Hon. Ellen Lyle Chancellor for the Part III Ch

Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle 

• 21 years as a Chancellor in Davidson County (1995 to present)
• Partner in the Nashville law firm of Trabue, Sturdivant & DeWitt (1984-1995)
• Associate Attorney with Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston, Texas (1981-1984)
• Graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville (1978-1981)
• Graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (1975-1978)
• AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell 

With respect to business cases, those have predominated Ellen Lyle’s 34 years in the legal field. The last 21 years she has served as a judge in the Davidson County chancery courts hearing and deciding shareholder cases, dissolutions of corporations and LLCs and partnerships, accountings, noncompetition agreements, contract interpretation, construction litigation, and all aspects of business disputes including the case of the $1.5 billion merger of Genesco and Finish Line in the Fall of 2007. 

In addition to her judicial experience, Chancellor Lyle credits her experience in business cases to the training she received when she first started law practice in 1981 at the Houston, Texas law firm of Fulbright and Jaworski. While there Chancellor Lyle worked on a variety of business cases particularly involving contract litigation. One of the most memorable cases from her time at Fulbright was a lawsuit between Occidental Petroleum and a foreign buyer over the contract implications of the Libyan oil embargo imposed by ruler Muammar Gaddafi. 

Chancellor Lyle also has the experience of a small business person from her 7 years as partner at the law firm of Trabue, Sturdivant and Dewitt.