William A. "Zan" Blue, Jr.

Constangy Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP

4530 Everett Drive
Nashville, Tennessee 37215

615-390-7645

Employment, Labor, Personal Injury, Trade Secrets, Unfair Competition, Wage and Hour, Workplace

Zan has almost 40 years of experience with one firm, Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP. Over those many years he has participated in all forms of dispute resolution, including pre-filing settlements for class actions and individual lawsuits, early case evaluation and settlement, informal and formal mediation with judges and professional mediators, and trials before judges, juries and administrative agencies. He has extensive experience in dispute resolution involving collective bargaining, including negotiations with and without FMCS assistance and arbitrations concerning interpretations and terminations. Subject matters include all types of labor and employment matters, including harassment and discrimination, wrongful discharge, workplace safety, restrictive covenants and unfair competition, partnership dissolutions, wage-hour matters, and employee benefits cases. He has handled matters involving global multi-nationals, regional firms and small local employers in industries ranging from automotive manufacturing to quasi-public airports and electric companies to small local businesses. His extensive experience provides a wide range and depth of perspective about what will work and what won’t work when trying to resolve matters quickly and efficiently.

Effective dispute resolution requires careful and attentive listening to the parties and the lawyers, broad and deep experience with what works and what doesn’t work, extensive knowledge about subject matter about the legal issues and the real world practical aspects of how things work, and, frankly, experience with how our legal system works and, very often,  doesn’t work. People act on the basis of three things, generally: their perceived self-interest, their perceived range of options, and often, the operation of the law of unintended consequences on the decisions they make about the first two things. A key part of the dispute resolution process is helping the parties identify correctly their self-interests and their range of options, as well as helping them understand how the law of unintended consequences can make things go sideways.

Education

Vanderbilt University Law School

  • J.D., 1983
  • ­Founder’s Medalist
  • Order of the Coif
  • Executive Articles Editor, Journal of Transnational Law

Bradley University

  • B.A., Philosophy, magna cum laude, 1979

Bar & Court Admissions

  • Tennessee, 1983
  • Kentucky, 2008

Honors & Recognitions

  • Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers (Elected 2020)
  • Best Lawyers in America© (2006-2020)
  • Best Lawyers in America® Employment Law - Management "Lawyer of the Year" (2020)
  • Best of the Bar, Nashville Business Journal (2017)
  • Chambers USA Guide® 
  • Fellow, Nashville Bar Foundation (1997)
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Peer Rated for Highest Level of Professional Excellence   
  • Mid-South Super Lawyers® (2013-2019)
4530 Everett Drive
Nashville, TN 37215

P: 615-390-7645
E: [email protected]