Tonya Mitchem Grindon of the national law firm Baker Donelson has been selected to The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America, an annual guide recognizing the lawyers behind the most significant and transformative corporate transactions in the nation. Honorees are selected through a combination of independent journalistic research, submissions, and input from established dealmakers and clients.
Ms. Grindon, a shareholder in Baker Donelson's Nashville office, is chair of the firm's Business Department, is currently serving her second term on Baker Donelson's board of directors and serves on the Firm's Corporate Governance Committee. She focuses her practice on securities and corporate finance, corporate governance, and complex international and domestic business transactions. Ms. Grindon regularly advises public and private companies, boards of directors, and private equity funds on high-value matters involving capital finance, mergers and acquisitions, and fiduciary duties. She also counsels corporate boards and special committees on governance and compliance in connection with critical strategic decisions.
"It's a privilege to help clients navigate transactions that shape industries and create opportunities for economic growth," said Ms. Grindon. "Meaningful deal work requires equal parts creativity, precision, and trust, and I'm honored to be recognized among such accomplished peers. This recognition reflects our clients' confidence in us to guide their most complex transactions and our ability to help them achieve long-term business success."
Ms. Grindon graduated from Vanderbilt University, cum laude, and obtained both her J.D., with honors, and her Master's in International Affairs from The George Washington University. She is listed in Band 1 of Chambers USA as a leading Corporate/M&A attorney (2016 – 2025) and has been selected to Mid-South Super Lawyers for Securities & Corporate Finance (2012 – 2024) and has repeatedly been named among the Top 50 female attorneys in the Mid-South, the Top 50 attorneys in Nashville, and the Top 100 attorneys in Tennessee. This year, Ms. Grindon served as lead attorney on a deal that is a finalist in multiple categories for the 24th Annual M&A Advisor Awards. She has been named a "Top USA Women Dealmaker" by Global M&A Network (2019) and included in Thomson Reuters' Stand-out Lawyers database (2024 – 2025). She is also the author of the treatise "Tennessee Business and Commercial Law" published by LexisNexis.
The Dealmaker 500 was first published in 2006 and typically recognizes attorneys who have demonstrated outstanding skills for at least 15 years in practice and exhibited leadership within their practice in a firm or in relevant bar organizations. The list honors attorneys who "shake the world with the deals they make happen," highlighting those whose work shapes the business landscape through innovative and high-impact transactions across industries. The full 2026 guide is available here.