George T. Lewis, III

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC

George T. “Buck” Lewis has practiced law for almost 40 years. His clients have included prestigious companies such as American Home Shield, FedEx Ground, First Horizon Bank, Geico, International Paper, TruGreen, USAA, and Wright Medical. His class action, business litigation, and appellate work has resulted in him being named Class Action Lawyer of the Year and Appellate Lawyer of the Year (twice) by Best Lawyers in America^® and Lawyer of the Year by the Memphis Business Journal. Buck was recently inducted into the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He serves as chair of the Firm’s Appellate Group and is the past chair of the Business Litigation Group and Litigation Department.

Buck’s service to the profession has included President of the Tennessee Bar Association, President of the Memphis Bar Foundation, Chair of the ABA Pro Bono and Public Service Committee, and Chair of the Tennessee Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission. He is the Larry Wilks Distinguished Practitioner In Residence at the University of Tennessee College of Law and co-founder of the Institute for Leadership and Professionalism. He has also taught leadership courses at Tulane Law School and for a Fortune 500 legal department.

Buck has received two ABA Presidential Citations, one from President Laurel Bellows in 2013 and another from President Bob Carlson in 2019, in addition to receiving numerous other professional awards. He has authored or co-authored more than 40 publications and made more than 40 presentations on topics such as access to justice, appellate practice, arbitration, class actions, good faith/bad faith, insurance coverage, judicial recusals, statutory damage caps, leadership, summary judgments, the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, and 30(b)(6) depositions.

He is a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 listed mediator and an American Arbitration Association arbitrator.