Dewey Branstetter has represented a broad range of individuals and entities, but his practice concentrates on utility and municipal issues; employment matters, including employee benefits issues; and complex litigation.
Mr. Branstetter has extensive experience advising and representing utility districts, municipalities, and utility related entities such as Tennessee 811. He recently appeared before the Utility Management Review Board and successfully defended against the first ratepayer petition ever filed against a utility district in Tennessee. He has also assisted a number of public entities concerning their pension plans, insurance programs, and other health and welfare programs.
Mr. Branstetter has handled many wide‐ranging employment matters for both employees and employers, including employment contracts, separation issues, labor disputes, and pension plan issues. He regularly assists employees with non‐compete covenants, benefit issues, shareholder agreements, and severance packages. He has counseled and represented labor organizations and their individual members, most notably serving the Nashville Fire Fighters Association for over three decades.
Mr. Branstetter has argued numerous cases before the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Tennessee Court of Appeals, and the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. In addition to litigating utility and employment matters, he has successfully handled probate cases, personal injury claims, consumer protection cases, trust disputes, administrative claims, and complex cases including class actions and shareholder derivative actions.
Mr. Branstetter was appointed liaison counsel in the antitrust case brought on behalf of Tennessee consumers against Microsoft, Inc. and served as a lead counsel in the antitrust litigation regarding High Pressure Laminates. He represented the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System in its securities litigation against WorldCom, Inc. He has also served as lead counsel in several shareholder derivative cases including obtaining the largest recovery in Tennessee history in a derivative case.
EDUCATION
- Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D.
- Member, Order of the Coif
- Chief Justice, Moot Court Board
- Vanderbilt University B.A., summa cum laude
- Phi Beta Kappa
BAR ADMISSIONS
- Supreme Court of the United States
- Tennessee
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Colorado
- U.S. District Court, Middle, Western and Eastern Districts of Tennessee
- Benchmark Litigation “Litigation Star” (2017 – 2019)
- Best Lawyers in America® “Lawyer of the Year,” Nashville, Litigation – Labor and Employment (2011, 2012, 2019)
- Best Lawyers in America®, Litigation – Labor and Employment; Utilities Law (2011 – present)
- Business Tennessee Magazine “150 Best Lawyers in Tennessee”
- Junior League of Nashville Paragon Award for Outstanding Community Volunteer
- Martindale-Hubbell, AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated
- Super Lawyers (2008 – 2009, 2019 – 2024)
- Nashville Business Journal “Best of the Bar” (2019)
- Tennessee Supreme Court Attorneys for Justice Pro Bono Honor Roll (2020 – present)
- Dewey Branstetter, When PR Bites Back, Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison Blog (March 31, 2015)
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
- Director (2011 – 2015), First Vice President (2014 – 2015), Nashville Bar Association
- Fellow, Nashville Bar Foundation
- Fellow, Napier-Looby Bar Foundation
- Hearing Officer, Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility (1996 – 2002)
- Life Member, Napier-Looby Bar Association
- Life Member, Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Lawyers’ Association for Women
- Member, Tennessee Bar Association
CIVIC ACTIVITIES
- Capital Campaign Co-Chair, Bellevue YMCA – J.L. Turner Senior Center
- Chairman, Metropolitan Nashville Charter Revision Commission
- Leadership Nashville, Class of 1986
- Past board memberships include:
- Center for Nonprofit Management
- Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
- Emergency Communications District for Metropolitan Nashville
- Harding Academy, Board of Trustees, Advisory Board
- Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee
- March of Dimes Middle Tennessee Chapter
- Metropolitan Nashville Board of Public Education, Chairman
- Nashville Alliance for Public Education
- Nashville Public Television Council, Secretary
- Our Kids