A good trial lawyer is practical, balancing the cost of what he’s doing against the benefit for the client. I’ve worked on both sides – plaintiff and defendant, debtor and creditor, employer and employee. If I can resolve a problem out of court, that’s a win for everyone. When a matter gets to court, I focus on winning for the client.
Henry “Hank” Shelton III is a trial lawyer who focuses on business litigation and bankruptcy as well as workouts and reorganizations. He advises businesses in the Southeast in company reorganizations with and without recourse to the courts and has represented creditors in bankruptcy and insolvency matters. He assists banks and other financial institutions in maximizing the value of distressed assets. He also advises employers and employees in resolving employment disputes of all kinds. Hank has tried scores of cases to verdict or judgment, in bench and jury trials, in state and federal courts and carried on as needed through the federal and state appellate courts. He was the lead lawyer and counsel of record in Oakley v. City of Memphis, a discrimination case that went to the United States Supreme Court.
Hank serves as leader of the firm’s commercial restructuring and bankruptcy team.
Presentations
Hank has written and taught extensively on bankruptcy and commercial litigation matters.
- Strategic Alternatives For and Against Distressed Businesses, Contributor, Thomson Reuters, 2015-2024 editions
- Ethics Quick Hits, ABI Southeast Virtual Bankruptcy Workshop, July 24, 2020
Education
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
Areas of Practice
Acknowledgements
- AV® Peer Review Rated - Martindale-Hubbell
- Best Lawyers® - Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation - Bankruptcy
- Mid-South Super Lawyers® (by Thomson Reuters) Bankruptcy: Business 2010-2019
- Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
- American Bar Foundation, Fellow
Professional Affiliations & Memberships
He is a life member of the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, a Fellow of Litigation Counsel of America, a Fellow of the Memphis Bar Foundation, a member and director of the Mid South Commercial Law Institute (former) and Tennessee Turnaround Management Association (current) and is a Leo Bearman Inns of Court Emeritus Member. Hank is also a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, Memphis, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas and American Bar Associations.
News
- Represented a group of Memphis police officers as lead lawyer and counsel of record through the District Court, Court of Appeals and United States Supreme Court and won their discrimination case following reversal of an adverse judgment by the Supreme Court in Oakley v. City of Memphis, Dkt No. 08-744 (July 31, 2009).
- Represented large regional banks and private equity firms in creditor’s rights and contract issues.
- Represented clients in alternative dispute resolution proceedings, both in mediation and arbitration.