Category: News

Justin Scott Gilbert, an employment lawyer based in Chattanooga, TN, has earned the prestigious AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell®.

The AV Preeminent Rating is Martindale-Hubbell’s highest possible rating for both ethical standards and legal ability, even after first achieving this rating in 1998.

For more than 130 years, lawyers have relied on the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® rating while searching for their own expert attorneys. Now anyone can make use of this trusted rating by looking up a lawyer’s rating on Lawyers.com or martindale.com. The Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent® rating is the highest possible rating for an attorney for both ethical standards and legal ability. This rating represents the pinnacle of professional excellence. It is achieved only after an attorney has been reviewed and recommended by their peers – members of the bar and the judiciary. Congratulations go to Justin Gilbert, who has achieved the AV Preeminent® Rating from Martindale-Hubbell®.

Mr. Gilbert holds law degrees from Southern Methodist University and Scotland’s University of Edinburgh.  He has dedicated the last 20 years of his practice to representing workers suffering from employer misconduct. Mr. Gilbert consults and assists area churches, universities, and non-profit disability organizations. He was recognized for the pro bono award for West Tennessee in 2002.  Most important of all, he is married to his wife, Lynda, also an attorney, and they have twin boys and two daughters. They live in Chattanooga.

This appeal involves alleged employment discrimination based on gender and pregnancy. The female plaintiff was employed as a police officer by the defendant city. While off duty, the plaintiff encountered an ex-boyfriend against whom she had procured an order of protection. Based on this encounter, she filed a criminal charge against the ex-boyfriend for violating the order of protection. The defendant’s police chief ordered an internal affairs investigation, and the ex-boyfriend filed criminal charges against the plaintiff for filing a false charge. The plaintiff was suspended with pay pending resolution of the criminal charges. Soon after that, the plaintiff informed the police chief that she was pregnant. After the ex-boyfriend’s criminal charges against the plaintiff were dropped, the police chief terminated the plaintiff’s employment based on the results of the internal affairs investigation. The termination was upheld by the city’s mayor and its board of aldermen. The plaintiff filed this lawsuit against the employer city, alleging discrimination based on gender and pregnancy pursuant to the Tennessee Human Rights Act. The employer city filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that the plaintiff had no credible evidence that she was treated less favorably than similarly situated male employees. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the employer city. The plaintiff now appeals. We reverse, finding that the standard for summary judgment under Hannan v. Alltel Publishing Company and Gossett v. Tractor Supply Company has not been met in this case.

Source: TBA Today, 3/25/13

Attorneys Brandon McWherter and Clint Scott have Achieved the AV Preeminent® Rating – the Highest Possible Rating from Martindale-Hubbell®

McWherter and Scott, employment and insurance lawyers based in Jackson, TN at the firm of Gilbert Russell McWherter, have both earned the prestigious AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell®. McWherter and Scott join fellow Gilbert Russell McWherter attorney Justin Gilbert in being recipients of this prestigious award.

The AV Preeminent Rating is Martindale-Hubbell’s highest possible rating for both ethical standards and legal ability, even after first achieving this rating in 1998.

For more than 130 years, lawyers have relied on the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® rating while searching for their own expert attorneys. Now anyone can make use of this trusted rating by looking up a lawyer’s rating on Lawyers.com or martindale.com. The Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent® rating is the highest possible rating for an attorney for both ethical standards and legal ability. This rating represents the pinnacle of professional excellence. It is achieved only after an attorney has been reviewed and recommended by their peers – members of the bar and the judiciary. Congratulations go to Justin Gilbert, who has achieved the AV Preeminent® Rating from Martindale-Hubbell®.