Miller & Martin Adds Several Experienced Attorneys Across Footprint

April 28, 2022

Miller & Martin recently added several experienced attorneys across the firm’s offices in Georgia and Tennessee. Attorneys new to the firm include Luke Smith, Saba Daneshvar and Baoyi Cai in Atlanta, Ga.; Kyle Fuller in Nashville, Tenn.; Jennie Brooks Corley, Russ Swafford and Evan Sharber in Chattanooga, Tenn.

“One of our strategic priorities for 2022 is to continue to add depth and experience in our high-demand practice areas,” Miller & Martin’s Chairman Scott Parrish stated. “By adding these highly qualified attorneys, the firm’s platform will be strengthened, and we will continue to be able to service the complex legal needs of our clients with the expertise and skill with which they are accustomed. Also, with the addition of Luke Smith as a Member in our Commercial group who brings hospitality and leisure industry expertise, we add yet another specialty to our portfolio of practice areas.”

Smith has 16 years of experience and joined the firm as a Member in the Commercial practice group. Prior to joining Miller & Martin, he was a partner with the Atlanta office of Taylor English Duma LLP. With a focus on resort, hospitality and leisure industries, Smith has extensive experience in acquisitions, finance, construction and renovation, management and franchising agreements in these areas.  Smith represents condominium, hotel, timeshare and fractional and membership campground owners, operators, developers, management and exchange companies, and operators of travel, vacation, destination and other leisure-based clubs.  He is also a member of the Corporate and Real Estate groups and advises clients on transactions, general corporate, mergers & acquisitions, leasing and real estate matters.  

Smith has been recognized by Georgia Super Lawyers as a Rising Star since 2018 and was a Best Alliance Partner finalist in 2013 from the American Resort Development Association (ARDA). He holds a law degree from The University of Georgia School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Merrimack College. He is licensed in Georgia.

Daneshvar is a Corporate associate dedicated to the Intellectual Property practice group and comes to Miller & Martin from the Nashville office of Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis LLP. He focuses his practice on various aspects of intellectual property law, including patent litigation and prosecution, trademark prosecution and proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 

He has worked as a patent examiner extern at the USPTO. He was an associate at a large international IP law firm for many years in Atlanta, Ga., where his practice primarily revolved around patent prosecution and litigation. Prior to attending law school, Daneshvar worked in various sectors of the engineering industry. He has a technical background in civil engineering and has helped many companies with projects relating to designing and building multi-billion dollar liquified natural gas plants, residential homes and G.D.O.T.-certified roadways and bridges.  

Daneshvar holds a law degree from Georgia State University College of Law, a graduate degree in Building Construction from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an undergraduate degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is licensed in Georgia and with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Cai joined the firm’s Corporate group. She previously practiced with a California law firm where she focused on China-U.S. cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, and private equity and venture capital financing. She is licensed in California, Massachusetts and New York and is provisionally admitted in Georgia.   

Cai holds a law degree from Emory University School of Law where she earned a certificate in Transactional Law & Skills. She also holds a Bachelor of Law Degree from Sun Yat-sen University.   

Fuller joined the firm’s Commercial group as Of Counsel. He has 12 years of experience and concentrates his practice on all aspects of commercial real estate transactions including acquisitions, dispositions and high-volume commercial leasing matters. In addition to representing commercial real estate owners and developers, Fuller has represented hospitals, health systems and healthcare investors and has provided counsel on healthcare real estate, the federal anti-kickback statutes and the Stark Law. Before joining Miller & Martin, he practiced with the Nashville office of Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis LLP. He has also served as outside counsel for one of the world's largest wireless telecommunications companies in real estate matters. 

Fuller holds a law degree from Regent University Law School and an undergraduate degree from Tennessee Technological University. He is licensed in Tennessee.

Corley, a business and regulatory lawyer with 10 years of experience, joined the firm’s Corporate group as an associate. Prior to joining Miller & Martin and relocating to Chattanooga, she was a public policy advisor with the Nashville office of Bass, Berry & Sims. She focuses her practice on state legislative and regulatory issues and general corporate matters. She advises clients in a variety of industries, including healthcare, utilities, financial services, agricultural services, distilled spirits and others. Corley also advises clients with respect to federal and Tennessee campaign finance laws, with a special focus on the formation and governance of political action committees.

She holds a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law and an undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin. She is licensed in Tennessee.

Swafford is a litigation associate with six years of experience as an attorney, including previously serving as Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida and as a law clerk for two federal judges of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, U.S. District Judge Pamela L. Reeves and U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher H. Steger. Swafford concentrates his practice in the areas of civil litigation, labor and employment, government investigations and white-collar criminal defense. 

Swafford is also a Captain in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps., serving as an assistant staff judge advocate for the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida providing a full range of legal services to the U.S. Air Force, its mission partners and service members of all military branches. 

He holds a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law and undergraduate degrees in Business Administration, Political Science and Accounting from Lee University. He is licensed in Tennessee and Florida. 

Sharber is an associate in Miller & Martin’s Commercial group and previously practiced with Baker Donelson in Chattanooga. He concentrates his practice on real estate development and financing, commercial finance and economic development transactions. Sharber has experience in representing both lenders and borrowers in HUD-insured loans in the multifamily and senior housing industries. He has closed dozens of loans insured by HUD, handled hundreds of interest rate reduction loan modifications under the LEAN program and represented HUD lenders in various asset management matters.

Sharber previously served as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Bob Corker in Washington, D.C., and interned with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Suzanne H. Bauknight. He holds a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law and an undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University. He is licensed in Tennessee.