Steve Powers serves some of the largest motor carriers in the trucking industry in their accident litigation defense across the country. As a shareholder in the Firm's Chattanooga office, he practices transportation law and handles a variety of defense litigation and employment matters. His transportation practice includes regulatory and administrative law matters, as well as counseling on electronic data retention systems and policies, e-discovery and insurance coverage issues. He has spoken at a number of industry meetings, including the American Trucking Associations 2006 Forum for Motor Carrier General Counsels held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where his presentation addressed electronic onboard recorders and e-discovery in accident litigation, and the American College of Transportation Attorneys' 2011 Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, concerning property brokers' liability for personal injuries and cargo losses arising out of motor carrier accidents. Mr. Powers also made a presentation at the Trucking Industry Defense Association's Advanced Seminar in Miami, Florida, on February 9, 2012 discussing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Compliance, Safety, Accountability safety measurement system.
Mr. Powers is widely experienced in employment law matters, and he has defended manufacturers in a variety of industries in product liability litigation, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, construction equipment and tobacco products.
Mr. Powers has been admitted pro hac vice in numerous state and federal courts and has served as lead defense trial counsel in multiple jurisdictions. In addition, he emphasizes alternative dispute resolution, and particularly encourages early mediation of catastrophic injury and death cases, for which he has enjoyed a very high success rate.
Mr. Powers is a member of the Firm's Transportation, Labor & Employment, and Drug, Device & Bioscience Industry Practice Groups and he is a member of the Firm's 24 Hour Motor Carrier Emergency Response Team, a group of attorneys dedicated to providing rapid post-accident intervention and investigation throughout the Firm's footprint and beyond, whenever and wherever you need us.
- "Compliance, Safety, Accountability — Current and Future Issues with its Full Implementation," Trucking Industry Defense Association Advanced Seminar, Miami, FL (Feb. 9, 2012)
- Presentations to motor carrier in-house claims, safety, operations and legal departments regarding transportation contracts, brokerage issues, cross-border operations and MCS-90 liability issues.
- "Update on Broker Liability Issues," American College of Transportation Attorneys' 2011 Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL (August 26, 2011)
- "Evidence Collection and Electronic Recording Technology in Motor Carrier Accident Investigations," chapter, Inside the Minds: The Role of Technology in Evidence Collection (Aspatore Books, July 2011)
- "Emerging Issues Electronic Tracking Data: Spoliation of 'Supporting Documents'," In Transit, DRI Trucking Law Committee Newsletter (August 2008), and republished with permission, Trucking Industry Defense Association Newsletter (Winter 2008)
- USLaw Network, Inc., Fall 2006 Meeting, San Diego, California, Panel Chair, "Electronic Discovery – Claims and IT Departments Joined at the Hip"
- American Trucking Associations 2006 Forum for Motor Carrier General Counsels, Santa Fe, New Mexico, "Blackbox and EOBR Data: Searching for Discovery and Evidentiary Standards to Defend Spoliation Claims"
- "Trucking On: Meeting New Challenges in a Changing Industry," Commercial Network Magazine (May 2004)
- Member – American and Federal Bar Associations
- Member – Tennessee and Chattanooga Bar Associations
- Member – Defense Research Institute (Drug and Device Committee, Trucking Law Committee)
- Member – Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association
- Member – Transportation Lawyers Association
- Member – Trucking Industry Defense Association
- Member – American College of Transportation Attorneys
- Member – International Association of Defense Counsel (Business Litigation Committee)
- Member – Justices Ray L. Brock and Robert E. Cooper Chapter, American Inns of Court
- Listed in Best Lawyers in America® in Bet-the-Company Litigation, Transportation Law, Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants and Product Liability Litigation - Defendants since 2008
- Tennessee, 1980
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, 1980
- United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, 2009
- United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, 2010
- United States Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, 1985
- United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, 1987
- United States Court of Federal Claims, 1993
- University of Tennessee College of Law, J.D., 1979
- Phi Kappa Phi
- American Jurisprudence Award for Excellence in the Study of Civil Procedure
- Teaching Assistant, Research & Writing II
- University of Tennessee, B.A., 1976
- Graduated number one in College of Liberal Arts