(Memphis, TN / January 14, 2016) Richard G. Cowart and Kristine L. Roberts have been elected to Baker Donelson's board of directors. They were elected by the Firm's shareholders. Each will serve a three-year term as a member of the board.
Mr. Cowart, chair of Baker Donelson's nationally lauded Health Law and Public Policy Department, is a recognized authority in advising senior management regarding policy, regulatory and business issues related to health care. He serves as strategic counsel to health systems and companies and counsels providers on business, policy and governance issues, with an emphasis on business transactions. A well-known author and speaker on health care issues, Mr. Cowart is a fellow and past president of the American Health Law Association and a recipient of the organization's David R. Greenburg Award for Lifetime Service to Health Law. He has been listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers since 2003 and in The Best Lawyers in America since 1991. Additionally, Mr. Cowart has been recognized in Mid-South Super Lawyers since 2006 and has been consistently ranked by that publication among the "Top 50 Attorneys in Nashville" and the "Top 100 Attorneys in Tennessee." He has been the health business columnist for The Tennessean for the past ten years.
Ms. Roberts is chair of Baker Donelson's Financial Services Litigation Group and is an experienced business and commercial litigator who has handled numerous trial and appellate cases in federal and state courts, as well as in private arbitrations. Her focus is on banking and financial services litigation, and she also concentrates on securities claims, class actions and other complex litigation of a commercial nature. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Ms. Roberts has authored numerous articles appearing in the ABA Section of Litigation's publication Litigation News and recently served as editor-in-chief of the publication. She has been listed in Best Lawyers in America since 2014 and in Mid-South Super Lawyers since 2013, which also listed her among the "Top 50 Female Attorneys in the Mid-South" in the 2015 edition. In 2012, Ms. Roberts was recognized as a "Super Woman in Business" by the Memphis Business Journal for her professional accomplishments and philanthropic endeavors. She currently serves as co-chair of the mentoring committee for the Firm's Women's Initiative and recently served for five years as Baker Donelson's recruiting chair in Memphis.