers to ensure compliance with complex laws governing the employment relationship. Mr. Jackson has successfully defended clients in federal and state courts against claims of race discrimination, race harassment, sex discrimination, sexual harassment, disability discrimination, age discrimination, national origin discrimination, and retaliation, as well as various state law claims. Mr. Jackson is a member of the American Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Memphis Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law Section) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) - Memphis Chapter. He earned his B.A. degree from Emory University and his J.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University.