A battered old football helmet sits high on a shelf in Jess Campbell's office. It was an exhibit in a 1971 product liability case, and belonged to a young athlete who suffered a serious head injury while playing high school football. To Campbell, the helmet is an important reminder of why he is a trial lawyer.

"That was an early case," said Campbell, who has practiced law for over 35 years and is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Club (an organization whose membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements). "In those days, there were no standards by which football helmets were measured, and there are fewer defective products now because of the efforts of trial lawyers."

Jess Campbell grew up in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, where he was a multi-sport high school athlete. He worked his way through Martin Methodist College selling Bibles and dictionaries door-to-door, and earned an Associates Degree in 1964. He transferred to the University of Tennessee as a junior, finished up his undergraduate work and enrolled in the UT College of Law. He received his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1968, and served on active duty in the United States Army at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina.

When he returned to civilian life, he got an offer to practice law in his home town, considered it carefully, then decided to stay in Knoxville. He concentrates his practice in injury actions: automobile accidents, on-the-job injuries, product liability, medical malpractice, premises liability cases.

He is a member of the Knoxville Bar Association; Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association; past member, Board of Governors, Tennessee Bar Association; former President of the Young Lawyers' Conference, TBA; Phi Alpha Delta.

Campbell and his wife, Pam, spend their leisure time keeping up with their two active children; Curry, 14, who is on the dance team and swimming team at the Christian Academy of Knoville; and Coby, 8, who plays baseball and basketball. Campbell's older daughter, Melanie, is an attorney, and joined Campbell & Dawson in 2001.

Gary S. Dawson, In 1995, became one of the first lawyers in the state  to earn board certification as a Civil Trial Specialist from the Tennessee Commission on Legal Education and Specialization.  He has used  those skills to protect the rights of clients for over 27 years.

“Our primary focus is to level the playing field between the individual and large companies,” said Dawson, who is one of three Campbell & Dawson attorneys to belong to the Million Dollar Advocates Forum (an organization whose membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements).

“The concept of personal injury action is under attack.  For the last 20 years, big business has mounted a relentless campaign to deprive  you of your rights.  We get a lot of satisfaction, for example, when we are able to provide for the care of the child of a young mother who has lost her life through someone’s negligence.”

A Knoxville native and Central High School graduate, Dawson did his undergraduate work at the University of Tennessee, where he earned a Bachelors Degree with high honors in 1975.  He received his law degree from UT in 1978.  He and his wife Marina, have traveled extensively, but he has chosen to put down roots in his home town.

I like to see new places, but I’ve never had any desire to live anywhere but Knoxville,” he said. 

Another thing Dawson never had much doubt about was what he wanted to do as his life’s work.   Despite trying his hand at a variety of jobs while he was in college (he did construction and drove railroad spikes to make tuition money), he fell in love  with the law after reading a book set in the post-World War II South about a small-town lawyer. 

“Reading ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ was a true inspiration.  Atticus Finch made a deep impression on me,” Dawson said.

Dawson and Jess Campbell founded Campbell & Dawson in May, 1989.  The firm emphasizes personal service and has secured numerous multi-million-dollar settlements for its clients.  Dawson’s practice areas include automobile accidents, medical malpractice, product liability and worker’s compensation.   He is a member of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association,  the Knoxville, Tennessee and American Bar Association and Phi Alpha Delta.

Stephanie Walsh began her legal career before she was even out  of law school.  She clerked for the firm Banks & Campbell, then Cheek and Campbell for two years, until she graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1986.  She became an associate with the firm of Cheek and Campbell upon graduation and joined Campbell & Dawson when the firm was founded in 1989.

“I knew I wanted to be a lawyer from the time I was 13 years old,” said Walsh, who grew up in Mountain City, Tennessee, where she spent her summers tagging along with her grandfather’s best friend, the local district attorney general, as he traveled from courtroom to courtroom throughout the Tri-Cities and upper East Tennessee area.

Walsh is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Club (an organization whose membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements), and her practice areas include personal injury, workers compensation, products liability, medical malpractice and  business law.  Her most satisfying legal victory involved representing a medical malpractice victim who was misdiagnosed  with breast cancer and suffered an unnecessary mastectomy. Walsh, like all the attorneys at Campbell & Dawson, forges  strong bonds with her clients. 

“I always tell my clients not to hesitate to call if they have questions.  There are no dumb questions, and we go the  extra mile to make sure their needs are met.” 

Walsh received her B.A. Degree in Political Science from the University of Tennessee in 1983, where she was a member  of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with highest honors.  She is a member of the Knoxville and Tennessee Bar Associations; Phi Alpha Delta; Strathmore’s Who’s who (2000-2001); the Knox County Development Board/Knox County Health, Education and Housing Facilities from 1988-1994, serving as secretary during the last 3 years of her term.

Walsh married Harry Alheid in 1993, and is the daughter of  well-known Northeast Tennessee entrepreneur and political  activist Tom Walsh, and Anne Walsh of Mountain City.

Melanie Campbell-Brown learned to practice law from the ground up. She joined Campbell & Dawson as an attorney in 2001, the same year that  she was admitted to the Bar. But before she was a lawyer, she worked for the firm for the better part of 10 years, as a runner, receptionist, law clerk, paralegal and jack
of all trades.

A 1991 graduate of Franklin County High School, Melanie grew up between Knoxville and Winchester, Tennessee. She holds an Associates and a Bachelor of Arts degree in business from Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, and was awarded a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama in 2000. She was a member of Phi Alpha Delta.

Melanie is the daughter of Jess Campbell and intends to follow in her father's footsteps.

"He knows everybody, and everybody knows him. I hope I can be half the trial attorney he is. I've seen him get up there and work wonders. A client is  not just another case to him. He puts his own personal feelings into his work, believes in each case and treats clients like they're family."

She brings a youthful perspective to her work, and is building a general legal practice, which includes worker's compensation, debt collection, court appointments, criminal defense, child support work, uncontested divorces, personal injury, and the drafting of wills and living wills.

Melanie is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association, the Knoxville Bar Association and the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association. She and her husband, James Brown, were married in 1996, and live in Knoxville.

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