Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis


Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP is a large U.S. law firm in Nashville, Tennessee with other offices in the Southern United States.

History

As the oldest law firm in Nashville, Waller traced its roots back to the Nashville, Tennessee firm of Pitts & McConnico, founded in April 1905 in Nashville, Tennessee by John Pitts and K.T. McConnico. McConnico was one of the attorneys who represented the state when John T. Scopes filed an appeal with the Tennessee Supreme Court of his famous conviction in the Scopes Monkey Trial for teaching evolution in a public school.
The current firm, headquartered in Nashville City Center, is the result of growth and a series of mergers with firms throughout the Southern United States. The firm maintains additional offices in Tennessee, Alabama and Texas. The firm's early growth resulted from its handling of about 90 percent of the corporate securities work in Tennessee in 1950 through its relationships with Equitable Securities Company and J.C. Bradford & Co.
On March 1, 2023, Waller completed a combination with Holland & Knight LLP. As a result of the combination, Holland & Knight will have nearly 2,000 attorneys in 34 offices across the United States and internationally.
Following the deal, the Nashville office of Holland & Knight has more than 200 attorneys.
Holland & Knight is ranked 26th on The American Lawyer's AmLaw 200 for 2025, with a gross revenue of $2.043 billion. They also rank 31st globally in the 2024 Global 200 survey.

Practice areas

With a reputation as having one of the top healthcare law practices in the nation, the firm also has attorneys engaged in corporate, mergers & acquisitions, labor and employment, real estate, bankruptcy, intellectual property, private equity and tax law.
Waller is a member of the World Services Group, an international professional services network of independent law, accounting and investment banking firms.

Noteworthy matters and transactions

Waller represented Nissan Motor Corp. in its move to Tennessee and then later worked in securing the site for General Motors Corp.'s Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
Waller also helped start Surgical Care Affiliates and Logan's Roadhouse organize their respective initial public offerings.
When famed entrepreneur Jack Massey co-founded Hospital Corporation of America with Thomas F. Frist, Sr. and Thomas F. Frist, Jr. in 1968, he personally selected Waller to assist with the company's incorporation and later complete many healthcare mergers and acquisitions for several decades as it became the nation's largest chain of for-profit hospitals

Notable lawyers and alumni