Aubrey B. "Trey" Harwell III

Trey Harwell leads the Adams and Reese Crisis Management Team and is a member of the firm’s Intersection of Business and Government Practice. With close to 30 years of experience in crisis management, Trey provides strategic counsel to individual and corporate clients across the country. Trey is a Partner in the Nashville office.

From navigating federal investigations to managing “bet-the-company” scenarios, Trey has handled numerous high-profile crisis management matters, such as the Pilot Flying J rebate fraud criminal investigation (resulted in a Criminal Enforcement Agreement); Mayor Bill and Kelsey Ketron deceptive insurance practices investigation (no prosecution for Mayor Ketron and probation with expungement for Ms. Ketron); and a high profile figure in the Senator Brian Kelsey federal criminal investigation (no indictment).   

As a young lawyer, Trey cut his teeth working on the Bridgestone/Firestone tread separation/Ford Explorer rollover crisis (no criminal indictment) and the criminal investigation of San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo (guilty plea with no jail time and star witness for the government) involving former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.

Trey has conducted numerous independent investigations on behalf of clients throughout the United States, and he has represented clients in court, before Congress, in front of regulatory authorities, and in the ever-present court of public opinion.

In addition to crisis management, Trey represents clients in complex civil litigation, white-collar criminal defense, business and corporate law, corporate compliance, public utilities and eminent domain, products liability and mass torts, and professional liability. Trey has defended major and complex civil cases for diverse clients, from individuals who have been treated unfairly to the largest corporations in need of representation. He has also quarterbacked many matters for clients, serving as their outside general counsel.

Trey is the Past President of the Nashville Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the Nashville Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association, American Bar Association, and Litigation Counsel of America. He has been honored by his peers and clients and is among “Best of the Bar” by the Nashville Business Journal and by Best Lawyers. He maintains an AV Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating.