John Edward Nanney

"Counsel for Those Who Mind Their Own Business"

Ed Nanney has been licensed to practice law in Tennessee since 1981. He began his career in a civil litigation practice before joining the law department of a Fortune 500 company in 1987. Over 17 years with that company, he managed litigation throughout the country and was promoted to executive positions in both the United States and Canada. He left the "large company" world in 2004 to form his own business. Practicing solo since 2007, Ed concentrates his practice on the legal interests of small and medium businesses (SMBs), entrepreneurs and the self-employed. He focuses on the management of legal risk -- helping business owners recognize the legal risks they face and to implement the appropriate steps to eliminate, avoid or reduce those risks. He also helps owners derive optimal value from their businesses through estate planning, asset protection and business exit / transition planning services.

He recently served as Assistant Professor of Paralegal Studies at Chattanooga State Technical Community College teaching legal research, case writing and analysis, trial practice and civil procedure, torts, contracts, criminal law and procedure, insurance law, real estate and wills, trust and estates. 

Ed is a mediator and serves as a mediation trainer with Private Dispute Resolution Services in Chattanooga.

Ed earned his undergraduate and law degrees (BA with Honors in American Studies, JD) from the University of North Carolina -- Chapel Hill where he was inducted to Phi Beta Kappa, elected a member of the Holderness Moot Court Bench and awarded Order of the Barristers for excellence in trial advocacy. Ed and his wife have two children and live in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.

Service areas: Areas of concentration are business law, estate planning, asset protection, transition/succession planning, risk management, employee benefits, negotiations, mediation and alternate dispute resolution, transactions, contracts and franchise law.