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Shelley S. Breeding

Partner

Shelley S. Breeding is a prominent family law, business law and civil litigation attorney with years of experience handling multi-million-dollar divorce and business cases in state and federal courts. She has argued numerous cases in front of the Tennessee Court of Appeals and the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Shelley represents individuals as well as corporations. She is skilled at handling all phases of litigation, from filing new cases through discovery and depositions to trial, and when needed, appeals. Shelley has taken dozens of depositions of expert witnesses and is well versed in all aspects of pre-trial and post-trial motions and proceedings in state and federal courts. For her corporate clients, she handles everything from forming the corporation to drafting contracts to litigation for her business clients. For her family law clients, Shelley helps negotiate or litigate the division of assets and debts and alimony. When children are involved, Shelley helps clients navigate the difficult task of forming a parenting plan and calculate appropriate child support. She has years of trial experience, including both jury and bench trials. She has been lead counsel in hundreds of cases and is well-known in courts across East Tennessee.

Shelley has been a featured speaker for continuing legal education seminars presented by the National Business Institute as well as the Knoxville Bar Association. Shelley serves on non-profit boards in the community, appears as a political pundit on Tennessee This Week, and regularly supports charities in the area.

In addition to practicing in all courts in Tennessee, Shelley is admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Shelley is originally from Lebanon, Virginia. She graduated from the University of Tennessee as a Whittle Scholar, majoring in Political Science and Japanese and World Business. She then obtained her J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law. While in law school, she studied international law at Cambridge University in England, and she studied human rights law in Argentina, Chile, and South Africa. After graduating from law school, she worked in the Office of Global Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia before returning to private practice in Knoxville. She started her own firm in 2008 and has represented hundreds of clients since that time. Shelley is married and has two very active sons and several rescued pets.

Areas of Practice

  • Mediation
  • Contracts
  • Collections
  • Construction Contracts
  • Construction Liens
  • Wills
  • Family Law
  • Adoption
  • Alimony & Spousal Support
  • Child Support
  • Childrens’ Rights
  • Collaborative Law
  • Custody & Visitation
  • Divorce
  • Domestic Violence & Neglect
  • Juvenile Law
  • Paternity
  • Prenuptial Agreements
  • Litigation & Appeals
  • Complex Litigation
  • Federal Trial Practice
  • State Appellate Practice
  • State Trial Practice
  • Premises Liability — Plaintiff
  • Slip and Fall — Plaintiff
  • Probate & Estate Administration
  • Estate Administration
  • Trusts
  • Real Estate Law
  • Landlord/Tenant

Bar Admissions

  • Tennessee, 2005
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of Tennessee, 2007

Education

University of Tennessee College of Law, Knoxville, Tennessee

  • J.D.
  • Honors: Order of the Barristers
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee

  • B.A. – 2002
  • Honors: University Honors Program
  • Major: Japanese and World Business
  • Major: Political Science

Published Works

  • Japan’s Health Care System: The Rise and Fall of a Once Great System, The Hiragana Times, Japan, September, 2001

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Tennessee Bar Association, Member, 2006 to 2014
  • East Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women, Member
  • Knoxville Bar Association, Member, 2006 to 2014

Past Employment Positions

  • Howard & Howard, P.C., Associate Attorney, 2006 to 2008
  • U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005 to 2006

Pro Bono Activities

  • Volunteer, High School Mock Trial Competition, 2007 to 2008
  • Volunteer Coach, UT Law Jessup Moot Court Team, 2006 to 2008

Ancillary Businesses

  • Civil Mediation

Languages

  • English
  • Japanese