Our Team

Derek Whitlock is the senior litigation partner for the firm. His practice ranges from litigation involving contractual disputes and negotiations, real property matters including landlord-tenant matters to handling personal injury representations. He has successfully won and defended numerous multi-million dollar lawsuits. While he is adept in the courtroom he firmly believes that the best resolution is, generally, a reasonable settlement which will shorten the clients litigation exposure and costs as quickly as possible.  He served a clerkship in the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office from 2008 to 2010. Derek is licensed to practice in all courts in the states of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. He is also admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Western of Tennessee, U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Selected Professional Awards and Associations

• Arkansas Bar Association
• Mississippi Bar Association
• Tennessee Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• American Trial Lawyers Association
• Memphis Bar Association
• Tennessee Association for Justice
• Named as Mid-South Rising Star consecutively from 2015 through 2021 by Super Lawyers for Business Litigation

Representative Matters

• Obtained millions of dollars in settlement funds related to personal injury claims.
• File and prosecute 500+ residential and commercial evictions per month in courts across West Tennessee and North Mississippi.
• Represent owners and management entities in debtor bankruptcy filings.
• Successfully defended multi-family property owner from multi-million dollar lawsuit based on claims of discrimination.
• Represent national banks in obtaining possession of property related to disputed foreclosure sales.
• Successfully argued before the Tennessee Court of Appeals that tenants in default of lease must provide 1 year of rent as bond to remain in possession of leased real property when appealed to Circuit Court.