Business, Commercial and Professional Liability Litigation Steve Silvey has a unique combination of legal and business experience—concentrating his legal practice in business, risk management, insurance, commercial, property, contract and civil litigation. His background includes being co-founder and managing partner of a national firm, president and CEO of a software company, CEO of a professional development company and chairman of a non-profit senior center. He created business and administrative operations for one of the top four national market leaders and negotiated and implemented a strategic alliance program of more than 8,000 independent financial advisors. Mr. Silvey is a former law clerk for the Chief Justice of the Illinois Court of Claims and law clerk for a Hearing Officer of the former Illinois Department of Financial Institutions where he assisted in investigations and administrative hearings. Mr. Silvey has represented individuals, entrepreneurs, professionals, businesses and insurance carriers ranging in size from sole proprietors to Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Silvey is listed in the Millennium Edition of Who\'s Who in Executives and Business. A past member of TEC/Vistage (the world’s largest member organization of CEOs), he was trained as a Vistage Group Chair to form business peer advisory boards. He also served as the Chairman of the Board for the Des Plaines Valley Senior Center, where he was a member of the Executive Board and its Finance Committee. A member of the Federal Trial Bar for the Northern District of Illinois, Mr. Silvey is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, and United States District Courts in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, and Wisconsin. Mr. Silvey completed the Litigation Management Institute hosted at Columbia University Law School in New York, receiving the Litigation Management Professional certification. At the time less than 300 attorneys had the CLMP designation nationwide. Steve received the Martindale-Hubbell Client Distinction Award. Martindale-Hubbell is the premier lawyer rating service in the country. Less than one percent (1%) of the attorneys listed by Martindale-Hubbell receive the award.

Evett L. Simmons is a graduate of Florida Southern College (B.A., 1979) and received her law degree from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University (J.D., 1982). She received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Suffolk University (2001). Ms. Simmons concentrates her practice in estate planning as well as probate and guardianship administration and litigation. She also practices corporate law with an emphasis in franchising. Admitted to practice law in Florida, Ms. Simmons serves as Managing Partner for the Firm. Ms. Simmons has been a speaker at The Florida Bar Elder Law Essentials Update and the National Business Institute (NBI) on probate topics. She is also a published author. Actively involved in the community, Ms. Simmons is a member of the Board of Trustees for Florida Southern College and chairs the Board’s Diversity Task Force. Ms. Simmons has been awarded honors by a variety of respected organizations, associations, and businesses.

Mr. Simmons' practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, products and pharmaceutical liability, premises liability, medical malpractice and white collar criminal defense. In 1992, Mr. Simmons served as the youngest Presidentially-appointed United States Attorney in the country, having been named to the post by President George Bush. As United States Attorney, Mr. Simmons directed the federal office for the District of South Carolina, which includes the entire state. After serving as United States Attorney, Mr. Simmons was the Chief of the State Grand Jury in the South Carolina Attorney General's Office. Prior to becoming United States Attorney, Mr. Simmons was an assistant United States Attorney in charge of prosecutions involving environmental and white collar crimes. Mr. Simmons was appointed by the Governor of South Carolina to serve on the South Carolina Commission on Ethics Reform, and has served on the South Carolina Ethics Commission. On a number of occasions, he has been selected by federal district court judges here in South Carolina to serve on the magistrate judge selection committee. Mr. Simmons has also written and lectured frequently in numerous areas of law, including serving as co-author of Environmental Crimes and Corporate Liability, published by the South Carolina Bar. In the process of achieving a distinguished academic record at the University Of South Carolina School Of Law, Mr. Simmons was a member of the Law Review, the Order of the Coif and Order of Wig and Robe. Following law school, he served as law clerk for the Honorable William W. Wilkins, Jr., formerly Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Area of Practice: Employment Law J.K. Simms is a Partner at Thompson Burton and leads the firm’s employment law practice. J.K.’s practice is devoted to serving his clients both from a litigation avoidance and litigation defense standpoint. J.K. has extensive experience representing companies and individuals at the state level throughout Tennessee and in every federal court district in the State of Tennessee.