Kevin Sharp is Co-Vice Chairman of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight and Co-Chair of the firm’s Public Interest Litigation Group. Prior to joining the firm, Kevin was nominated to the federal bench by President Barack Obama, confirmed unanimously by the Senate, and received his commission as a federal district court judge on May 3, 2011. Kevin served on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee from May 2011 to April 2017, including service from 2014 to 2017 as the court’s Chief Judge.
In his judicial role, Kevin 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!,” and 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.
While on the bench, Kevin presided over more than 4,000 civil and criminal cases, including over 30 putative or certified class/collective action cases. He conducted 75 trials and 60 contested evidentiary hearings concerning complex, multi-party commercial litigation, a variety of class action matters, ERISA disputes, copyright and patent litigation, criminal prosecutions, and claims of constitutional and civil rights violations.
Since joining the firm, Kevin has received multiple awards and recognitions. Most recently, he was recognized as a Trailblazer in The American Lawyer’s inaugural South Trailblazers. Additionally, he has been recognized by the Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights and Plaintiff Employment Lawyers (2021-2024), Attorney for Justice, the Tennessee Supreme Court (2019), Benchmark Litigation Labor and Employment Star – South in the practice area of Labor and Employment (2018-2021), Nashville Business Journal’s Best of the Bar (2003, 2005-2009, 2019), “Mid-South Super Lawyers” (2007 – 2010), Best Lawyers in America – Recognized for work in the field of “Employment Law – Individuals” (2008-2010, 2020-2022), Listed as one of the Top 100 trial lawyers in American by the National Trial Lawyers Association; Awarded “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell.
Kevin has nearly 30 years of experience litigating and/or presiding over complex civil litigation cases, qui tam and whistleblower matters, products liability claims, malpractice cases, class action matters, ERISA claims, and civil rights and criminal matters.
