I have a practice that focuses on trial and arbitration work in commercial matters including business torts, contractual disputes, insurance coverage disputes, products liability and UCC litigation.
I am licensed in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi and admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in those states. I have practiced in all three grand divisions of Tennessee including thirty-seven (37) Tennessee counties from Mountain City to Memphis. As a result of that experience, I have had the chance to see just how different and unique the practice of law is across the state.
I was recently asked by another lawyer why I seem to enjoy practicing law so much, I responded by saying that I'm married to the right woman, am part of a wonderful firm and am blessed to have found something that I love doing. I also told this other lawyer that a lot of my happiness is derived from two sources: active participation in the bar and pro bono work.
Being active in the bar gives me the opportunity to be around some truly amazing people and to be part of work that is making a difference in the lives or Tennesseans on a daily basis. I am lucky to be around so many true role models. Being active in the bar recharges my professional zeal and challenges me to be a better man and a better attorney.
Pro bono work is no less important to me. It keeps me grounded. It helps put many other things in perspective. It recharges my soul and reminds me why I went to law school. My most memorable pro bono case was for a man dying of AIDS. His family had abandoned him. He was being evicted from his apartment. Right before the hearing, he turned to me and said, "Danny you have to win. I don't want to die homeless." Needless to say, those words stopped me cold and really brought home the gravity of the situation. We won and he died a few months later . . . in his home. My father once told me that when you feel down, if you will serve others who are less fortunate, you will feel lucky to have what you do have. Pro bono work has been an important part of my happiness practicing law and is one of the reasons that I want to serve you as President of the TBA.
Here's a little more information about my background:
Education
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- B.S. Public Admin. & Political Science
- Summa Cum Laude
- Chancellor’s Citation for Extraordinary
Academic Achievement
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- Moot Court Executive Board
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy
- Graduate trial skills course
Practice
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Cannada, PLLC - Member
• Commercial litigation, business torts and products liability practice
• Licensed and practice in TN, MS and AR
• Have appeared and practiced in 37 TN counties and before TN appellate courts
• Tried numerous cases to verdict
• Mid South Super Lawyers, 07 – present
Bar Experience
• TN Bar Foundation, Fellow
• TBA
• TBA CLE Committee, Chair 08-09
• TBA Cy Pres Initiative, Chair 08-09
• TBA Young Lawyers Division, President 05-06
• President’s Award for Service to the YLD, 02
• TBA Leadership Law, Class of 2007
• TBA Judiciary Committee, Chair 04-06
• TLAW, member
• American Bar Foundation, Fellow
•
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1 of 9 members on the nat’l cmte.
Regional Membership Chair
•
Assembly Speaker, 06-07 (the Assembly Speaker is the second highest officer in the 140,000 member division.)
Two Time National Star of the Year
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• Co-founder of the Atticus Network, a pro bono
referral network. The Atticus Network is premised on the idea that attorneys will take a pro bono case if we give them options, if we ask them to take a case and if we make it easy for them to do so. It has worked well.
• Founder of pro bono clinic for AIDS patients
• Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Initiative, 2007
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Annual Campaign, 06 & 07
Award for Outstanding Service, 06 & 07
Community Work
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Commerce, Board of Advisers &
Chamber Ambassador
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater
Central Board Member - Board Secretary
Strategic Planning Committee, Chair
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President, 04-05
Mednikow Award Winner, 06
Thomason Leadership Award Winner,
01 & 02
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Eucharistic Minister
Hospitality Minister
Habitat for Humanity
• Eagle Scout
Personal
• Married to
• Two Children, Grant (b.’99) and
Rachel (b.’01)
• Enjoy photography, especially black and
white and nature photography.
• Enjoy reading, especially biographies.
Favorite books: To Kill a Mockingbird,
Lincoln, Patriots, Bearing the Cross and
anything by Tom Clancy
• Find history, politics and learning about
new people and new places rewarding.
• Passionate about music of all kinds: U2,
Stones, Led Zeppelin, Muddy Waters,
Prince, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra,
Kenny Chesney and of course Elvis!
Published Works & Presentations
• TBA Business Torts Road Show, Dec. 08
Trade Secrets
The Duty of Loyalty
• Memphis Bar Year End CLE, Dec. 08 & 06
Covenants Not-to-Compete
Tortious Interference with Contract
• Theoretical Reverse Engineering: A Potentially
Viable Defense to Misappropriation of Trade
Secrets,
• TBA Business Torts Road Show, 07
Covenants Not-to-Compete
Tortious Interference with Contract
Ethics of Multi-Party Representation and the
Common Interest Privilege
• The Constitutional Limits of Punitive Damages
• Effective Trial Preparation
• The E-Sign Act: A Move in the Right Direction
• Resolutions 07M1YL and 07M2YL, calling on the
• Suggestions from the Next Generation, a report to ABA Standing Committee on Membership detailing the serious membership challenges that the
• Speaker on resolutions before the ABA House of Delegates dealing with the conditional admission of lawyers who have successfully completed dependency treatment in order to better protect the public and dealing with screening of lawyers in conflict situations.