Samuel W. Rutherford
Special Counsel
- P: (865) 546-7311
- F: (865) 524-1773
SAMUEL W. RUTHERFORD has practiced law over 30 years, primarily as a litigator in personal injury, tort claims, transportation industry, product liability, workers' compensation, civil rights, professional negligence, construction, insurance defense, and insurance coverage. He represents major manufacturers, international companies, trucking companies, distributors, insureds, self-insureds, and insurance companies. Mr. Rutherford has completed tractor-trailer driver training programs and actively attends industry seminars. Product liability work includes industrial machinery, commercial and recreational vehicles, sports and utility equipment, and food industry litigation. Three decades of trials and jury verdicts include defense of industrial equipment related deaths, closed head injuries, vehicle accidents and premises liability accidents involving fatalities and multiple severe injuries, and use of numerous documents and experts in various fields. Successful defense of catastrophic injury, multiple fatality accidents, and multi-million dollar damage claims has been achieved through cross-examination of expert witnesses, surveillance data and witnesses, application of statutory and case law, and mediation. He co-chaired the Judicial Committee for the Knoxville Bar Association and holds memberships in the Insurance Section of the Tennessee Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, and Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association. He is a seminar speaker on workers' compensation and employer-employee topics, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. Mr. Rutherford served in the United States Air Force in medical air evacuation during the Vietnam War and in emergency-room medicine before beginning his law practice. Mr. Rutherford is a former shareholder with the firm Lewis, King, Krieg & Waldrop, PLLC. He received his B.S. degree in 1975 from East Tennessee State University and his law degree in 1978 from the University of Tennessee, where he served as the president of Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity. With Billy Stokes, Mr. Rutherford formed the firm of Stokes & Rutherford in 1999. He joined the firm of Kennerly Montgomery in 2008 where he continues his law practice.