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WSRB lawyers have deep roots in Tennessee, having grown up here, attending colleges and law schools throughout the state, and having practiced here for years. All Tennessee counties are familiar territory for these lawyers.
FORMAL BIOGRAPHIES
WSRB attorneys can be no better in litigation than the co-workers who share the responsibilities for defense and subrogation files. Each individual at WSRB is just that—individual (some more than others). The following is an “in their own words” introduction to each of us, arranged by office:
MEMPHIS
Kimberly Schuerman: If you are ever looking for me, you can find my family and I on the highway. I am a huge football fan. I love Titans football but college football is my passion. I attend most Alabama games since my daughter and the University of Alabama receive most of my salary. My son is starting his freshman year at the University of Tennessee, and we will truly be a “house divided”. My wardrobe will consist of a bizarre combination of Tiger blue, Crimson red, and Volunteer orange. On the rare occasion that I get any free time, I love to travel, read mindless romance novels, and float all summer in the pool. I am getting married on Labor Day and will attempt to blend two families. In the end, we will likely spend all of our time earning enough money to go toward soccer fees, volleyball fees, sorority and fraternity dues, and our contribution to two orthodontists and three major public universities.
Paul Burson: A lifelong Memphian, I have tried over 250 jury trials in every county west of the Tennessee River. I still have a passion for litigation. Although an advocate by nature, I recently became a Rule 31 Mediator and look forward to helping litigants to resolve their disputes through alternative processes.
What the school and vocational information does not necessarily reveal is my passion for teaching. I've taught fourth graders at Temple Israel Religious School for the past 23 years and have also been an instructor teaching Torts and Personal Injury, American Jurisprudence, Litigation Pleading and Arbitration. I have also been a frequent lecturer for NBI Continuing Legal Education speaking on topics including Trying the Soft Tissue Injury Case in Tennessee, Premises Liability, Litigating the Automobile Injury Claim in Tennessee, Premises Liability, Litigating the Automobile Injury Claim in Tennessee, Personal Injury Settlements in Tennessee and Practical Methods for Perfecting the Settlement of a Claim.
My wife, Terri, whom I met at THE Ohio State University (“Go Bucks!”), and I have been married for almost 27 years. We have two beautiful daughters, Hallie, a recent graduate of Indiana University who is now gainfully employed (Thank God!!) and Blair, who is a student at IU.
When I am not working or spending time with my family, I love to cook, listen to jazz and I’m an avid sports fan, especially rooting for The Ohio State Buckeyes in football, the Tennessee Titans, University of Memphis basketball and, of course, the Memphis Grizzlies.
Favorite Quote: “Live each day to the fullest because nobody promises us tomorrow.”
Kimberly Donald: I have been working for this firm for nine years now through lots of changes. We all just keep getting older and better. Like fine wines, we improve with age. This past year we moved to a new location. I have my own office. I was allowed to decorate in my eclectic style and love it. Since my last blog, I have acquired two more dogs. Seems my daughters were worried about my empty nest dilemma when my youngest left for college so they brought me friends. I now have four dogs to keep me company. My oldest daughter graduated from CBU with her BS in Chemistry. My youngest is a student at Mississippi State in Starkville. I miss her terribly when she is away. They both are in love with very nice young men, but I am not sure I am ready for them to get married. I love to watch the home decorating network which has led my husband who is a carpenter to try and talk me into buying a house to flip. I am not so sure I am up for all that hard work after a day at the office. I have great group of friends here at WSRB which makes coming to work enjoyable. You know what they say, birds of a feather flock together. Lastly, I am still hopeful that I will win the lottery so I can vacation for life. If I do win, I will take you guys with me... occasionally.
Deanna Rogers: I have been married 15 years to my, most of the time, wonderful husband Jeff. (Did I say that?) We have two beautiful children – a son and a daughter – who are responsible for every laugh line and gray hair in my head! We also have a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog – Sophie, a 140 lb lap dog who truly believes she is one of our kids! I love spending time with my friends and family and maybe a White Russian or two.
I re-entered the “outside the home” workforce, which was really like a vacation, a couple of years ago after a 7 year hiatus of raising kids and helping my husband with our hardwood floor business. But it seems like I never left… as I went back to work for and with most of the same people I did so long ago, Paul, Kreis, Gary and Cathy, although by looking at us, it must've been only yesterday! So if I can’t be independently wealthy and have Brad Pitt as my pool boy, I feel very lucky and fortunate to work with such an incredible bunch of people.
NASHVILLE
Kreis White: The legal bug bit watching Senate Watergate hearings. I married my high school sweetheart Jennifer decades ago. She's still very patient. Between us, we worked four jobs while in school. Our college sons, Matthew and Joshua, and high schooler, Rachel, have taught us again how to laugh, cry, pout and even to occasionally stand strong for principles and ideals held dear. Perhaps as a way to combat empty nest syndrome, we have two parrots: one that bosses the dog around and another that growls.
If I couldn't litigate, I don't know what I would (or could) do. A semi-serious goal is to try a jury trial in every Tennessee county before I die or retire. I'm well over 2/3 there -- the courthouse pictures that appear at random throughout this web site are part of my jurisprudential safari.
Even if I played guitar like Eric Clapton (which I surely do not), I'd still show up for work each day. Other than guitar, hobbies include motorcycling, Titans football, light carpentry, pit crewing Rachel's horses, Pepper and Ragweed, bushhogging 45 acres in Thompson's Station, Tennessee and books by the score. Jennifer is dragging me into amateur astronomy, which the kids have dubbed as "astro-nerd" outings.
Favorite book: Animal Farm, by George Orwell ("Some animals are more equal than others...")
Favorite movie: Animal House ("Seven years of college down the drain...")
Favorite possession: Martin D-18 guitar I've had since the 70's
Favorite courthouses: Those with indoor plumbing and no metal detectors.
Maralyn Meador: When we opened the Nashville office in 1995, it looked like a bookie's operation; sometimes it still does. I’ll never forget the boxes and boxes of files and the folding tables we were working on (since we didn’t have any desks). Growing from two to twenty-five co-workers has been something of an adjustment. I'm still adjusting after all this time.
At the end of the day, I head to my farm in Dickson County where I enjoy spending time with my husband over 20 years and two dogs and many farm critters. We like to go flying, hunt, fish, garden and do the daily farm chores that come with raising cattle, chickens and hogs. Since I love to cook, to me going out for dinner is having supper on the back porch!
Scott Rhodes: When I am not driving the far reaches of Interstates 24 and 75, memorizing all the exit numbers between Nashville and Sweetwater, I am the quiet, reserved, scholarly attorney of the WSRB Nashville asylum, er….office. I like reading about and studying all areas of the law, not just insurance defense topics. I particularly like reading the criminal appellate opinions and the constitutional and evidence issues. If I was not a civil trial lawyer, I would like to be a prosecutor. If I could not practice law, I would like to teach it.
My other part-time scholastic pursuit is history, especially southern history. I went through an honors program at Vanderbilt University during my senior year. The program culminated with a thesis about the Tennessee Whig Party. Someday I would like to go back and polish that up and perhaps turn it into a book and write about other historical topics.
My activities after work hours include reading, crossword puzzles, running, playing golf and softball and practicing on my trumpet and soprano bugle. The summer months are particularly busy now that I am involved with Nashville’s very first drum and bugle corps. Music City Legend was incorporated in 2004 as a 501(c)(3) corporation. I serve as one of the two founders and the Assistant Executive Director. Legend has given me the opportunity to pursue an activity I have been enthralled by since my high school days.
I am very competitive by nature, despite watching almost 20 years of hapless Vanderbilt football. Whether it’s drum corps, fantasy football or a trial, I will work as hard as necessary to win (within the rules). If I lose, I’ll just try harder the next time. This work ethic has served my clients and myself well since I began life as a trial lawyer.
Anne Holland: I wrote my bio... it's on my desk... somewhere... Oh. Here it is:
I am happily divorced with one wonderful, perfect child (in my objective opinion). To maintain a modicum of social respectibility, I volunteer with the Wilson County CASA as an advocate for children in foster care. Through them, I have met some of the nicest folks in the world -- foster parents. Although he has moved offices three times since I started here almost a decade ago, Kreis has been unable to shake me -- I keep showing up for work. By some fluke that puzzles my coworkers, I passed the NASP exam in 2005 to become a Certified Subrogation Recovery Professional. So, the obvious decision was to move me from the Subrogation Department to the Defense Litigation Department, where I hear Scott daily wishing for his old paralegal back...
Gary Kellar: I am a PK (preacher’s kid) from one of the largest families in the Northern Hemisphere. I have brothers, sisters and numerous cousins all across the country and in Canada. It is probably why I am known in the office as The Travelin' Man. If I want to see my family, I have to meet them at an I-40 rest area.
I graduated law school from the University of Tennessee in 1992 and have enjoyed arguing at the Bar ever since. I have been married for more than 20 years to my beautiful dentist wife and we are actively putting our two sons through college. We are also actively attempting to keep the teenage boys away from our teenage daughter in high school. I am a deacon in the church my father currently pastors and am an avid cross-country bicyclist. (Insert more travelin’ man music here.)
I love to work late into the evening so that I can “surprise” Cathy the next day with odd little jobs that are time sensitive. She loves a challenge and finds a number of original ways to express her delight with me during those times.
Cathy Bell: I'm like a cold ginger ale on a hot summer day. In one word: refreshing! I landed here in December 2004, and each day I come to work people are still surprised and relieved that I have returned. I'm a local girl who grew up the middle child with two brothers. I've never been married, never had children, and really don't see the need to do either one! Boys generally still have cooties and kids are great in small doses and then need to return from whence they came (my nieces and nephew and the Dean triplets don't fall into that catagory -- they are my joy!)
Having been part of a large church staff, I figured I could do just about anything. I've produced small plays, dinner theater, large Christmas and Easter productions, and the Pastor's Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando in June 2000. I've cleaned up camel poop (a very realistic nativity scene!) While there's no camel poop here in this office, per se, I have seen it get pretty deep in here! I still am active in the Worship Ministry at Two Rivers Baptist Church where I have the joy and privilege of singing in the choir and on one of the praise teams. I serve on the Board of Directors for another ministry, Images Creative Group, and find that serving others brings the greatest fulfillment to me. Kreis White and I have an unspoken agreement not to spiritually bash each other over theological interpretations of scripture... however, a well placed barb here and there keeps us on our toes! Must be one of the reasons I like it here.
I ache to be either on a hiking trail or next to the ocean. I love nature, but I hate bugs... what a dichotomy (and I love to spring odd words on my vocabulary-challenged coworkers.) My greatest joy was hiking the southern rim of the Grand Canyon some years ago, and I long to go back out west and hike the northern rim. My secret desire is to climb Mt. Everest, but I'll have to lose half my body weight in order to do so and for some reason it stubbornly refuses to come off... hey, those chips over there look good... I digress. My other secret passion is creative writing. I have a series of short stories that I hope to one day publish, and a blog. My family is frightened at this aspect because the majority of the stories come from their antics! If there are any publishers out there, please call!
Janice Sims: At a young age, I trained as a paralegal because I always wanted to jump out of perfectly good airplanes. To my surprise, I ended up at US Auto Insurance and was given all the work that no one else wanted to do, just like my job here at WSRB. My job at WSRB is to try to keep up with the subrogation diary -- to keep each one these files on track. To try to forget my work day, I stay active in my church, praying for help and singing in the choir. I learned to enjoy cooking as a protective measure when my son James went through the teenage years and ate everything in the house, including some of the smaller pieces of furniture. Fortunately, he is now grown, and I can play with the money previously allocated to groceries and furniture replacement. Consequently, I am the best dressed person in this office. Not that that is saying all that much.
Laurie Precourt: During my prior 14 year career with a large auto finance company, I was "transplanted" from central NY to middle TN in 1995 (what a culture shock!). In 2001, I was asked to move again, but instead I found my way to WSRB as a
Subrogation Specialist. I've been married for over 20 years (what a challenge, but nothing in life is ever easy for me). I am a proud mother of two beautiful teenage girls (another challenge). Felicia is a "retired" rhythmic gymnast, after eight years of traveling 40 miles to train, 4-5 days per week and attending nationwide competitions. She is a junior and dances for her high school dance team, and is also now employed part time by the gym she trained at, as well as being a certified USA Gymnastics judge. Meagan is my social butterfly (very active with her friends), proudly takes after Mom by "kicking grass" on the soccer field. She's played since age four and currently plays for her middle school team in the fall and on a travel team the rest of the year. Since my oldest now has her drivers license (so that we now discuss car accident negligence ad nauseam due to my job!), and my hubby works out of town (when he's not injured), I finally have time for myself to: working out at Curves, watching reality TV (American Idol & So You Think You Can Dance), cleaning my home that has been neglected for the past eight years, and making the long commute to work every day to be with my wonderful co-workers! I am the quiet, efficient one in the office. My job is to open new files and to double check the accuracy of the deposits going to the bank. My work ethic is rewarded by all new problem files finding their way to my desk. I may need to rethink my workplace strategy.
Mary Gosnell: Happily married and with more common sense than most of my coworkers, I keep my head down and try to avoid eye contact with the crazy people around here. Unfortunately, it is much harder to avoid the many, many subro calls we receive daily. It's remarkable how many people do not remember being in an automobile accident until you show them the police report to prove it. I worry occasionally that I am the only sane person in the world, but then I go home to my husband, and he reassures me that I'm not at all sane. That might be why they assigned me to handle all of the incoming mail and faxes in subrogation.
My cats are all the children I have. I have too much fun with my husband to want to slow down for children any time soon. Some of our hobbies include motorcycling, watching boxing and football, and recently going to NASCAR races. Front row at Talladega was AWESOME! Last but not least, I have a lifelong addiction to Buffalo "Wild" Wings washed down with a cold beer.
Moe Loughran: In an exhausted haze one day, I agreed to become our arbitration specialist. Chained at my desk trying to write the arbitration contentions with only half of the information that I need, I have somehow become our resident arbitration expert.
To my coworkers' chagrin, it has become clear that my quick wit and sharp tongue are both cutting and debilitating, earning healthy respect for my dark and twisted humor. I have been told that soon I will have the same bitter tendencies as the rest of the office as it dawns on me that nobody leaves employment with WSRB (..."You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave"...).
I have a wonderful, perfect little girl in elementary school. She is the most important thing in my life, including my passion for music.
KNOXVILLE
Candis Daniel: A loyal Titans fan married to a Colts maniac – might this be justifiable homicide? I’ll check with the criminal lawyer down the street. I do admit, however, that I cheer for Manning – Peyton that is -- as long as he isn’t throwing against the Titans. Between the Colts fan and I, we have five (yes, I said five) beautiful daughters -– two out of college, well, actually, one just enrolled for her master’s program so she doesn’t count anymore, one graduating from college this year and two still to go. I won’t even mention the weddings still to come. The dog’s a girl too, by the way, so when the hormones in the house reach a certain level, my husband announces that he’s going to the driving range. The problem for him, however, is that I’ve learned to play golf, and I usually beat him to the punch in saying “I’m heading to the driving range.” I absolutely love to travel and am committed to going on at least one foreign mission trip every year. I have been blessed to have traveled to Thailand, Spain, Turkey, China, Mexico and the Turks & Caicos, as well as Hawaii and many cities in the United States. We here in Knoxville, the newest WSRB office, wish to thank Kreis, Gary and Scott for their contribution to this office. What would we have done without all of those hand-me-downs?
Jennifer Craig: I've wanted to be a lawyer ever since the Watergate hearings. I was born and raised in East Tennessee. My blood runs orange. I graduated from UT, undergrad and law school. I have two cats, Buffy (orange, white and black; road uniform) and Marmalade (orange and white; home uniform). I enjoy spoiling my nephew, Andrew, and his new little sister, the lovely Olivia. When not harassing adjusters, I am trying to finish painting the interior of my house. I love UT football and basketball. Go Peyton and the Colts! I like the Titans except when they play the Colts. I love to read and cross-stitch and work in the yard. Maybe I'll cross-stitch a book about gardening using only orange and white thread...
Teresa White: I came to work at WSRB in May, 2007. I am the subrogation paralegal for the Knoxville office, among my many other office duties. Enough about that. Well, I’ve been very happily married for the past 25 years . The Lord double blessed me with a great son and daughter who fortunately, in turn, got blessed with their handsome dad’s looks. My son graduates high school this year and is going to become a fireman and the way I leave things burning on the stove, a fireman in the family is a prayer answered! My smarter than I am daughter still has two years of high school, after which, she will be attending U.T. Although I’ve worked in law firms for the past 22 years, I’ve always had a secret ambition to be a writer. As a matter of fact, I’m working on a book titled “How to Stay Married” and if I ever get it published I’ll give everybody at WSRB an autographed copy at half off the retail price! However, if that doesn’t work out, I have another plan. I keep begging Dancing with the Stars to let me be a contestant on the show (just because I’ve never had a failing acting career or never been in rehab, should that disqualify me???). Anyway, the producers won’t take my calls anymore and they have blocked all of my emails. I’m thinking maybe they’re just too busy right now…I’ll start calling again next season. In my spare time I sell Mary Kay, yes, I am a proud Mary Kay Beauty Consultant! So if any of you out there needs a facial or makeover, I’m your girl, uh Beauty Consultant. I’m big on prayers so I asked the Lord to place me where he wanted me to be, so here I am at WSRB and here I’ll stay until I get my call from Dancing with the Stars!
Sara Overbay: Pressure. So much pressure. It is so much pressure to appear on the WSRB website. I heard that this website is famous among law students. I guess for being the model of how every law firm’s biographies should appear.
My husband Jason (the current insurance auto auction manager and future sports-talk radio host) and I have been married forever and have two spoiled-rotten daughters, Olivia and Keely (Liv and Kee for short). And this Minivan Mom also has the cutest nephews in the world and the most precious niece. I grew up in a very small town in East Tennessee and lived on Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina after Jason and I married, before moving back to the “big” city of Knoxville. I love to laugh, eat Mexican food, read gossip magazines, and spend time with my family, of course. I hate to cook and do laundry – which I don’t think will ever win me a Wife of the Year Award.
So, to sum it all up - I am a small town girl, full-time mommy, slacker wife and a happy paralegal with White, Schuerman, Rhodes & Burson – which for the first few days here I pronounced “White, SHERMAN, Rhodes & Burson.”
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