Attorneys

Biography

David Wade, a lifelong Memphian, practices primarily in the areas of litigation and administrative law, with cases covering such diverse areas as accountants’ defense, defense of federal enforcement actions, construction disputes, land use issues, banking and financial institution issues,  environmental law, securities law, criminal law, and general business and contract disputes. A certified mediator, he is widely sought to mediate for litigants in resolving pending cases at both the federal and state levels, and is an adjunct professor of Alternative Dispute Resolution and negotiation tactics at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis.

David was admitted to fellowship in the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1995, has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for fifteen years, is recognized in the category of “Bet the Company Litigators”, and has been selected by his peers as one of the top one hundred lawyers in Tennessee for several years. He enjoys an AV rating with Martindale Hubble. He is a past president of the Memphis Bar Association, past Chair of the City of Memphis Civil Service Commission, president of the Memphis Bar Association Section on ADR, past president of the Leo Bearman, Sr. Chapter of the American Inns of Court, current co-chair of the Tennessee Supreme Court Civil Rules Commission, a member of the Tennessee Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism and Ethics, and is a member of the Tennessee, Memphis and Federal Bar Associations. He has authored articles on topics such as land use law, mediation, evidence, ethics and professionalism and is sought as a speaker for continuing legal education seminar programs in those areas. 

David’s litigation experience includes defending multi-million dollar professional liability lawsuits against local, regional and national accounting firms and law firms; representing companies in enforcing and defending significant restrictive covenants in cases through trial in state and federal courts throughout the United States from Maine to California; defending state and federal civil and enforcement securities actions; defending trustees of family trusts and partners in family limited partnerships in state and federal actions successfully blocking efforts to set aside trust and partnership structures involving many millions of dollars in assets; prosecuting and defending companies in environmental remediation and contribution cases involving federally designated superfund sites; acting as debtors’ and creditors’ counsel in large bankruptcy cases; among many others. 

David is married with five children. David received his undergraduate degree with honors from Regis University in Denver, Colorado, attended Duquesne University and received his JD degree with honors from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis. After his appointment as law clerk for Judge Robert K. Dwyer on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, David practiced with the Memphis City Attorney’s Office and then as a trial Assistant District Attorney General in the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. He joined Martin, Tate, Morrow & Marston, P.C., in 1977.