Spoden M. Clark

M. Clark Spoden is recognized in Tennessee as a Specialist in Civil Trial and Pre-Trial Advocacy as Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Clark is a Charter Fellow in the American College of Board Certified Attorneys, (2015) and has received recognition in The Best Lawyers in America , Commercial Litigation (2010-2024), Litigation-Construction (2011-2024), Litigation-Environmental (2011-2024), Litigation-Labor and Employment (2011-2024), and in the Top 100 in Tennessee Super Lawyers (2020-2023) and Top 50 Nashville Super Lawyers (2020-2023) and Mid-South Super Lawyers, Employment and Labor (2016-2023). In 2024, Clark was appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court to the position of Reporter for the Tennessee Advisory Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure. He also serves by Supreme Court appointment on the Board of Professional Responsibility Disciplinary Hearing Committee. He is an experienced trial lawyer who practices in the Litigation Section at GSRM Law. He has represented companies in contract, employment, healthcare, environmental, administrative law, construction, business tort, non-competition, intellectual property, wrongful death, and personal injury cases. He regularly advises clients on HR issues and Tennessee Certificate of Need matters. Clark has long represented manufacturing companies, especially in the fields of aluminum recycling and automotive parts manufacturing. At Sewanee, Clark majored in Political Science, achieving with honors recognition in his major. At the University of Tennessee, Clark served as the first Managing Editor of the Tennessee Law Review. Clarks career prior to GSRM Law began with his clerkship for the Honorable Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr., U. S. District Judge, U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Following his clerkship, Clark joined the law firm of Dearborn & Ewing (D&E). He became a partner in 1987 and became chair of the firms litigation section in 1989. While at D&E, Clark participated in the trial of Emhart, Inc., v. Duracell International, Inc., a significant environmental case and developed a reputation for excellence in environmental litigation. He also tried many construction cases, including a complex international arbitration case in Paris, France. In 1994, Clark joined the Nashville office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart where he was a member from 1994-98. At Ogletree, Clark became involved in Labor & Employment law, including L&E trials in various state courts as well as the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and before the AAA in Chicago and New Orleans. In 1998, Clark helped start the Nashville office of Brown Todd & Heyburn, which became Frost Brown Todd in 2000. Clark served as managing member of the Nashville office for several years. Clark has led HR Training Camps for HR managers in various cities, including Nashville, Baltimore, and Las Vegas. He regularly provides in-house HR training for clients. The subject matter of the training is customized to fit client needs, and regularly includes anti-harassment, anti-discrimination, and ADA/FMLA compliance training among other topics. Clark is an Administrative Law Judge for Nashville Electric Service. He has taught Remedies at the Nashville School of Law since 2003 and Civil Procedure since 2019. In 2008, Clark began publishing for his Remedies students his own textbook, entitled Remedies Readings. Clark has frequently given seminars on trial procedure and employment law. Clark is very active in community service. He is on the Board of Directors of the Nashville Rotary Club, the Tennessee Environmental Council, and the Tennessee Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (Nashville) and served as the Corporate Walk Chair for LLS in 2019. Clark is a 2018 graduate of Leadership Middle Tennessee and helped design and implement the Davidson County program for LMT in 2019. When not working, Clark is an avid wilderness explorer. Since 2009, Clark and his wife, Norah, have taken self-guided wilderness kayaking and camping trips in Alaska in the summer and paddle in the Everglades and the 10,000 Islands in Florida. In 2002, Clark and his son, Cage, took a 186 mile wilderness canoe trip in the Yukon Territory, Canada, and in 2019 paddled the Rio Grande River through Big Bend National Park. In 2008, Clark and his daughter, Anna, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. University of Tennessee School of Law, J. D., 1980 Sewanee: The University of the South, B. A., with honors, 1977 Tennessee U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit U. S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit U. S. District Court - Middle District of Florida U. S. District Court - Northern District of Florida U. S. District Court - Southern District of Florida U. S. District Court - Eastern District of Tennessee U. S. District Court - Middle District of Tennessee U. S. Supreme Court U. S. District Court - Middle District of Alabama U. S. District Court - Northern District of Alabama U. S. District Court - Southern District of Alabama U. S. Court of Federal Claims American Bar Association Tennessee Bar Association Board of Professional Responsibility Disciplinary Hearing Committee Nashville Bar Association Fee Dispute Resolution & Arbitration Committee Society of Human Resource Management Tennessee Environmental Council, Board of Directors Sixth Judicial Circuit Conference, Life Member Downtown Nashville Rotary Club Board of Directors Chair, Environmental Committee Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (Nashville) Executive Committee 2019 Corporate Walk Chair National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Tennessee Chapter Board of Directors Nashville Symphony, Governing Member Richland Country Club, Member YMCA, Member Men of Valor, Sponsor Cumberland Heights, Member The Land Trust for Tennessee, Member The Red Cross, Member Legal Aid Society, Member The Nature Conservancy, Member Vital Ground, Member Litigation, Business and Corporate, Labor and Employment Construction, Healthcare American College of Board Certified Attorneys, Charter Fellow, 2015 Construction Lawyers Society of America, Fellow Tennessee Bar Foundation, Fellow Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated Listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation, Litigation-Construction, Litigation-Environmental, and Litigation-Labor and Employment. Appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court to the position of Reporter for the Tennessee Advisory Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure, 2024 2025 Nashville School of Law Annual Recognition Dinner, Faculty Honoree Named Nashville Best Lawyers Environmental Litigation Lawyer of the Year, 2016 Nashville Bar Association, Joseph G. Cummings Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year, 2007 Listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers for Employment and Labor Mid-South Super Lawyers Top 100 Tennessee, 2020-2023 Mid-South Super Lawyers Top 50 Nashville, 2020-2023 Leadership Middle Tennessee, Class of 2018 Professor, Nashville School of Law, Civil Procedure and Remedies Administrative Law Judge, Nashville Electric Service