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Samuel  Lanier  Felker
Member
Nashville
P:(615) 742-6219
F:(615) 742-2719

Practices

Education
University of Virginia - J.D., 1980
Mississippi State University - B.S., 1977

Bar Admissions
Tennessee, 1980

Memberships
Nashville Bar Association (Member, Courts Committee)
Tennessee Bar Association (Chair, Litigation Section, 2000-2001) 
American Bar Association (Member, Litigation Section and Products Liability Committee)
Member, Federation of Corporate & Defense Counsel

Honors & Distinctions
2008 Human Rights Campaign Community Leadership Award winner
Board Member, Metropolitan Board of Health
Listed in: The Best Lawyers in America®; Lawdragon 3000 Leading Lawyers in America
Co-Chair, Tennessee Federal Club with the Human Rights Campaign
Recipient, U.T. Chancellor's Citation for Extraordinary Academic Achievement, 1978



Sam Felker, a Member of the firm, is a trial attorney in the Nashville office.  He joined the firm in 1980, immediately after graduation from law school, and has developed a broad litigation practice encompassing products liability and commercial disputes of all kinds, including those involving intellectual property.  Mr. Felker is experienced in all aspects of complex litigation, class actions and alternative dispute resolution, and he has tried jury cases in all three of Tennessee's Federal Districts and in state courts throughout Tennessee and in other states.  He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and Lawdragon 3000 Leading Lawyers in America .

The following matters are representative of Mr. Felker's practice:

Pharmaceutical Litigation
  • Represented Wyeth in defending multiple products liability suits involving the diet drug, fen-phen.  Most of the cases are consolidated in an MDL proceeding in Pennsylvania or a joint proceeding in New Jersey.  Responsible for all phases of discovery, expert witness retention and trial preparation. 
  • Local counsel for Novartis in an MDL proceeding (Washington State) involving Phenylpropanolamine (PPA).  Responsible for discovery, expert witness retention and trial preparation for numerous Tennessee cases remanded to local federal courts from the MDL proceeding.  Several cases were dismissed on motions, and the remaining cases will be tried in the United States District Court for Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
  • Representing Eli Lilly and Company in Zyprexa MDL proceeding.  Responsible for discovery, expert witness retention and trial preparation for multiple cases.
  • Representing GlaxoSmithKline in multiple cases filed in state and federal courts in Tennessee involving the prescription medication Avandia.

Medical Device Litigation
  • Served as local counsel in large MDL proceeding against Accufix/Telectronics, Inc. over its heart pacemaker and related devices.  The cases were in various federal courts across Tennessee, and all cases were satisfactorily resolved.
  • Lead counsel for AcroMed Corporation, a manufacturer of pedicle screw spinal implants,  in over 100 individual cases filed in Tennessee.  Also served as local counsel in the MDL proceeding and a large class action suit filed in Nashville.  All cases were satisfactorily resolved on motion or through settlement.
  • Represented Zimmer in numerous cases involving hip and knee implants.

General Products Liability Matters
  • Successfully mediated and resolved a wrongful death suit arising from King Air crash at Metro Nashville Airport.
  • Lead counsel in large ($50 million exposure) nation-wide class action suit filed in Circuit Court for Lincoln County, Tennessee (Fayetteville) against Media General, Inc. involving roofing materials.  Dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.  Handled and successfully defended the appeal in the Tennessee Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Tennessee. 
  • Successfully defended Cooper Industries, Inc., manufacturer of electrical wiring components, in double wrongful death case filed in Circuit Court of Williamson County, Tennessee (Franklin).  After discovery and expert disclosures, secured dismissal with no payment by client.

Intellectual Property
  • Defended large multi-media company in suits by business owners alleging defamation, false light and invasion of privacy.
  • Represented at trial a local manufacturing company in a suit against competitor for theft of trade secrets, unfair competition and breach of covenants not to compete.
  • Defended numerous musicians and record labels in suits alleging copyright infringement.
  • Represented record label accused by artist of misplacing and losing master recordings.
  • Defended not-for-profit organization accused of defamation through postings on the Internet.

In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Felker lectures on various litigation subjects and has authored a number of papers on products liability, including a chapter for the West Products Liability Handbook (1995) and regular articles for the annual surveys published by the ABA Products Liability Sub-Committee, of which he is an active member. 

Mr. Felker is active in the community serving on the boards of Nashville Cares and NAPP, a local business/civic organization.  He served as co-chair of the Nashville Federal Club of The Human Rights Campaign and in 2008 he received their Community Leadership Award. 

Education
  • University of Virginia, J.D. 1980
  • University of Tennessee Law School (1978 Torchbearer Award for extraordinary academic achievement)
  • Mississippi State University, B.S., with highest distinction, 1977

Bar & Court Admissions
  • Supreme Court of Tennessee (1980)
  • U.S. District Courts for the Middle, Eastern and Western Sections of Tennessee
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Professional Affiliations
  • Tennessee Bar Association, Chair of Litigation Section 2000-2001
  • American Bar Association, Products Liability Sub-Committee
  • Nashville Bar Association, Courts Committee
  • Defense Research Institute, Member
  • Human Rights Campaign, Co-Chair of Tennessee Federal Club
  • Federation of Corporate & Defense Counsel, Member