Overview
Greg Coleman is a Senior Partner of Milberg with over 30 years of trial and appellate experience. Mr. Coleman’s practice focuses on class actions, products liability, medical practice, personal injury, complex multi-district litigation, litigation, toxic torts, premises liability, ERISA, ERISA class actions, drug and medical device litigation, and workers’ compensation.
Mr. Coleman received his B.A. with highest honors and distinction from Jacksonville State University in 1986. He attended The University of Tennessee College of Law, graduating in 1989. In addition to distinguishing himself academically, Mr. Coleman was a member of the National Trial Moot Court Team, was the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award for National Trial Team, and was listed in Who’s Who Among Rising Young Americans. In addition, the College of Law bestowed upon him the honor of inclusion into the National Order of Barristers for outstanding oral advocacy and trial skills.
Leadership Roles
- Co-lead counsel in a defective products case against Electrolux where he and co-counsel successfully obtained a settlement on behalf of a class of more than one million members regarding defectively manufactured dryers. The settlement resulted in an expected utilization settlement value of over $35 million
- Lead trial counsel in an ERISA class action against AK Steel Corporation where he successfully obtained a $178.6 million settlement on behalf of a class of over 3,000 retirees of AK Steels Butler Works Plant in Pennsylvania in 2011.
Excerpts from the final approval hearing before Judge Black:
[T]he class has been enormously well represented by the attorneys in this case. I started with the observation that this was a historic moment. I genuinely believe that.
The plaintiffs and the members of the class have been enormously well represented by counsel.
[T]here is no doubt that the settlements herein represent excellent result for the class members and obviate all risk of continued litigation.
[T]he Court finds that the hourly and salaried settlements represent excellent result for the class members and provides them with a substantial benefit.
I reach the conclusion based on acknowledging the extraordinary benefit achieved for the class, the high level of value of these plaintiffs counsels services. The lawyers here are excellent, highly regarded, and their service has brought great value to the class.
I acknowledge this was a complex and demanding case involving a great deal of work and that the end result occurred largely, if not fully, attributable to the diligence, determination, hard work of plaintiffs counsel, who were vigorously contested, as the company was represented by extraordinary lawyers.
-Judge Timothy S. Black, Southern District of Ohio, Western Division
- Lead trial counsel in an ERISA class action case against AK Steel Corporation where he successfully obtained a $15.8 million settlement on behalf of a class of over 250 retirees of AK Steels Zanesville Works Plant in Ohio in 2012
- Lead counsel in a week-long trucking accident trial where he obtained the largest negligence verdict in the state of Tennessee for 2009. Jenkins v. Keeble, Davidson County
- Co-lead counsel in a class action case involving Jewelry Television
- Co-lead counsel in a Fair Labor Standards Act case against Westgate Resorts styled Davis v. Planet Hollywood Las Vegas in U.S.D.C., District of Nevada, which has now been settled
- Co-lead counsel in a Fair Labor Standards Act case against Westgate Resorts styled Watson v. Westgate Resorts, Inc. in U.S.D.C., Eastern District of Tennessee, which has been settled
Greg Coleman has been and is currently involved in complex product liability and drug product liability litigation and has tried more than one hundred (100) jury trials and countless other bench trials during his career. He has tried jury trials in states other than Tennessee and has been admitted pro hac vice in complex matters around the country, including a six-week long jury trial in Sacramento, California, for which he was lead counsel.
Reported Cases
- West v. East Tennessee Pioneer Oil Co., 172 S.W. 3d 545 (Tenn. 08/18/2005) – Tennessee Supreme Court case in which the Supreme Court ruled a convenience store had a legal duty to the plaintiffs Gary West and Michelle Richardson for selling gas to an obviously intoxicated driver, who then had an accident with Gary West and Michelle Richardson on the roadway. This case was the first case to find that a convenience store had a legal duty to a driver on the roadway (Gary West and Michelle Richardson) for selling gas to an obviously intoxicated driver who then had an accident with his clients.
- Satterfield v. Alcoa, Inc., 266 S.W. 3d 347 (Tenn. 2008) – Tennessee Supreme Court case in which the Supreme Court ruled that a duty is owed by Alcoa to a non-employee household member as it relates to the household members contraction of mesothelioma.
- Merkner v. AK Steel, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12742, 48 BNA 1923
- Lowther v. AK Steel, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 181476, 54 BNA 1931
Accolades
Mr. Greg Coleman is certified as a Civil Trial Advocacy Specialist and as a Civil Pretrial Advocacy Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, and the Knoxville Bar Association. He has been named one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the American Trial Lawyers Association.
Mr. Coleman has been named by the U.S. News and World Report as one of the best lawyers in the country. He was recently recognized as one of the 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America.
Named the 2016, 2018, and 2024 Knoxville Lawyer of the Year for Product Liability Litigation, Mr. Coleman is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the categories of personal injury and product liability. Additionally, Mr. Coleman has been recognized as one of Knoxville’s Top Attorneys in six separate categories.
Mr. Coleman is proud to have been recognized by his colleagues through nomination to the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers which includes only those select law practices that have earned the highest rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and have been designated by their colleagues as preeminent in their field. He is AV Peer Review rated by the Martindale Hubble Legal Rating System and is a Charter Member and Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, “a trial lawyer honorary society established to reflect the new face of the American Bar with limited membership representing less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers and is by invitation only.”
Mr. Coleman is a Mid-South Super Lawyer representing the top five percent of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee attorneys, having been recognized by Super Lawyers from 2007-2023.
Mr. Coleman is a lifetime member of the prestigious Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an organization whose members are limited to attorneys who have won multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements. He is a Charter member of the Knoxville Chapter of the American Inns of Court and a member of the American Association for Justice and Public Justice. He has been featured in Newsweek Magazine in their Showcase of Nationwide Top Attorneys.
Mr. Coleman has served as a guest lecturer and speaker on Advanced Trial Advocacy and at national seminars, including those sponsored by the Tennessee Bar Association and the National Business Institute. He has lectured extensively for many years on topics such as advanced trial tactics and strategy and complex litigation matters. He has authored published materials regarding advanced trial strategy, ethics seminars, as well as numerous other publications for CLE seminars at which he has lectured.
Actively involved in civil and charitable activities, Mr. Coleman served for many years on the Executive Board of Trustees for the Baptist Health System, including the Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee and related entities, and has been involved in many legal aid and pro bono projects in the Knoxville area.
Mr. Coleman and his firm are donors to the annual Mission of Hope Christmas Barrel drive providing warm coats for the children of rural Appalachia. In support of the Knoxville Academy of Medicine and Knoxville Academy of Medicine Alliances Conversation Ready Project, he performed at the A Little More Conversation event. The Conversation Ready Project is a program of the Knoxville Academy of Medicine Foundation and was formed to ensure that everyone’s end-of-life wishes are expressed and respected.
Practice Areas
Education
- J.D., University of Tennessee College of Law, 1989
- B.A., Jacksonville State University, highest honors and distinction, 1986
Bar Admissions
- State Courts of Tennessee
- Tennessee Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit United States
- Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit United States
- Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States
- Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- United States Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
- U.S. District Court, District of Nebraska
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar)
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana
- U.S. District Court, Western District of New York
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
- United States Supreme Court
- Registered foreign lawyer in England and Wales, as approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority