Overview

Paul Davidson is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Nashville office who focuses his practice on trial work and high-value corporate and business litigation. He has served as lead trial counsel for plaintiffs and defendants in courts across the country, including Tennessee, California, New York, Utah, Ohio, Michigan, Alabama and Washington, D.C. Clients rely on him for the high-level insight and strategy he brings to every case. He helps private and public companies, accounting firms and private equity firms, and individuals effectively and efficiently resolve disputes in a broad array of areas, including antitrust, securities, trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty and trusts and estates.

Some of Mr. Davidson's recent successes include:

  • selection by Tennessee's Attorney General to represent a number of nonprofit healthcare organizations in complex fraud and breach of fiduciary duty cases against two public healthcare companies that resulted in the recovery of nearly $90 million
  • representation of bondholders in the municipal bankruptcies of Jefferson County, Alabama, and Detroit, the largest U.S. municipal bankruptcies ever filed, resulting in the recovery of billions of dollars
  • defense of a Big 4 accounting firm in litigation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and related federal court class action securities litigation
  • representation of a law firm in arbitration in New York, resulting in a multimillion-dollar verdict for his client
  • achievement of a 100 percent victory for his client in a shareholder's dissenter's rights case at trial and in argument before the Tennessee Supreme Court that resulted in establishing a new rule of law for business valuations in Tennessee

Mr. Davidson has also assisted clients in a variety of pro bono matters, including the representation of death row inmates, obtaining orders of protection for clients through the Nashville Aid Society, and advising nonprofit boards of directors such as the board of the Salvation Army and the board of Cheekwood, a botanical and art museum.

Credentials

Education
  • Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D.
  • University College London Faculty of Laws, LL.M.
  • Syracuse University, B.A.
Bar Admissions/Licenses
  • Tennessee
Memberships
  • Nashville Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Tennessee Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Sedona Conference Working Group on Electronic Document Retention and Production
  • American Health Law Association
  • American Bar Association, Litigation Section, Business Section, Antitrust Subsection, Securities Litigation Subsection, Healthcare Litigation Subsection, Business Torts Subsection
  • Nashville Bar Association
  • Tennessee Bar Association
  • District of Columbia Bar Association
  • Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, Hearing Committee, 1997-2003
  • Harry Phillips American Inn of Court, Former Member
  • Salvation Army, Board of Directors
  • O'More College of Design, Board of Directors, Former Member
  • Former Trustee and Member of Executive Committee, Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Former Trustee; Executive Committee, Former Member
Honors & Awards
  • Chambers USA – America's Leading Lawyers for Business guide, Litigation: General Commercial, 2008-2023
  • The Best Lawyers in America guide, Commercial Litigation, 2006-2024; Litigation - Antitrust, 2011-2024; Litigation - Intellectual Property, 2011-2024; Litigation - Mergers and Acquisitions, 2011-2024; Litigation - Securities, 2011-2024
  • The Best Lawyers in America guide, Nashville Litigation - Mergers and Acquisitions Lawyer of the Year, 2022
  • Mid-South Super Lawyers magazine, Business Litigation, 2006-2023; Securities Litigation, 2022, 2023