Lewis Thomason has elected Brad Craig, a shareholder with the firm’s Nashville office, to its board of directors.
Brad Craig
Photo: Donn Jones
Mary Beth White, Kevin Baskette and Benjamin Jones were also reelected for another two-year term, according to a press release. They join current board members Rodney Fields, Janet Hayes, David Garst, Margaret Cooper Roney and Joseph Clark.
Craig’s areas of practice focus on high-exposure casualty defense, employment and discrimination issues, professional liability, transportation and products liability. He has experience in both trial and appellate courts in Tennessee. In addition, Craig has defended both public and private entities before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal Office for Civil Rights and the Tennessee Human Rights Commission.
Craig has been recognized in the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America event as well in addition to being named a Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Star. He is a member of the Tennessee Council of School Board Attorneys and the American, Nashville and Tennessee bar associations.
Lewis Thomason operates offices in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis. Several of the firm’s lawyers are licensed in Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama, Texas, North Carolina and Florida.
Brentwood Capital Advisors has announced it served as the financial advisor to Contract Logix LLC in its acquisition by LegalSifter.
Porter Meadors
Courtesy of BCA
According to a release, LegalSifter offers AI-powered contract operations and is a portfolio company of Carrick Capital Partners, a growth equity firm based in San Francisco and Newport Beach, Calif. LegalSifter focuses its work on the health care, education, technology and manufacturing sectors.
The Lowell, Mass.-based Contract Logix provides data-driven contract lifecycle management solutions. Having operated for about 18 years, the company specializes in the pharmaceuticals, energy, biotech and supply chain sectors.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed in the release.
“This strategic combination brings a compelling service-oriented model to contract lifecycle management. We are excited to watch the combined company grow and serve its customers with best-in-class AI capabilities and services,” Porter Meadors, Brentwood Capital Advisors managing director, said in the release.
“This successful transaction builds upon BCA’s momentum in contract lifecycle management and broader governance, risk and compliance solutions.”
Belmont lands $100K grant for SBA work
The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced that the Belmont University Tennessee Export Initiative will receive a $100,000 grant to support export growth via SBA’s State Trade Expansion Program (STEP).
Belmont University
Sam Simpkins
According to a release, the award is part of $20 million in STEP grants awarded nationally in 2024, bringing the total funds awarded since the program’s inception to $255 million.
The Tennessee Export Initiative, supported by Belmont University’s Thomas W. Beasley Center for Free Enterprise, will use the grant to foster international trade opportunities for Tennessee businesses.
STEP, created by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, aims to help small businesses enter and expand into international markets. This program allows eligible Tennessee small businesses to apply for up to $7,000 in reimbursement for export activities during the project year (October 2024 to September 2025).
The SBA funds the grant, with matching support from the Tennessee District Export Council (a nonprofit organization of international business executives), promotes export opportunities for Tennessee companies and facilitates communication between the business community and the U.S. Commercial Service.
“This is an exciting opportunity both for small businesses throughout the state of Tennessee and for Belmont University. These grants have the potential to propel many small, entrepreneurial Tennessee companies into global trade at a time when international markets are driving growth around the world,” said Jeff Overby, director of the Tennessee Export Initiative and Belmont professor of international business and marketing.
“We expect this initiative to draw on faculty expertise and engage Belmont students through internships, case studies and international trade education.”
