Cagle.jpgEducation
Tennessee Technological University, B.S., 1978; M.A., 1980
Nashville School of Law, J.D., 1989

Bar Admission
1989 Tennessee

Practice Areas
Education Law
Administrative Law
Government Relations

Shareholder Chuck Cagle leads our statewide Education Law Practice from the Nashville office of Lewis King. He oversees the Firm’s representation of over 100 boards of education, two private schools and two private universities in a variety of legal matters including, but not limited to, employment of licensed and classified employees, employee contracts, employee and student rights and discipline, special education and disability accommodation, first amendment issues, sexual harassment and civil rights matters, desegregation, tort liability, school finance and taxation, and school construction.

Prior to going into private practice, Chuck served as legal counsel and legislative liaison for the Tennessee School Boards Association and the State Board of Education. In those positions, Mr. Cagle acquired a broad range of experience advising school boards and superintendents on legal matters involving the day-to-day operation of schools, drafting and lobbying legislation, composing board policies and administrative rules and regulations and defending them in state and federal courts and before committees of the general assembly. He has developed and presented numerous school board and school employee training seminars and has authored over 100 bills to the Tennessee General Assembly that became law.

Chuck served two terms as president of the Tennessee Council of School Board Attorneys, and holds membership in the National School Boards Association’s Council of School Attorneys, the Education Law Association, and the American Tennessee, Nashville and Sevier County Bar Associations. Mr. Cagle is also a registered lobbyist with the Registry of Election Finance in the State of Tennessee and has represented school boards, related school organizations, municipalities, counties and fidelity insurance companies in the Tennessee General Assembly.

 

Samuel L. Jackson is a Shareholder who practices in the area of Education Law in a variety of legal matters including, but not limited to, employment of licensed and classified employees, employee contracts, employee and student discipline, employee and student rights, special education and disability accommodation, first amendment issues, sexual harassment and civil rights matters, desegregation, tort liability, school finance and taxation, and school construction.

Mr. Jackson is also experienced in general defense litigation, product liability, labor and employment law, transportation, and workers’ compensation law. Prior to starting his practice in Tennessee, Mr. Jackson served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Glen M. Williams, Senior United States District Judge for the Western District of Virginia. Mr. Jackson has represented boards of education and other business entities and individuals in various federal and state actions and administrative actions across Tennessee.

Mr. Jackson’s current clients are boards of education, transportation companies, national, regional, and local employers, insurance companies, and independent insurance agencies. His representation includes the defense of matters involving professional malpractice, personal injury, premises liability, errors and omissions, age, sex and race discrimination and employment related issues regarding licensed and classified personnel in schools systems.

Representative Experience:

Representation of boards of education across the state involving employment of licensed and classified employees, employee contracts, employee and student discipline, employee and student rights, special education and disability accommodation, first amendment issues, sexual harassment and civil rights matters, desegregation, tort liability, school finance and taxation, and school construction.

Representation of principal business owners in the successful mediation of various errors and omission matters.

Successfully defended employers in workers’ compensation matters including defenses concerning traveling to and from work, workplace safety violations, and violations of drug policy.

Defended employers in state and federal courts involving violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act and other discrimination and retaliation claims.

Successfully defended manufactures and sellers of products in products liability actions in state and federal court.

Successfully defended individuals and businesses in personal injury actions across Tennessee.

Successfully represented individuals and business entities in regard to real estate transactions across the state.

 

giordano.jpgEducation
Denison University, B.S., 1975
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 1978

Bar Admission
1978 Tennessee
1979 United States District Court (Eastern District of Tennessee)
1980 United States Court of Appeals (Sixth Circuit)
1983 United States Supreme Court

Practice Area
Education Law
Complex Litigation

Shareholder Larry Giordano engages in a statewide law practice based in Lewis King’s Knoxville office. He is a member of the Firm's Education Law, Business Practice and Complex Litigation Practice Groups. With nearly thirty years of practicing law in Tennessee, his diverse experience includes a wide range of civil law issues, both transactional and in litigation. He has significant juvenile law and criminal defense trial experience beginning with his year of training at the Georgetown University Juvenile Justice Clinic in Washington, D.C. Larry’s background and as important his enduring interest in Education Law allows Lewis King to offer its clients a depth of practical experience in answer to school related problems.

Larry is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University Of Tennessee College Of Law where he has taught courses in Trial Practice, Advanced Trial Practice and Pre-Trial Litigation since 1993. He is also on the faculty of the Kessler-Edison Trial Techniques Program at Emory University’s School Of Law in Atlanta, Georgia and he served as an Administrative Law Judge for the State of Tennessee Department of Education in the area of special education.

Larry is a member of the American, Tennessee and Knoxville Bar Associations and has served on the Board of Governors of the Knoxville Bar Association for many years. He was selected for membership in the Hamilton S. Burnett American Inn of Court in 1991 and was elected President of that organization in 1994. For his contributions to the advancement and protection of the law Larry is a year 2000 recipient of the Tennessee Bar Association's “Law and Liberty Award”. He was most recently named a Fellow of the Knoxville Bar Foundation.

Among his civic activities, he is a Member of the Board of Trustees of Catholic Charities of East Tennessee. He is a past member of the School Board at Knoxville Catholic High School. While at Knoxville Catholic, he also served as President, Vice-president and Secretary of the Knoxville Catholic High School Parent-Teacher Association and served as the boys’ varsity soccer coach at Knoxville Catholic for six highly successful years. He is currently an assistant men’s and women’s varsity soccer coach at Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee.

 

bergeron.jpgEducation
Vanderbilt University, B.A., 1999
Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 2003

Bar Admission
2004 Tennessee

Practice Area
Education Law
Administrative Law
Government Relations

Associate Jason Bergeron joined Lewis King's Nashville office in March 2007. Mr. Bergeron works in the Firm’s Education Practice, providing advice and representation to clients on a variety of legal matters, including employment of licensed and classified employees, employee contracts, employee and student discipline, employee and student rights, special education and disability accommodation, First Amendment issues, sexual harassment and civil rights matters, desegregation, tort liability, school finance and taxation, and school construction.

Before joining Lewis King, Jason practiced in the Department of Law for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. While at the Department of Law, he worked on a wide range of litigation matters, including employment discrimination, contract disputes and governmental tort defense claims and advised governmental departments on employment and licensing issues and represented the departments in various administrative hearings.

Jason earned his undergraduate degree in political science with a minor in Spanish from Vanderbilt University in 1999, worked as a political consultant during the 2000 election campaign and enrolled at Vanderbilt University Law School, earning his law degree in 2003.

A native of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Jason serves as a member of the Young Alumni Advisory Committee for the Vanderbilt National Commodore Club.

mccarty.jpg

Education
Maryville College, B.A., 2001
University of Tennessee, J.D., 2006

Bar Admission
2006 Tennessee

Practice Area
Education
Employment
Litigation

Chris W. McCarty practices in the areas of education law, employment law and general civil litigation. While Mr. McCarty’s practice centers on litigation, he also possesses experience in drafting employee handbooks, drug abuse and alcohol policies, employment agreements and legal documents.

At Maryville College Chris was a four-year letterman and two-year starter at defensive end for the school’s football team. Chris’s passion for helping others led him to the classroom as a history teacher at Seymour Middle School for the two years following graduation. In addition to his classroom responsibilities Chris served as the boy’s soccer and the assistant football coach.

In 2003, Chris left teaching to pursue a law degree from the University of Tennessee. While at UT, Chris was twice selected to the National Trial Team and he twice participated in the annual Ray Jenkins Trial Competition, winning first place in 2006.

Chris is an active member of the National School Board Association’s (NSBA) Council for School Attorneys (COSA). His article, No Pain, No Gain: Liability for Deaths and Injuries in School Athletics, appeared in the April issue of COSA’s monthly e-zine, Inquiry & Analysis.

Chris is a member of the Knoxville Bar Association, Barristers (Young Lawyer Section), and the Tennessee Bar Association and is admitted to practice in all state courts of Tennessee.

 

Education

Maryville College, B.A., 2001 

University of Tennessee, J.D., 2004 

 

Practice Areas 

Education 

Insurance Defense Litigation 

Products Liability Defense

Environmental Class Action Defense

 

Joseph W. Ballard joined Lewis King’s Knoxville office as an associate in 2007. Joseph has served as lead counsel representing individuals and companies in numerous counties across eastern Tennessee on a variety of legal issues. While a majority of Joseph’s work focuses on litigation, he alsoadvises corporate entities on a wide spectrum of subjects. Currently, Mr. Ballard is a member of Lewis King’s Education and Insurance Defense Practice Groups.

 

Joseph has presentedat a number ofLewis King webinars to various educational groups regarding the recently enacted requirements imposed upon school support organizations that raise money to support students. Joseph has provided legal assistance to school support organizations to ensure compliance, and has also been instrumental in preparing incorporating documents and obtaining both state and federal tax exemption for these entities.

 

Joseph’s participation in community activities includes serving as a current board member and secretary to a local chapter of the Boys & Girls Club. Additionally for the last three years, Joseph has implemented and directed an Upward Basketball and Cheerleading League.

 

Joseph is a current member of the Knoxville, Tennessee, and American Bar Association, and actively participates in the Young Lawyers Division of the Defense Research Institute (DRI).

 

Diane Di Ianni

Diane Di Ianni

Nashville Office
424 Church Street, Suite 2500
Nashville, Tennessee 37219
Telephone (615) 259-1366
Fax (615) 259-1389

DDiIanni@lewisking.com

 

Knoxville Office
One Centre Square
620 Market Street, Fifth Floor
Knoxville, TN 37902
Telephone (865) 546-4646   
Fax (865) 523-6529

Education
New York University School of Law, J.D., 1988 (Order of the Coif)
University of Virginia, M.A., 1984
University of New Hampshire, B.A., 1978

Bar Admission
2008 Tennessee
2000 United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
1988 United States District Court, Massachusetts
1988 Massachusetts

Practice Areas
Government Relations
Education Law
Administrative Law

Diane Di Ianni joined the firm as special counsel in 2010. She is a member of the Education Law Practice Group, and will focus her practice in the area of government relations. She is a registered lobbyist in the State of Tennessee, and represents school superintendents, related school organizations, and postsecondary institutions in the State of Tennessee.

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Di Ianni served as general counsel to the Boston School Committee and the Superintendent of Schools in Boston, Massachusetts. In this position, she acquired a broad range of experience advising school district leaders on legal matters involving the day-to-day operations of schools, including, public employee issues, public contracts, employee and student rights, employee and student discipline, special education and disability accommodations, first amendment issues, sexual harassment and civil rights litigation, desegregation, tort liability, and search and seizure, among others. More recently, Ms. Di Ianni was in private practice in Massachusetts, where she continued representing public and private sector clients in areas such as education (pre-K through postsecondary), and administrative law, as well as in public sector and business litigation in state and federal court. In Massachusetts, she was named a SuperLawyer in the area of public sector representation and business litigation. She has developed and presented numerous training seminars for school personnel and has authored and published articles on school related topics. Prior to law school, she served as an advocate for adjudicated youths and as a high school (math) teacher, and designed and conducted sociological research on curricular innovation in schools.

Ms. Di Ianni was appointed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court as a member of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers in 2006, and, prior to the appointment, served two consecutive three-year terms as a Board of Bar Overseers Hearing Panel Member. She also served as Chair of the Administration of Justice Section of the Boston Bar Association, where she acquired experience in monitoring bills on bench-bar matters in the Massachusetts legislature. More recently, she served as Chair of the Massachusetts Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Appointments.

Ms. Di Ianni holds membership in the American and the Tennessee Bar Associations. 

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Di Ianni served as a member of the State Action Committee of the Tennessee League of Women Voters, where she gained experience with the Tennessee General Assembly.