Melvin J. Malone
Office Information
- Practice Group Leader, Regulatory and Government Group
As Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Regulatory and Government Group, Mr. Malone focuses on telecommunications, public utilities, governmental relations, commercial litigation and administrative law.
Biography – View PDF Bio
- Associations
- Bar Admissions
- Civic Involvement
- Distinctions
- Education & Honors
- Experience
- In the News
- Papers, Presentations, & Publications
Bar Admissions
- Tennessee, 1989
- U.S. District Courts
- Tennessee: Eastern, Middle, Western
- U.S. Court of Appeals
- 6th Circuit
Civic Involvement
- The Memorial Foundation, Inc., Board of Trustees
- 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, Chair Emeritus
- Tennessee State University Foundation Board, Chair Emeritus
- NASBA Center for Public Trust, Board of Directors
- University of Tennessee College of Law, Dean’s Advisory Circle
- Joe C. Davis YMCA Outdoor Center/YMCA Camp Widjiwagan, Board of Directors
Distinctions
- AV-Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- Fellow, Tennessee Bar Foundation
- Napier-Looby Bar Foundation, Fellow
- Fellow, Nashville Bar Foundation
- Appointment by Gov. Lee to the Board of Directors, TPAC Management Corporation, 2019-Present
- Appointment by Gov. Haslam to the Board of Directors, TPAC Management Corporation, 2013-2019
- R.B.J. Campbelle Award, University of Tennessee College of Law, 2012
- Nashville’s Top 101 Lawyers, Nashville Post Magazine, 2011 More...
- The Best Lawyers in America®
- Energy Law, 2011-2021
- Government Relations, 2016-2021
- Administrative/Regulatory Law, 2021
- Communications Law, 2020-2021
- Lawyer of the Year, Energy Law (Nashville, TN), 2018, 2020
- Mid-South Super Lawyers®, Civil Litigation Defense, 2013-2014
- J.C. Napier Trailblazer Award, Napier-Looby Bar Foundation, 2010
- "In Charge" Legal Category, Nashville Post, 2010
- Best of the Bar, Nashville Business Journal, 2003, 2009, 2020
- Commissioner, Tennessee Public Utility Commission (Formerly Tennessee Regulatory Authority), 1996-2002
- Office of Governor Don Sundquist, Deputy Legal Counsel, 1995-1996
- Dr. Calvin Calhoun Distinguished Member of the Year Award, 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, 2006, 2014 & 2015
- Special Appointment by Gov. Haslam, Tennessee Supreme Court, 2013
Education & Honors
- University of Tennessee, J.D., 1989
- Member, Tennessee Law Review
- Awarded Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowship
- Advocate’s Prize Moot Court Competition
- Member, American Inns of Court Foundation
- University of Tennessee, B.S., Finance, with honors, 1985
- Clerkship, The Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Aug. 1990 – Aug. 1991
- Clerkship, The Honorable Julia S. Gibbons, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee, Aug. 1989 – Aug. 1990
Experience
- Melvin was one of the first practitioners before the Tennessee Public Utility Commission to obtain approval of capital recovery riders under Tennessee’s newly passed legislative initiative authorizing alternative regulatory mechanisms for public utilities.
- Served a special appointment by Governor Bill Haslam to the Tennessee Supreme Court to hear a case from which four Supreme Court Justices recused themselves (Hooker et al v. Lt. Governor Ramsey et al.).
- Successfully litigated on behalf of Tennessee’s only publicly held water provider, a regional financial institution, a global wireless communications company, the nation’s largest three-service utility, a national automotive finance company, and a coalition of Tennessee telephone cooperatives.
- Successfully litigated on behalf of a coalition of over 200 retail fuel providers in an alternative fuel anti-competition case.
- Commissioner, Tennessee Public Utility Commission (Formerly Tennessee Regulatory Authority), 1996-2002.
- Deputy Legal Counsel to Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist, 1995-1996.
In the News
- 198 Butler Snow Attorneys Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2021
- Four Butler Snow Attorneys Named Best of the Bar by Nashville Business Journal
- 5 Butler Snow Nashville Lawyers Year’s Best - The Nashville Ledger
- 173 Butler Snow Attorneys Named in Best Lawyers® 2020, 19 Named “Lawyer of the Year”
- 129 Butler Snow Attorneys Named in Best Lawyers, 16 Named "Lawyer of the Year"
- Value Elevated
- Teamwork Elevated
- 117 Butler Snow Attorneys Listed in 2013 Mid-South Super Lawyers®
- Melvin Malone Named to Tennessee Performing Arts Center Management Corporation Board of Directors More...
- Melvin Malone Named Chairman of 100 Black Men of Middle TN, Inc.
- Melvin Malone Named Chairman of 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, Inc.
Papers, Presentations, & Publications
- "At the Crossroads of Pessimism and Opportunity – Lessons Learned from the Legal Recession," DRI Annual Meeting.
- "Alternative Fee Arrangements – Fad or Future," Tennessee Bar Association’s Law Firm Management Conference.
- "Executive Leadership Symposium," Urban League of Greater Chattanooga Young Professionals Association.
- Testifying before State Utility/Regulatory Commissions.
- "Career Paths and Partnership Structures," Tennessee Bar Association’s Law Firm Management Conference.
- "Beyond the Next Step: A Career Road Map for Lawyers," National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Southeast Regional Conference.
- "Current Regulatory & FCC Issues," The Telecommunications Education Committee Organization.
- "Regulatory Concerns for the VoIP Provider," Tennessee Telecommunications Association, Annual Convention.
- "VoIP: Assessing the Opportunities and Threats," Associated Network Partners, Inc., Symposium. More...
- Tennessee Gas Association’s Best Practices Roundtable.
- Utility Finance & Accounting Conference of the Tennessee Gas Association.
- "Responding to Competition in Your Backyard," Multi-State Rural Long Distance Coalition.
- "The Battle for the Book: First-in-the-nation ruling gives competitors access to cover of Bellsouth directory," Tennessee Bar Journal, Vol.39, No.7.
- "Keeping the Peace: Conflict in the Court of Appeals and Violence as a Determinant Factor in the Propriety of Self-Help Repossessions," Tennessee Bar Journal, November/December Issue.