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Proven Legal Guidance for Life, Business, and Injury Recovery In Tennessee
Small Firm. Personal Attention. Real Results.
Small by Design. Driven by Results.
Estate Planning, Business Law & Personal Injury - Done Right.
Your Full-Service Law Firm Serving Nashville and Memphis
We are a full-service Tennessee firm handling estate planning, business and family law, probate, and personal injury. Backed by over 20 years of practice and offices in Nashville and Memphis, Patterson Bray gives every client the close attention their matter deserves.
How We Can Help
We offer a full range of legal services, including estate planning, asset protection, business law, family law, probate, and personal injury. Patterson Bray attorneys guide individuals, families, and businesses through each matter with focus and proven judgment.
- Personal Injury
- Estate Planning
- Business Law
- Wealth & Probate
- Family Law
Personal Injury
When you or a loved one is injured due to someone else’s negligence, our attorneys fight to help you recover the compensation you deserve. We represent clients in car accidents, workplace injuries, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and other serious injury claims, handling every step with the diligence and personal attention your case demands.
Attorney Chris Patterson is licensed to practice in 16 states, including Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas, giving injured clients access to experienced representation well beyond Memphis and Nashville.
Estate Planning
A well-crafted estate plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your family and preserve everything you’ve worked to build. The estate planning attorneys at Patterson Bray work closely with clients across Memphis, Nashville, and surrounding Tennessee communities to develop personalized plans that reflect their unique goals, including drafting wills and revocable living trusts, asset protection planning, charitable giving strategies, trust administration, and business succession planning.
With ever-evolving tax laws and complex family circumstances, our attorneys stay current on the changes that could affect your estate, ensuring your wishes are carried out and your loved ones are protected long after you’re gone.
Business Law
Our attorneys guide business owners through every stage of running a company, from choosing the right entity and drafting contracts to resolving disputes and planning for succession. We advise small and closely held businesses on formation, organization, governance, and day-to-day legal questions, and we represent companies in commercial litigation, construction and lien matters, and the transactions that move a business forward.
With laws and tax rules always shifting, you need a business attorney who stays ahead of those changes and understands how they affect your bottom line.
Wealth & Probate
Our attorneys also help clients build, preserve, and pass on their wealth with confidence. We guide families through probate and post-death administration with care and discretion, and we develop tax-conscious estate plans that carry out your wishes after your passing, including the drafting of wills, revocable living trusts, asset protection planning, charitable planned giving, and trust administration matters.
Because tax laws change often, you need an estate planning attorney who stays current with those changes and understands how they could affect your estate and your loved ones.
Family Law
Our family law attorneys stand with clients through some of life’s hardest moments, from divorce and child custody to alimony, child support, and the division of property. We handle paternity matters, orders of protection, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, annulments, and post-divorce modifications, always working toward outcomes that protect your children, your finances, and your peace of mind.
When emotions run high and the stakes are deeply personal, you need a family law attorney who listens closely, advocates firmly, and keeps your long-term interests in clear, steady focus.
What Our Clients Say
Real Reviews From Real Clients
“The firm listened to our concerns and addressed them professionally. The quality of the work product was well beyond expectations and good value for fees paid. Our attorney and her staff were responsive, thorough, and accommodating to our schedule. We recommend without reservation.”
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Legal Insights From Patterson Bray
Explore videos and media from the attorneys of Patterson Bray, covering the estate planning, business, family, and injury topics our clients ask about most across Tennessee and the Mid-South.
Can Child Support Be Modified?
Two Offices to Serve You
Proudly Representing Clients From Nashville to Memphis and Beyond
Two Offices, One Trusted Firm Work with trusted estate planning and business law attorneys serving Memphis, Nashville, and the surrounding areas
Our Nashville and Memphis offices put experienced legal counsel within reach for clients throughout Middle and West Tennessee. Both locations answer calls 24 hours a day, so help is available whenever your questions cannot wait.
Consultations Available
20+ Years Serving Tennessee Clients
100s of Clients Served
Trusted Legal Counsel for Life, Business, and Recovery
Whether you’re protecting your future, fighting for what you deserve, or building something that lasts, our attorneys are here to help you move forward with confidence.
Our Attorneys
Get to Know Our Firm
Each Patterson Bray attorney focuses on the people behind every case, pairing decades of combined experience with the close, responsive service that sets a smaller firm apart.
The Patterson Bray Difference
5 Reasons to Hire Patterson Bray for Your Estate Plan
Deciding how to protect your family, your assets, and your legacy is one of the most important steps you will ever take. The right plan can spare your loved ones stress, taxes, and court battles down the road, while the wrong plan, or no plan at all, can leave them with a costly mess. If you are searching for an estate planning lawyer in Memphis, TN, consider what makes Patterson Bray the choice for families across Shelby County.
More Than 20 Years Guiding Tennessee Families
Our estate planning attorneys, Larry Bray and Lindsay Jones, have spent over two decades helping clients with wills, trusts, asset protection, charitable giving, and post-death administration. That depth of practice means we have already worked through the situations your family is likely to face and know how to plan ahead for them, from young parents naming guardians to business owners preparing the next generation.
A Record Of Protecting Real Wealth
Experience shows up in results. Our attorneys have helped clients pass $30 million to their heirs free of estate tax, shielded $7 million of a contractor’s assets from future creditors, and structured a company so that $20 million of its sale price reached the family without estate tax. In another case, we built a business succession plan for a $10 million company that passed at the owner’s death without court interference or added tax. We bring that same care to every plan, no matter the size of your estate.
Credentials Memphis Families Can Count On
Larry Bray is licensed to practice in Tennessee, Kentucky, New York, Wyoming, and the United States Tax Court, and belongs to WealthCounsel, a national network of estate planning attorneys. Lindsay Jones earned both her law and business degrees cum laude and serves as President of the Planned Giving Council of Greater Memphis. Both are active in local estate planning and community foundation councils, so you are working with attorneys respected by their peers and invested in the Mid-South.
Approachable Counsel And 24/7 Call Answering
Estate planning works best when you feel comfortable asking questions, and our attorneys take the time to explain your options in plain language so you understand every decision. Because life does not keep business hours, a member of our team is available to answer our phones around the clock, ready to point you in the right direction whenever you reach out.
One Firm For Every Stage Of Life
Patterson Bray handles estate planning alongside probate, business, family, and injury law. As your circumstances change, you have a single firm that already knows you and your family and is ready to help with whatever comes next, from updating a will after a new grandchild to settling an estate after a loss.
Protecting the people you love starts with a conversation. Contact our office to schedule your free estate planning consultation with Patterson Bray today.
Your Questions, Answered
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I begin estate planning?
Estate planning is appropriate for any adult who owns property, has children, or wishes to direct their own medical and financial decisions, and it is best begun before a need arises rather than during a crisis. Our estate planning attorneys belong to WealthCounsel, a national network of estate planning attorneys, and we prepare wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives that protect both your assets and your family. We also recommend reviewing your plan after major life events such as a marriage, a birth, or a significant change in your finances.
How do you approach a business dispute?
We work first to resolve disputes efficiently, through negotiation or settlement where appropriate, while preparing every matter as though it will be tried. Led by Managing Partner Chris Patterson, our litigation attorneys bring more than 20 years of courtroom experience to contract disputes, business torts, and construction and lien matters, and we represent companies of all sizes throughout Tennessee.
How do I choose the right structure for my new business?
We assist business owners at every stage of formation, including selecting the right entity, drafting governing documents, and structuring ownership so the company is positioned for growth and protected from avoidable risk. We regularly counsel small and closely held businesses, and we remain available as your company evolves, from formation through contracts, succession, and taxes.
Will my family law case have to go to court?
Many family law matters, including divorce and custody, resolve through settlement or mediation, though we are fully prepared to litigate when a fair agreement cannot be reached. Austin Rainey, who leads our family law division and has been recognized by Best Lawyers, represents clients in divorce, child custody, alimony, and property division with both discretion and resolve.
What does the probate process involve?
Probate is the court-supervised process of settling a person’s estate, which includes validating the will, paying debts and taxes, and distributing assets to the rightful heirs. Larry Bray, one of our estate attorneys, is admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court, and we guide executors, administrators, and trustees through probate and trust administration so that estates are settled correctly and without unnecessary delay.
Insights From Patterson Bray
News and Legal Updates
What happens to a trust when the grantor dies?
Transcript: 00:00:00 Well, first it depends on the type of trust we're dealing with, but in general, if we're dealing with a revocable living trust, that trust becomes irrevocable....
How do I handle final income taxes for the deceased?
Transcript: 00:00:00 So, the named fiduciary is the one responsible for finalizing the deceased's taxes and filing any applicable tax returns. Generally, a form 1040, which is the individual...
Does child support end at 18 in Tennessee?
Transcript: 00:00:00 The way child support ends in Tennessee is once a child turns 18, so long as it is the same year that they are supposed to graduate...