Rick L. "Rick" Powers

Rick Powers graduated with honors from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1975 and was Order of the Coif. He has more than 40 years of general civil trial practice experience with more than 350 jury trials. His practice areas now primarily include health care liability for hospitals, nursing homes, and physicians; insurance defense in trucking, automobile, and homeowners’ cases; and other commercial litigation.

Over the last five years, Mr. Powers has successfully tried five traumatic birth injury cases which resulted in defense verdicts for his clients. Rick has also represented clients in the health care field handling peer review and medical staff bylaws issues for both physicians and health care facilities.

Since 1995, Rick has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America in the area of health care and medical malpractice. In 2013, Rick was named Best Lawyers’ Lawyer of the Year in health care law in Knoxville, and for 2016 he was named Best Lawyers’ Lawyer of the Year in medical malpractice defense in Knoxville. Additionally, he was named to the 2018 Mid-South Rising Stars list in the Super Lawyers magazine.

Rick is licensed to practice in all Tennessee state courts and U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. He is also a certified mediator approved by the federal and state courts. He is a member of the American, Tennessee, and Knoxville Bar Associations, The Knoxville Bar Foundation, The American Inns of Court, the Tennessee Defense Lawyers’ Association, the International Association of Defense Counsel, the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, and the Defense Research Institute.

In his spare time, Rick enjoys his small horse farm where he and his wife breed and raise American Saddlebred horses.

Representative Cases:

Eyring v. Fort Sanders Parkwest Medical Center, 991 S.W.2d 230

Parlato v. Fort Sanders Presbyterian Hospital, 698 F.2d 1222

Creech v. Addington, 281 S.W.3d 363

Hartsell v. Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, 905 S.W.2d 944

Murdock v. Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, 2013 Tenn. App. – LEXIS 248

Proffitt v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. – LEXIS 70770