Donald Capparella
With more than 25 years of experience, Donald Capparella has established a reputation as one of Tennessee’s most respected litigators. Individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations trust him to vigorously represent their interests and get results.
Mr. Capparella handles all manner of civil litigation throughout the state and federal courts. He has secured one of the largest awards in a Tennessee Consumer Protection Act case for a widow and child wrongly denied insurance proceeds, and he is regularly called upon to handle complex matters including construction defects, business disputes, personal injury, and employment matters.
Highly regarded for his experience in tort litigation, Mr. Capparella has been counsel for many of Tennessee’s landmark cases over the last twenty years. He served as amicus counsel in McIntyre v. Balentine, which brought comparative fault to Tennessee. He was also counsel of record in the Tennessee Supreme Court case that established loss of consortium damages in wrongful death actions and abolished the open and obvious rule. Most recently, he was lead counsel in Martin v. Norfolk Southern Railroad Company, when the Tennessee Supreme Court clarified the summary judgment standard in Tennessee.
Also recognized as one of Tennessee’s preeminent appellate lawyers, Mr. Capparella has handled more than one hundred appeals in state and federal court. He leads the firm’s appellate practice team which manages civil, domestic, and criminal appeals throughout Tennessee. As a consultant, Mr. Capparella regularly assists trial practitioners, providing services ranging from trial court preparation to handling of the entire appeal.
Mr. Capparella is the editor of the Tennessee Tort Law Letter, a monthly report of leading tort cases published by M. Lee Smith Publishers. He also serves as the editor and contributing author for the Nashville Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Handbook. He is co-author or the Tennessee Practice Volume on Comparative Fault, published by Thompson-West and now in its third edition. He has been an instructor of legal writing at Vanderbilt University School of Law, and currently teaches advanced legal writing at the Nashville School of Law.
Frequently in-demand as a speaker, Mr. Capparella regularly leads continuing legal education seminars for organizations such as the Tennessee Volunteer Lawyers and Professionals for the Arts, the Tennessee Justice Association, and the Nashville and Tennessee Bar Associations.
A passionate supporter of the arts, Mr. Capparella founded the Nashville Shakespeare Festival in 1988 and has remained actively involved as a director, actor, fundraiser and board chairman. The Festival provides professional theatre at no charge to more than 20,000 Tennesseans annually through its critically acclaimed “Shakespeare in Centennial Park.” The Festival’s winter home is in residence at Belmont University, and the company tours throughout the year to schools across Tennessee.
Mr. Capparella is a member of the Nashville and Tennessee Bar Associations and the Tennessee Association of Justice. He is past chair of the appellate practice committee of the Nashville Bar Association and was a barrister in the Nashville Chapter Harry Phillips American Inn of Court. Twice nominated for a judgeship on the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Mr. Capparella has been recognized by the Nashville Business Journal as “Best of the Bar,” as one of Business TN magazine’s “150 Best Lawyers,” and he has been named a Mid-South Super Lawyers. He has an AV® Preeminent® 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
Mr. Capparella is married to one of Tennessee’s most accomplished concert pianists, Amy Dorfman, an associate professor of piano at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music. They have two sons, Joey and Daniel.
Landmark Cases:
• McIntyre v. Ballentine, 833 S.W. 2d 52 (Tenn. 1992) Adoption of comparative fault.
• Martin v. Norfolk S. Ry. Co., 271 S.W. 3d 76 (Tenn. 2008) Clarifying summary judgment jurisprudence.
• Jordan v. Baptist Three Rivers Hosp., 984 S.W. 2d 593 (Tenn. 1999) Allowing loss of consortium damages in wrongful death case.
• Colin v. City of Savannah, 966 S.W. 2d 34 (Tenn. 1998) Abolishing open and obvious rule.
Representative Cases:
• Morrison v. Allen, 2009 WL 230220 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009) Lead counsel securing $900,000 judgment in TCPA/life insurance action.
• Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Fenelon, 2003 WL 21782623 (6th Cir. Tenn. 2003) Trial and appellate counsel for breach of contract case affirming verdict of $3 million.
• Downs v. Bush et al., M2005-01498-COA-R3-CV, 2008 WL 4147558 (Tenn. 2008) Reversing lower court grant of summary judgment in wrongful death claim and reinstating case for jury trial.
• Phoenix Ins. Co. v. Estate of Ganier, Case No. M2007-01446-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. 2008) Reinstating $1.3 million subrogation action, reversing trial court for second time on appeal.
• Rusnak et al., v. Phebus, M2007-01592-COA-R9-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. 2008) Reversing trial court and holding in case of first impression that pending partition action between joint tenants with right of survivorship is extinguished upon death of joint tenant.
• Knight v. Metro Nashville Police Dept., 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 5757 (6th Cir. 2005) Affirming $200,000 jury verdict for plaintiff in ADA case on appeal.
• State v. Magness, 2004 Tenn. App. LEXIS 836 (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. 2004) Substantially reducing defendant’s sentence on appeal.
• Perez v. Komberg, 2006 Tenn. App. LEXIS 379 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2006) Upholding award of custody and contempt sanctions in divorce case.
• Luna v. Sherwood, 2006 Tenn. App. LEXIS 344 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2006) Preventing adoption of intrastate forum non conveniens doctrine in Tennessee (potentially landmark case).
• Braden v. Strong, 2006 Tenn. App. LEXIS 104 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2006) Reversal in favor of client in denial of accounting for partner in dispute over $600,000 in partnership funds.
• Phoenix Ins. Co. v. Terry, 2007 Tenn. App. LEXIS 14 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2007) Reversing dismissal of $1 million subrogation action under anti-subrogation rule.