Personal Injury + Trust and Estates

Trusts and Estates, Personal Injury, and Business Litigation Attorney

With 29 years of experience fighting for the rights of her clients, litigation attorney Rebecca Blair has the knowledge and skill to get positive results. At The Blair Law Firm, Ms. Blair and her team provide the prompt, attentive service of a small law firm combined with the skill and quality of litigators who have learned their way around the courtroom while working for larger firms. The Blair Law Firm provides the same high-level legal counsel as larger firms, with the attention and personal service of a smaller firm.

Ms. Blair enjoys an AV Preeminent rating from her peers as awarded by Martindale Hubbell. Ms. Blair has also been listed with Mid-South Super Lawyers since 2009. In 2012, Brentwood personal injury attorney Rebecca Blair was selected by Super Lawyers to the list of top 50 Women Lawyers in the Mid-South.

Personal Injury

Often, the physical injury suffered in an accident is just the beginning of a journey that includes both physical and emotional pain. An entire family may be affected by a catastrophic or disabling injury. These injuries can include burns, disfigurement, spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, torn ligaments, and more. If your injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to recover compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. Often, you will need to establish that the defendant owed you a duty of care, they breached the duty of care, this resulted in the accident, and you sustained actual damages. Litigation may arise out of events such as car accidents, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, slip and falls, drowning incidents, dangerous or defective products, and sexual assault.

Estate and Trust Planning

Estate and Trust planning allows you to control the way in which your possessions are divided after you die. One of the most basic estate planning documents is a will. Wills are legal documents that specify how you want your property and affairs handled when you die. If there is no will, your estate will pass according to the laws of intestacy, which may result in your property not passing as you wish. Our estate plans also address end-of-life medical care preferences, allowing clients to appoint and direct decision-makers as to their end of life wishes. Other estate planning tools include a living will, a durable power of attorney, and trusts.

Probate, Estate and Trust Administration

After a loved one passes away, you may need to deal with probate and estate administration issues. Our firm can walk you through this process step by step. Usually, we will start with an in-person meeting to decide which assets are remaining after your loved one’s death, who should receive these assets as beneficiaries, and which actions need to be taken to transfer legal title to the assets. It may be necessary to probate the decedent’s will in the county where they lived. However, if there is no will, an intestate administration of the estate may be started. Certain assets can pass outside probate, such as those for which beneficiaries are already designated, including life insurance policies and retirement accounts. It may be necessary to file appropriate documents with the register of deeds to transfer legal title of real property. Your loved one may have a created a trust that needs to be administered or may have taken other steps to ensure that property would pass according to a certain plan. We assist clients in sorting out these details and making sure that their loved one’s affairs are handled properly.

Estate Litigation

The death of a loved one is challenging and made only more so when their last wishes are not honored. Rebecca Blair is an experienced advocate for the purposes of holding a fiduciary accountable or ensuring that a loved one’s wishes are met after their death. The Blair Law Firm handles will contests, trust contests, undue influence claims, breach of fiduciary duty claims, and declaratory judgment actions to interpret the language of a testamentary document or to identify property of the estate. We represent executors and trustees in estate litigation, as well as beneficiaries and other creditors in claims against the estate. The circumstances will dictate which kind of estate litigation is appropriate. Wills can be challenged on the basis of competency or testamentary capacity; in other words, it may be possible to argue that the decedent was not of sound mind at the time that the will was executed, such that they did not know and understand what they were doing. A will contest could also be brought on the grounds that the will was executed because of undue influence or fraud.

Business Litigation

In addition to serving as Brentwood personal injury lawyers and guiding people through trusts and estates issues, we represent business owners in litigation. Business litigation often involves contract disputes. Contracts are exchanges of enforceable promises by two or more parties. To be valid, they should include an offer, acceptance, and consideration. Most contracts are governed by state law. A breach of a contract occurs when a party to which a duty is owed does not receive the substantial benefit of the bargain because the other party failed to perform. When a breach is material, the consequences can be significant; remedies may involve compensatory damages, liquidated damages, or even specific performance. Our firm also handles other types of business litigation, such as insurance coverage litigation, collections actions, employment litigation, inter-business disputes, shareholder disputes, and breaches of non-compete agreements.

Mediation

Mediation is an informal process in which a mediator assists parties in a dispute with coming to an agreement. It is a form of alternative dispute resolution. The process of mediation usually identifies the issues that are most important to the parties, clarifies misunderstandings, raises possible solutions, and aims to result in a settlement. However, a mediator is not a judge, and they cannot make a decision about how the dispute should be resolved. The mediator is impartial and facilitates communication between the parties so that they can reach a resolution with which both sides can live. Ms. Blair is listed as a Rule 31 General Civil Mediator. Applicants must meet certain qualifications to be listed as Rule 31 mediators in Tennessee.

Consult an Experienced Attorney in the Brentwood Area

The Blair Law Firm offers skillful legal representation to individuals and businesses in Tennessee. Rebecca Blair has been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in both plaintiffs’ personal injury litigation and business litigation. She received recognition among the Top 50 Women Lawyers in the Mid-South in 2012 by Mid-South Super Lawyers/Memphis Magazine. Our firm represents clients throughout Middle Tennessee, including Williamson and Davidson Counties. Call us at (615) 953-1122 or contact us via our online form to set up an appointment with a personal injury attorney in the Brentwood area or discuss a business, trust, or estate matter.