Practice Areas: Business Litigation, Business & Corporate, General Litigation; view more
Licensed in Tennessee since: 1978
Education: Vanderbilt University Law School
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2006 - 2024 Details
Jim DeLanis brings a wealth of experience to the service of his clients. For over four decades he has focused primarily on business litigation, tackling issues like contract disagreements, banking and commercial paper issues, unfair competition, trade secrets and intellectual property, and administrative disputes.
Mr. DeLanis graduated cum laude with honors from Dartmouth College in 1975 and earned his Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1978. That year, he was admitted to practice in Tennessee and, later, was admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, the United States District Courts for the Districts of Tennessee, as well as various appellate and trial courts in Tennessee.
Immediately after finishing law school, he gained invaluable experience as a law clerk, assisting Davidson County Circuit Judge Swiggart with legal research, writing, and courtroom responsibilities. He then served as an Assistant State Attorney General representing the State of Tennessee in state and federal trial and appellate courts. From 1982 until he founded his own firm in 2022, he practiced with a major national firm as associate, partner, shareholder, and then senior counsel, with an emphasis on business and commercial litigation.
In addition to being a Super Lawyer in business litigation since 2006, Mr. DeLanis has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for intellectual property litigation since 2016 and commercial litigation since 2019. He also has held the AV Preeminent* peer-review rating by Martindale-Hubbell since 1995.
AV Preeminent® is Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating issued under its procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell administers a peer-review rating process which reflects the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and judiciary on lawyers" legal ability and ethical standards.
Practice areas
Business Litigation, Business/Corporate, General Litigation, Intellectual PropertyFocus areas
Business Formation and Planning, Business Organizations, Contracts, Copyrights, Intellectual Property Law, Limited Liability Companies, Litigation, Non-Compete Agreements, Partnership, Patents, Restraining Order, Small Claims, Sub-chapter S Corporations, Trade Secret, Trademarks
- 50% Business Litigation
- 20% Business/Corporate
- 20% General Litigation
- 10% Intellectual Property
First Admitted: 1978, Tennessee
- Tennessee, 1978
- Member - Dartmouth Lawyers Association
- Appellate and Trial Courts in Tennessee
- U.S. District Courts in Tennessee
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- Supreme Court of the United States
- Ohio, 1979 (inactive)
- Represent licensed health insurance broker in a dispute over commissions and service areas.
- Successfully represented a non-profit organization in Tennessee in an investigation by the Tennessee Secretary of State. Representation included coordinating with the client's public policy firm and its in-house lobbyists, overseeing extensive document production and negotiation over the scope of that production, research into and interpretation of a little used statutory scheme, as well as coordination of the political aspects of the investigation. At the end of the investigation, the client was exonerated.
- Successfully appealed a complex property tax dispute involving an infrequently enforced intangible personal property tax levied against a Tennessee historical association. Presented arguments to an Administrative Law Judge and then made oral arguments on appeal to the Assessment Appeals Commission.
- Advised clients on non-compete agreements.
- Defended against a class action suit brought under the Tennessee Antitrust and Consumer Protection Act.
- Represented clients in protecting their trademark rights.
- Represented the applicant for a license to operate a pay-day lender business in a contested administrative hearing.
- Represented a bank on its fidelity bond claim.
- Defended pay day lenders in administrative litigation challenging their licenses to do business and their business practices
- Represented a charitable organization in an investigation by the Tennessee Secretary of State into its fundraising practices.
- Represented taxpayer in various levels of state administrative litigation over the Tennessee intangible personal property tax
- Represented a bank in its fidelity bond claim and related litigation
- Defended new business owners against claims of violations of non compete agreements and allegations of unfair trade practices
- Represented trademark owners in policing violations of their trademark rights
- 2012 Chair of Fundraising Campaign for Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberland's, and Nashville Pro Bono Program; Former President and Board Member of Nashville Bar Pro Bono Program; Nashville Pro Bono Coming of Age All Star (1982- 2003); 1997 Nashville Bar Association President's Award for Service to the Bar; Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee Champion of Justice (multiple years)
- Former Business Manager - Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law
- Chairman - Davidson County Election Commission (2016-2019); Member (2012 - present)
- Fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation since 1997
- 2003 Recipient of Lewis Donelson Public Service Award; 2013 Recipient of Howard H. Baker Award; 2013 Recipient of Baker Donelson Pro Bono Award.
- Former President, Secretary, and Chair and Co Chair of Building Committee of Nashville Humane Association; Current Board Member and Secretary of Nashville Humane Association; Former Board Member and Secretary of Nashville Humane Association Supporting Foundation; 2002 Recipient of Nashville Humane Association Julia Colton Award
- Chair of Davidson County Election Commission and a Member from 2013 to the present
- 1995 Y-Cap YMCA Community Based Academic Tutor of the Year
- Former volunteer mentor for Buddies of Nashville
- Former President of Middle Tennessee Dartmouth Alumni Association
- Mid South Super Lawyers since 2006 (Business Litigation), Super Lawyers
- Recipient - Nashville Humane Association Julia C. Colton Award (2002)
- Recipient - Baker Donelson Lewis R. Donelson Public Service Award (2003)
- Recipient - Baker Donelson Howard H. Baker Award for Contribution to the Legal Profession (2013)
- Recipient - Baker Donelson Nashville Pro Bono Attorney of the Year (2013 and 2020)
- Former President - Middle Tennessee Dartmouth Alumni Association Fellow - Nashville Bar Foundation
- AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell since 1995
- Member - American (Member, Sections on Antitrust; Business Regulation; Intellectual Property; Litigation; Public Contract Law), Tennessee and Nashville Bar Associations
- Member - Executive Committee of Intellectual Property Section of Tennessee Bar Association (2006, 2007)
- Named to Best Lawyers in America® since 2016 in Intellectual Property Litigation and since 2019 in Commercial Litigation
- Best Lawyers in America in Commercial Litigation (2019 - Present), Best Lawyers
- Best Lawyers in America in Intellectual Property Litigation (2016 - Present), Best Lawyers
- AV Prominent Peer Review Rated by Martindale Hubbell Since 1995, AV Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
- Dartmouth College, B.A., 1975, cum laude, with honors
- Moderator - "ABA Intellectual Property Roundtable" (2008-2018)
- Presenter - "Preparing for Mediation," Nashville Bar Association seminar (September 2004)
- Presenter/Panelist - "Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation (with special emphasis on Tennessee antitrust litigation)," the ABA section of Business Law (March 2005)
- Presenter - "Taking and Defending Effective Depositions" (April 2006)
- Presenter - "Public Contracts and Procurement Regulations in Tennessee" (September 2006)
- Presenter - "Trademark Law v. The Internet," ABA Intellectual Trademark Property Roundtable, Nashville, Tennessee (June 2008)
- Presenter - "The Intersection Between Patent Law and General litigation," in house presentation to Baker Donelson Litigation Group (October 2008)
- Presenter - "Recent Developments in Converse Declaratory Judgment Actions and 'Use in Commerce' before the PTO," presentation to Baker Donelson Intellectual Property Group (January 2009)
- Author/Presenter - "What Business Lawyers Should Know About Arbitration," in house presentations to Baker Donelson attorneys (January-February 2009)
- Co-presenter - "Purchasing Contract Disputes," Lorman Educational Services (April 2009)
- Presenter - "Preparing for Mediation," CLE workshop for the Tennessee State Attorney General's Office (June 2009)
- Presenter - "Emerging Issues in Trial Practice Caused by Facebook and Other Social Media," Nashville Bar Association meeting (July 2009)
- Presenter - "Improper Disclosures and Illegal Content on the Web," ABA Intellectual Property Litigation Roundtable Series (December 2017)
- Presenter - "Recent Developments in Copyright Law," ABA Intellectual Property Litigation Roundtable Series (May 2018)
- Presenter - "Developments in Intellectual Property over Summer Vacation," ABA Intellectual Property Litigation Roundtable Series (October 2018)
- Businesses of all Types
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2006 - 2024
