Brian Katz was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1966. He attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he majored in accounting. He graduated from IU in 1988 with a B.S. with highest distinction. Before graduating, Mr. Katz sat for and passed the 1988 Uniform Certified Public Accounting examination in Indianapolis. Mr. Katz then went on to attend the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Virginia. There, he was Executive Editor of the Virginia Tax Review. He was awarded his J.D. from UVA in 1991, graduating in the top third of his class.
Following graduation from UVA, Mr. Katz returned to Memphis where he clerked for the Hon. Julia S. Gibbons on the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. At the conclusion of that clerkship, Mr. Katz joined a large firm in Memphis before joining Ballin, Ballin & Fishman, P.C., a noted, high-profile criminal defense firm. There, Mr. Katz gained invaluable trial experience, cross-examining literally hundreds of police officers and complaining witnesses, and trying three capital murder cases to verdict.
Mr. Katz moved to Paducah, Kentucky in 1996, and formed his own firm in 1998. Since then, Mr. Katz has focused his practice on personal injury and wrongful death cases, representing exclusively the injured party or estate of the deceased. Within his personal injury practice, Mr. Katz has developed an extensive Jones Act and general maritime practice representing injured Jones Act seamen including deckhands, mates, engineers, cooks, pilots, and captains that work on the inland rivers of the United States. Mr. Katz has also represented numerous individuals who were injured in related employment on navigable waterways and pleasure boat excursions.
Mr. Katz understands that defense lawyers and insurance adjusters are keenly aware of which plaintiff’s lawyers will take their case to trial and which will not. For that reason, he prepares each case for trial as expeditiously as circumstances allow. He has tried numerous cases to verdict, both in state and federal court, achieving multiple seven-figure recoveries for his clients. He is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell and is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. He has also been recognized as a Super Lawyer in the area of Maritime/Transportation.
Past Employment Positions
- United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Clerk
- Ballin, Ballin & Fishman, P.C., 1994 to 1996
- Martin, Tate, Morrow & Marston, Associate, 1992 to 1993
Bar Admissions
- Tennessee, 1991
- Kentucky, 1997
- New York, 2019
Honors
- Passed 1988 Uniform CPA Examination
- Law Clerk to the Honorable Julia S. Gibbons, USDC Western District of Tennessee
Representative Cases
- Dickson v. National Maintenance & Repair, 2011 WL 12538613, 2011, USDC WD KY
- Taylor v. TECO Barge Line, 517 F.3d 372 (6th Cir. 2008), 2008, USCA 6th Circuit
- Donais v. Green Turtle Bay, Inc., 2012 WL 5157293 (W.D. KY 2012), 2012, USDC WD KY
- Ford v. American River Transportation Co., 2012 WL 4049467 (W.D. KY 2012), 2012, USDC WD KY
- Smith v. Excell Maintenance Services, 617 F.Supp.2d 520 (W.D. KY 2009), 2009, USDC WD KY
Representative Clients
- Credit Bureau Systems, Inc.
- Milner & Orr Funeral Home
- SmartPath Technologies, Inc.
- Excel Maintenance Services
- Mid-Western Commercial Roofers
References
- Lloyd Ledet, CEO, Credit Bureau Systems
- Joe Wiley, General Counsel, Excel Group
- Randy Orr, CEO, Milner & Orr Funeral Home
- J. Willie Kerns, CEO, SmartPath Technologies
Classes/Seminars
- Recent Developments in Identifying Jones Act Cases, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Assoc., 2007
- Collections in Kentucky, Kentucky Judicial Conference, 2009
