Practice Areas
Our current practice areas include:
- Appellate Practice
Attorneys at OKH&C are committed to taking their clients all the way through the judicial system – from general sessions all the way to the Supreme Court with experience and consistency. Several of our partners have clerked for trial and appellate judges which gives OKH&C's appellate practice team a unique...
- Banking
OKH&C has extensive experience representing its banking clients in all areas of the purchase, management and sale of real property; lenders and borrowers in a variety of loan transactions, work outs, title litigation, zoning, and other regulatory issues that touch on banking and real estate, as well as the formation...
- Collections & Subrogation
As a companion to OKH&C's thriving and long standing insurance defense practice, OKH&C has been a leader in large-loss subrogation claims as well as collections matters on behalf of a variety of insurance carriers, homeowners associations, medical providers and other businesses. Compliance with the Fair Debt Collection Act and...
- Commercial Transaction & Litigation
With over four decades of litigation experience, OKH&C is well-equipped to handle the commercial transactional and litigation needs of its corporate clients. Contract disputes, business formation and dissolution disputes, lease disputes, and commercial and residential real estate transactions are all within OKH&C's breadth of experience. The detail-oriented nature of this...
- Constitutional Torts / Governmental Liability
There are unique procedural and substantive duties and liabilities for municipal and state entities which require highly specialized skill and knowledge to litigation. Some such issues include bifurcation of agency and third-party claims in jury trials, the interplay between the savings statue and Tennessee's statutes of limitations, certain due process...
- Construction & Engineering Liability
In depth knowledge of the fast-paced construction industry puts OKH&C at the top of defense firms in the areas of engineering and construction litigation. From approval process before governing boards and municipal agencies, to financing, and the mechanics of construction defect claims, OKH&C's team of construction attorneys is unmatched in...
- Corporate
Since its inception, OKH&C has represented a diverse group of corporate clients, ranging from small family-owned businesses to publicly-traded corporations. Our firm takes great pride in assisting all of its corporate clients navigate the ever-changing legal pitfalls and challenges that they face in the business world today. ...
- Food & Restaurant Liability
There are unique legal duties and liabilities in both tort and employment law context that affect the food and restaurant industries. OKH&C has been counsel to many national and regional restaurant franchises and bring with them the skill and knowledge of this business. OKH&C has been counsel to this industry...
- Homeowners Association Representation
This rapidly growing area of practice includes representation of many Homeowners Associations involved in legal disputes, assessment collection and covenant enforcement and interpretation. Partners work directly with Homeowner Association Boards, attending meetings, assessing legal opinions on matters of interest. Additionally, attorneys represent Homeowners Associations through their insurance carriers when Homeowners...
- Insurance Defense & Coverage
In 1971, founding partners, William P. Ortale, John W. Kelley, David B. Herbert, and William H. Crawford, opened the doors of this fledgling firm based primarily on the trust it was given by powerhouse insurance companies such as State Farm Insurance Company, Shelter Insurance Company, Home Insurance Company and Ohio...
- Labor & Employment
From conference rooms to courtrooms, OKH&C is experienced to counsel their corporate clients through the challenging day-to-day decisions involving policy making, discipline and even termination of their employees. From drafting employee handbooks and policy and procedure guides to counseling clients through careful employment decisions, OKH&C puts its experience to work...
- Mediation & Alternative Dispute Resolution
As the year 2000 appeared, litigators across the United States saw a revolutionary change in the practice of law. With overcrowded dockets in the courtrooms, jury uncertainty, and the life of a lawsuit increasing year by year, OKH&C and the legal profession looked to forms of alternative dispute resolution to...
- Medical Malpractice
A highly specialized area of defense litigation such as medical malpractice demands highly skilled attorneys to tackle its weighty issues and navigate the difficult terrain of litigation stemming from injuries received in the court of medical treatment. The constantly evolving practice of medicine demands that a firm in this area...
- Personal Injury & General Tort
In the past four decades, OKH&C has evolved into a law firm that provides legal representation to individuals and companies who find themselves in the unfortunate position of being in a lawsuit. Our knowledge, experience, and compassion serve as a safe harbor for litigants faced with the unfamiliar stressors of...
- Products Liability
As defense litigators with hundreds of years of combined legal experience, OKH&C began representing companies all over the United States in serious injury defense litigation over 30 years ago. As long as there has been commercial product production and distribution, there is litigation arising from injury in the use of...
- Professional Liability
The millennium brought with it much innovation as well as a spike in an ever growing area of defense litigation – that of professional liability defense. The attorneys at OKH&C have been handling litigation and defense of Tennessee professionals since the inception of the firm. Attorneys, physicians, architects, and dentists...
- Real Estate
OKH&C's real estate practice involves both residential and commercial transactions throughout Tennessee and other southeastern states and includes representation of a broad range of clients, including real estate developers, individuals, lending institutions, as well as corporate clients in a wide range of industries. Our real estate attorneys represent real estate...
- Wills, Estate & Probate
In addition to making the requisite investment of time, efforts, and resources in order to accumulate wealth, it is also important for individuals to take the time to plan for the disposition of their assets and wealth upon their death. At OKH&C, our attorneys assist ...
- Worker's Compensation
OKH&C has extensive experience in the worker's compensation area of practice. The majority of our practice in this area is dedicated to representing employer's through their insurance carriers or Third Party Administrator's which include CNA Insurance Company, State Farm Insurance Company, Zurich, Travelers, The Local Government Worker's Compensation Fund, Alternative...