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Caitlin S. Colley

Associate

Caitlin Colley is a trial lawyer who advocates for her clients' property rights in areas of real estate, conservation easements, eminent domain, land use, zoning, and commercial lending litigation.

Professional Biography


Caitlin Colley's legal experience spans more than seven years, during which time she served as a judicial law clerk, a civil litigation associate and in the US Army Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps. In her law practice, Caitlin represents real estate and property owners in complex business litigation, providing comprehensive, practical business solutions and risk assessments throughout each stage of litigation.

In the military, Caitlin gained lead-counsel experience in more than 70 investigations across multiple federal, state and defense agencies. She is skilled in drafting pleadings, pre-trial evidentiary and legal arguments, determining pre-trial strategies, directing voir dire and preparing experts for trial.

As a JAG officer and trial attorney, Caitlin coordinated legal actions among more than 50 commanders while supervising ongoing investigations and litigation, becoming a trusted advisor and go-to for clients. Caitlin investigated and developed felony cases in four jurisdictions with more than 25,000 soldiers, including complex litigation cases with a variety of medical and expert witnesses, one of which she achieved a felony conviction with the longest confinement period in the jurisdiction in the last four years, as lead government counsel in 2021. Additionally, Caitlin served as lead defense counsel for a public relations trial demonstration on behalf of the U.S. Army at the Nuremberg Trials Courtroom & Museum in Nuremburg, Germany in only the second time Judge Advocates have been before the tribunal since the trials of 1945 – 1946.

Caitlin served as Chief of Legal Assistance & Special Victims' Counsel in Germany, where she counseled and represented members of the U.S. Army and their family members in personal legal affairs with issues ranging from immigration, taxation, and real estate to contract law, civil litigation, and wills and estates. As an Administrative Law Attorney, Caitlin advised senior leaders on matters of ethics, government investigations, property, and fiscal law.

Caitlin's civil litigation experience involves advising clients and landowners on matters including declaratory actions, subrogation, wrongful death actions and complex litigation suits across multiple insurance carriers. She successfully argued legal analysis and equitable bases in insurance defense lawsuits for insured businesses, municipalities, governmental and private entities before state and federal trial courts.

After receiving her Juris Doctorate in 2015, Caitlin served as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Circuit Court for the 16th Judicial District of Tennessee, Division II.

  • Achieved a verdict in favor of commercial landowners in a property dispute regarding a municipality's abandonment of and failure to maintain a prescriptive easement.

  • Member – Junior League of Atlanta
  • Member – Junior League of Johnson City (2016 – 2018)
    • Awarded 2017 Provisional Member of the Year Award for commitment and dedication to community service
  • State Board of Directors, Member – Habitat for Humanity of Tennessee (2015 – 2018)
    • Participant – The Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project, Memphis, TN (2016)
  • Participant – Middle Tennessee State University Veterans and Military Family Center, Pro Bono Legal Clinic (2016)
  • Participant – Legal Aid of East Tennessee, Pro Bono Legal Clinic for Gatlinburg Wildfires (2016)
  • Judicial Extern – The Honorable J. Ronnie Greer in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee (2014)
  • Winner – 2013 Hugh Lawson Moot Court Competition
  • "Special Victims' Counsel in the Military Justice System," US Army Garrison Bavaria and Ansbach, Germany (2019 – 2020)
  • "Responding to Property Investigations," U.S. Army Europe Legal Assistance CLE (2019)
  • "Administrative Law and Ethics for Commanders," Combined Arms Training Center, Vilseck, Germany (2018 – 2019)

Education

  • Mercer University, Walter F. George School of Law, J.D., 2015
    • Mercer Law Review
  • Oxford University, Magdalen College, Comparative Property Law & International Law Tutorial, 2013
  • East Tennessee State University, B.S., 2012, cum laude

Admissions

  • Georgia, 2022
  • Tennessee, 2015
  • U.S. Tax Court, 2023
  • Supreme Court of Georgia, 2022
  • Supreme Court of Tennessee, 2015
  • U.S. Court of Appeals of the Sixth Circuit, 2017
  • U.S. Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 2022
  • U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, 2016

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