Stites & Harbison, PLLC

Donna L. Roberts

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Donna L. Roberts is a Member of the firm located in the Nashville office and concentrates her practice in the areas of business and commercial litigation. Her litigation experience includes a wide range of subjects with particular emphasis in the areas of complex commercial disputes, employment law, toxic tort and environmental defense, and product liability. The industries with which she has specific expertise include financial institutions, health care providers, manufacturers and medical device companies.

In addition to litigating commercial and tort-related disputes, Ms. Roberts also has deep experience in litigating non-compete and trade secret cases, and regularly defends companies against EEOC charges and lawsuits brought under Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA and FLSA.

Ms. Roberts was recognized as a “Nashville Leader Under 40” by the Nashville Business Journal. She has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Mid-South Super Lawyers in 2009-2011. 

Recent Assignments

• Counsel to mid-sized and publicly-traded companies in employment discrimination matters, wage and hour issues, non-compete and contract disputes, ERISA claims, including defense of related lawsuits filed in both state and federal court
• Defending a large medical device manufacturer in mass tort cases pending nationwide
• Defending one of the world’s largest food services and facilities management companies in multiple personal injury lawsuits and product liability cases pending in Tennessee
• Represented Toyota in Tennessee cases in 2010, coordinated removals to federal court, obtained procedural stays and facilitated transfers to the Toyota MDL
• Counsel to manufacturers of drugs, medical devices and other consumer products in product liability, tort, commercial and employment matters
• Obtained favorable verdicts and judgments in 10+ cases on behalf of large national banking associations and mortgage companies in 2010-2011
• Counseled and navigated companies through sensitive data and security breach incidents including providing notice to affected individuals, negotiating contracts with credit reporting agencies, and coordinating response to Attorneys General of multiple states

Reported and Representative Cases

• Rodriguez v. Stryker Corp., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1252 (M.D. Tenn. Jan. 5, 2011)
• Suntrust Equip. Fin. & Leasing Corp. v. A&E Salvage, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99561 (E.D. Tenn. Oct. 26, 2009)
• Tucker v. Sierra Builders, 180 S.W.3d 109 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005)
• Xerox Corp. v. O'Dowd, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78339 (M.D. Tenn. Oct. 26, 2006)
• Spann v. Am. Express Travel Related Servs. Co., 224 S.W.3d 698 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2006)
• Wong-Opasi v. Nat'l Bank of Commerce, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41609 (M.D. Tenn. June 2, 2006)
• Schaller v. Donelson Air Conditioning Co., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24117 (M.D. Tenn. Aug. 4, 2005)

More Than Stites & Harbison

Ms. Roberts is passionate about advocating for women and minorities in the legal profession.  As the President of the Marion Griffin Chapter of the Lawyers’ Association for Women (http://www.law-nashville.org/), she writes monthly articles and presents programs on topics related to the retention and elevation of women and minority lawyers in law firms and legal departments as well as to the federal and state judiciaries. She is a former board member of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and a Barrister with the Harry Phillips American Inn of Court. 

Besides Stites & Harbison

Donna and her husband, fellow lawyer Stephen Roberts, have two active and creative young sons, Van and Reed, and two very tolerant dogs, Scout and Atticus.

When she isn’t litigating, participating in bar and community service work or teaching Sunday School, Donna can be found hanging out with her family and contemplating new ways to remove permanent ink from furniture fabric.