Stites & Harbison Promotes Eight Attorneys

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC announced today that eight attorneys have been promoted to Member (Partner). The promotions are effective January 1, 2026. The new Members (Partners) include:

Joshua F. Barnette – Atlanta office – Torts & Insurance Practice Service Group. Barnette advises clients through all phases of litigation, including appeals in state and federal courts. He regularly represents and advises businesses, non-profits and individuals in the areas of commercial litigation, fiduciary duties, torts and insurance, construction litigation, employment litigation, professional liability, and federal criminal defense.

Neil E. Barton – Louisville, Ky., office – Torts & Insurance Practice Service Group. Barton’s practice focuses on product liability defense, particularly cases involving residential and commercial fires and explosions. Barton also provides comprehensive legal services in the insurance arena, including investigating and analyzing complex legal and factual issues to deliver coverage opinions, defending first- and third-party bad faith claims, and prosecuting declaratory judgment actions on behalf of carriers and clients. His practice also focuses on defending against suits alleging medical negligence. Barton is certified by the National Association of Fire Investigators as a Fire and Explosion Investigator.

Gentry C. Collins – Lexington, Ky., office – Trusts & Estates Service Group. Collins advises individuals, families, and business owners on developing and implementing estate plans tailored to their personal and long term objectives. Her practice includes the full spectrum of estate planning and estate and trust administration, with a focus on making complex planning clear and manageable for her clients. She has experience drafting comprehensive estate plans; advising on estate, gift and Kentucky inheritance tax matters; administering estates and trusts; and planning for long term care. Collins also designs business succession strategies, counsels on business entity selection, and forms and advises nonprofit organizations. She represents clients in fiduciary litigation and provides guidance on elder law matters.

Jennifer Henry Jackson – Louisville, Ky., office – Torts & Insurance Practice Service Group. Jackson handles a wide variety of litigation matters, including product liability, toxic and mass torts, medical malpractice, professional liability, premises liability, and actions alleging serious personal injury or death. She routinely defends clients in state and federal criminal cases. Jackson represents health care providers in complex fraud investigations involving the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Drug Enforcement Agency, as well as state investigative agencies. Through her health care practice, Jackson advises clients on physician self-referral issues, reimbursement issues, data privacy and security, licensure matters, and fraud and abuse laws.

Daniel B. Millman – Atlanta office – Torts & Insurance Practice Service Group. Millman is a litigator with over a decade of trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts. He defends lawyers, accountants, real estate brokers, and other professionals when their reputations and livelihoods are on the line. Business owners engage him to resolve disputes with their co-owners and employees. Local governments turn to him when developers challenge their zoning and licensing decisions. He has also litigated insurance coverage, FDCPA, TCPA, and Voting Rights Act cases. Litigators of all stripes turn to him for help with appeals.

Ann H. Murphy – Nashville, Tenn., office – Construction Service Group and Business Litigation. Service Group. Murphy is a civil litigator with extensive experience in professional liability defense, construction defect litigation, construction contract disputes, and complex business and commercial litigation. She represents clients in all phases of litigation, from early case assessment through trial and appeal. She regularly handles matters involving contract drafting, review and negotiation, as well as disputes arising from public construction projects and procurement issues. Her experience includes representing owners, contractors, design professionals, and businesses in high-stakes disputes. An experienced trial lawyer, Murphy has successfully tried cases before juries and has argued appeals before the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Joseph V. Ronderos, Jr. – Nashville, Tenn. and Huntsville, Ala., offices – Business Litigation Service Group. Ronderos is an experienced litigator in the firm’s Business Litigation Service Group, focusing on financial services, creditors’ rights, commercial disputes, and product liability. He has successfully represented clients in complex litigation and appeals before state and federal courts, including the Sixth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals. His work spans defending mortgage servicers under RESPA, handling claims under TCPA, FDCPA, and TILA, and resolving foreclosure challenges. Ronderos also advises on structured settlement transfers, real property title issues, and estate planning. His expertise combines deep knowledge of business litigation with proven results in high-stakes cases for financial institutions and manufacturers.

Gary N. Stewart (Nick) – Louisville, Ky., office – Intellectual Property & Technology Service Group. Stewart is a Registered Patent Attorney. His practice focuses heavily in patent preparation and prosecution. With a diverse technical background rooted in the fields of biotechnology, physics, and computer science, Stewart routinely helps navigate clients with technologies across a broad array of technical fields towards patent protection. In addition to patent application preparation and prosecution, he also assists clients with a variety of other intellectual property-based services, including preparing patentability analyses and freedom to operate opinions, licensing agreements, and trademark and copyright procurement.