Judge Kevin Sharp is the Co-Vice Chairman of Sanford Heisler Sharp, and Co-Chair of the firm’s Public Interest Litigation Group. He joined the firm after serving as a judge on the U.S District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee from 2011 - April, including service from 2014 to 2017 as the court’s Chief Judge.
In his judicial role, Judge Sharp handled many high-profile cases, including Young v. Giles County Board of Education, granting an injunction against school officials who prevented a student from wearing a shirt that read “Some People are Gay. Get Over It!”; Rodriguez v. Providence Community Corrections, Inc., halting the practice of a private probation company, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, seeking to jail probationers when the only violation alleged was nonpayment of court costs and fines; and Marshall v. ESPN, Inc., et al., a case that garnered national attention addressing the right of publicity by college athletes.
Judge Sharp served as co-lead counsel in Gann v. Nissan North America, Inc., a nationwide consumer class action alleging faulty transmission. He was lead counsel in an age discrimination collective action against Volkswagen of America and VW AG, filed in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. He also represents more than sixty Virginia localities in opioid lawsuits that were the first in the state in pursuing legal action against opioid manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and pharmacy benefit managers. In addition, Judge Sharp recently secured a $2 million settlement as part of an individual wrongful termination lawsuit brought against the Metro Nashville Airport by the Airport’s former President and CEO.
Judge Sharp leads the effort to gain clemency for American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier, who has been in prison for 47 years. Peltier was unconstitutionally convicted of murder in the deaths of two federal agents for the 1975 tragedy at the Pine Ridge Reservation. He advocated directly with the President on behalf of Chris Young, the man whom Sharp had sentenced to life in prison while serving on the federal bench because of mandatory minimum sentencing requirements.
Young was granted clemency and released from prison in January 2021. Currently, Judge Sharp is working with several national organizations on criminal justice and sentencing reform issues and is an Advisory Board member with the Tennessee Innocence Project.
Kevin has been recognized as a Trailblazer in The American Lawyer’s inaugural South Trailblazers, by Lawdragon 500 Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyer (2020-21), as an Attorney for Justice by the Tennessee Supreme Court (2019), and as one of the Nashville Business Journal’s Best of the Bar (2003, 2005-2009, 2019). He was named a “Mid-South Super Lawyers,” named to the Best Lawyers in America, and is listed as one of the Top 100 trial lawyers in American by the National Trial Lawyers Association. Kevin was Awarded an “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell.
Updated Sep 2023
