Areas of Practice
Admiralty
Catastrophic Personal Injury
Civil Litigation
Class Action Litigation
Constitutional Torts
Contract and Commercial Litigation
Consumer Protection
Criminal Defense
First Amendment Cases
Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation
Mass-Tort Litigation
Medical Malpractice
Nursing Home Litigation
Pharmaceutical Cases
Product Liability
Tractor Trailer Cases

Philip N. Elbert joined Neal & Harwell in 1981. He has broad experience in both civil and criminal cases. He has won multi-million dollar verdicts at trial and negotiated many millions of dollars in settlements for clients in cases involving serious personal injury or death. In the aggregate, he and the attorneys under his supervision have recovered close to a hundred million dollars in verdicts and settlements in personal injury cases. He has both prosecuted and defended a wide variety of different types of commercial cases, has defended class action cases and also served as Plaintiffs’ counsel in class action cases, and has represented individuals whose civil rights have been aggrieved and successfully challenged unfair or unconstitutional zoning practices on behalf of corporate clients. Mr. Elbert is a lawyer other lawyers turn to for help in complex cases or when they need representation themselves. Although in recent years Mr. Elbert’s practice has increasingly focused on civil litigation, he has defended individuals charged with serious crimes in both state and federal courts.

Mr. Elbert is a frequent speaker at legal seminars on a variety of topics. Recently, he has presented seminars on the following topics: “The State of Preemption in Product Liability Practice” for the Tennessee Bar Association, “Trucking Litigation and D.O.T. Regulations in Tennessee” for Lorman Educational Services, “Recent Developments in Tennessee Law” for the Barristers’ CLE Seminar Series, along with “Strategies for Working With Evidence at Trial” and “Ethics, Evidence and Experts” for the National Business Institute.

Mr. Elbert graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1978 with a double major in History and Economics. He received his J. D. degree in 1981 from Vanderbilt University School of Law, where he served as Director of the Civil Justice Program of the Legal Aid Society.

Representative Cases

• Biscan v. Brown, 160 S.W. 3d 462; 2004 Tenn LEXIS 374
• Entertainment Resources v. City of Knoxville, 166 S.W. 3d 650; 2005 Tenn. LEXIS 606

Recognition

• AV-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review, highest rating awarded
• Mid-South Super Lawyers & Rising Stars

Professional Associations

• Fellow, Nashville Bar Foundation
• Past Chair, Federal Court Committee, Nashville Bar Association
• Member, American Association for Justice and Tennessee Association for Justice
• Member, Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• Member, Tennessee Bar Association, Nashville Bar Association and American Bar Association

Civic & Community Service
Mr. Elbert contributes his time to a variety of community and civic service organizations.