Attorney D. Russell Thomas was raised in Woodbury, Cannon County, Tennessee. He attended Middle Tennessee State University (B.S., 1974) and was a member of Kappa Sigma while studying for his undergraduate degree. He attended Memphis State University obtaining a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in December of 1977. While at MSU he was a member of Phi Alpha Delta. Mr. Thomas was admitted to the Tennessee Bar on April 15, 1978, and is admitted to the U.S. District Court in the Middle and Eastern Districts of Tennessee.

D. Russell Thomas is a 1985 Graduate of ATLA’s Advanced Civil Litigation Course. Mr. Thomas served on the Board of Governors as the Representative for the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association for the 6th District of Tennessee, 1991—2005. He is a member of the Rutherford County, Tennessee and American Bar Associations, The American Association for Justice, The Tennessee Association for Justice (Legislative Committee, 2000—2004), Trial Master, and served as the 2005-2006 President of the Andrew Jackson American Inns of Court. He is the author of “Automobile Liability in Tennessee” published in Trial Magazine which is a statewide publication for trial lawyers.

Mr. Thomas has been a guest lecturer for the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association since 1992; lecturing on selected topics, including worker’s compensation, personal injury,(which includes automobile accidents, product liability, and premises liability) as well as the effective utilization of the American Medical Association Guides to the evaluation of permanent impairment in workers’ compensation, personal injury cases, trial tactics, and civil jury trials.