Mid South Trial Lawyer is a blog and information source authored by Tennessee trial attorney Ed Wallis. This blog explains current developments in the law, newsworthy information, and areas of practice for Ed Wallis and Tim Edwards, as well as other attorneys in our firm and in our referral-based network. 

Based in Memphis, Tennessee, we are committed to reviewing legal issues affecting injured persons in multiple jurisdictions, depending on the facts of your case.  Currently, our firm has the privilege of representing persons and entities in states across the country, as well as in Canada, Europe and South America. For more information, please send us an e-mail.

Lead Attorney Tim Edwards

Tim Edwards was born in Memphis, Tennessee and is admitted to practice in multiple courts, including Tennessee, Arkansas, and Montana state courts, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and several United States District Courts, including the Western and Middle Districts of Tennessee and the Eastern and Western District of Arkansas. While not licensed, Tim has practiced before other courts, including U.S. Districts in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia and state courts across the country.

Tim graduated from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee in 1970, and he earned his law degree from Memphis State University in 1976. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the Tennessee Bar Association, State Bar of Montana, Board of Governors of Tennessee Association for Justice, Montana Trial Lawyers Association, American Association for Justice, and the Litigation Section of American Bar Association.

Tim is a Certified Civil Trial Specialist-National Board of Legal Specialty Certification and also certified as a Civil Trial Specialist by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Memphis Oral School for the Deaf. Former Member of Board of Directors of Youth Villages, Inc., Hearing officer 1991-1996 Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, and Panel member January, 1995, Rhodes College The Institute on the Profession of Law (Ethics). He is a 2008 Super Lawyer.

His practice areas include medical, legal and accounting malpractice; LASIK eye surgery malpractice; cochlear implant litigation; products liability and contract litigation.

Tim represented the plaintiff in the case which established the Tennessee standard for an award of punitive damages as well as the plaintiff wherein the Tennessee Court of Appeals held for the first time that a parent was entitled to consortium damages for loss of a child.

Cases of note: Hodges vs. S.C. Toof and Company, 833 S.W.2d 896 (Tenn. 1992); Batchelor, et al vs. Heiskell, Donelson, Bearman, Adams, Williams and Kirsch, P.C., 828 S.W.2d 388 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1992), application for permission to appeal denied; Teamsters Local 515, et al vs. Roadbuilders, Inc. of Tennessee, 291 S.E.2d 698 (Ga. 1982) and Rogers vs. B.F. Shaw, 813 S.W.2d 397(Tenn. 1991). Thurmon v. Sellers, 2001 WL 256124 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001).

Tim also has a personal connection to this litigation. Tim’s grandson was born completely deaf, and at twelve months of age, he was implanted with an Advanced Bionics HiRes90k cochlear implant. While Tim’s grandson today has experienced no symptoms of a failing device, he is a part of the recalled group, and must live day by day never knowing when his implant might fail. Tim has a strong, personal connection to these cases, and is passionate about seeing that justice prevails for his clients.

Tim serves on the Board of Directors of the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf, and has been a champion of fighting for the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf, leading the way with his knowledge, support and financial gifts.

Tim can be reached at (901) 527-4673.

Contributor Ed Wallis

Ed Wallis was born in Jackson, Tennessee and is licensed to practice before all courts in Tennessee, as well as the federal courts in the Western, Middle and Eastern Districts of Tennessee and the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas. He is licensed with the United States Sixth and Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and has made appearances on behalf of clients in a multitude of jurisdictions, including in California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Ed is also licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

Ed attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville where he graduated magna cum laude in 2001 with a B.S. in Business Administration where he focused on Finance. While at the University of Tennessee, Ed also received a minor in Spanish and spent time studying at the Universidad de Granada in Granada, Spain.

Ed earned his law degree from the University of Richmond T.C. Williams School of Law, cum laude, in May 2004. While at law school, Ed was a member of the Moot Court Board, earning a spot on the school’s National Moot Court Team.  Ed helped his school earn the first-ever trip to the National Finals of the American Bar Association National Appellate Advocacy Competition, winning the New York City Regional in 2004. Ed was also the Editor-in-Chief of the Richmond Journal of Law & Technology, leading a staff of 42 second and third year law students to publish five scholarly issues.  Prior to being selected as the Editor-in-Chief of the world’s first exclusively online law review, Ed was the Symposium Editor where he planned, organized and recruited more than twenty speakers from across the country to speak on the legal and ethical implications of genetically modified foods. Speakers included politicians, best selling authors, lobbyists, researchers, and professors.

Ed has been published in several law reviews and publications, including the Cleveland State Law Review, the North Dakota Law Review and the UCLA Journal of Law & Technology. He has presented twice at the American Association for Justice annual convention, once with co-counsel on LASIK litigation and once on the Advanced Bionics cochlear implant recall. He has also been published in the American Association for Justice Sidebar on medical device litigation.

Following law school, Ed spent one year clerking for now-United States District Judge S. Thomas Anderson, who sits in the Western District of Tennessee. He then spent approximately half a year working side by side with his father, an attorney, in Jackson, Tennessee in a general practice law firm handling not only litigation but also real estate, probate, and commercial projects. In March 2006, Ed moved to Memphis to focus on a 100% litigation practice.

Ed is an active member of the American Association for Justice,where he currently serves as a member of the Association’s governing body, the Board of Governors, as an at-large members appointed by the Association’s New Lawyers Division. As one of approximately 175 voting members, Ed attends board meetings four times a year. He serves on committees of the Association as well, including the Membership Task Force Committee and the Elections Committee. The photo above was taken while Ed was in Washington, D.C. for the Association’s Fall 2009 Board meeting.

Ed is also active in the Association’s New Lawyers Division.  For four straight years, Ed has been the chairman of the New Lawyer Divison’s website committee, which is in charge of presentation of American Association for Justice news, leadership, events and more on the NLD website.  Ed helps select and interview NLD Member Spotlight, a prestigious honor given to active participants in the NLD. Ed also uses his time on the NLD website committee to  assist in the collection of documents, pleadings, motions and more to include in the NLD’s free document exchange.

Ed has received the NLD Award of Excellence in 2008, 2009 and 2010. He is an NLD Board of Governor for the State of Tennessee, volunteers to help in NLD public service projects, gives his time to raise money on behalf  of the AAJ Political Action Committee, and volunteers to recruit new members to AAJ in membership phone-a-thons.

Ed currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the American Association for Justice New Lawyer’s Division. He is also a member of the Tennessee Association for Justice and the Memphis-Shelby County Bar Association.

Ed’s practice areas include business litigation, probate litigation, real estate litigation, cochlear implant recall litigation, medical device litigation, pharmaceutical litigation, professional malpractice, student sexual assault (negligence, Title IX and/or Section 1983), toxic tort/mold exposure, and personal injury.  Ed has welcomed the opportunity to assist national counsel on a variety of cases in Tennessee, including class actions. He welcomes the opportunity to serve as local counsel for those in need of help in Tennessee.

Contact Us

Our Firm:
Glassman, Edwards, Wyatt, Tuttle & Cox, P.C.
26 N. Second Street
Memphis, TN 38103

Our Telephone:
(901) 527-2125

Email: EMAIL US TODAY