Yoakum helps businesses ‘move on with their lives’

Law Talk profile for The Memphis Daily News

Aug. 22, 2013

Though the jump Brian Yoakum made at the beginning of August from The Biller Law Firm to Evans Petree PC was only a floor away, he saw a greater opportunity to broaden his practice areas and expand the services he could offer clients.

It was also a move from a two-attorney firm to one of nearly 50.

“This is my first time experiencing a large firm, but I think it’s going to be good for me and for my clients,” said Yoakum, whose expertise is in commercial and business litigation with a diverse clientele. “I’m looking forward to taking the clients that I currently have and expanding what I’m doing for them, but then also to be able to go out and use the platform of the larger firm to attract new clients.”

In addition to litigation, Yoakum also has developed over the last couple of years the narrower field of premises liability defense, representing primarily retail and restaurant owners in defense of people who claim to be injured on their property.

Yoakum was born and raised in Memphis, and he completed all of his education in his hometown. He attended Memphis University School before going to Rhodes College, where he studied political science and international studies.

“I had opportunities at all phases of life to leave Memphis, but I love Memphis,” he said. “This is my home. I love its people, so I decided to stay.”

While a student, Yoakum worked as a runner for both Black, Bobango & Morgan (now Black McLaren Jones Ryland & Griffee PC) and Apperson Crump PLC, and those experiences clinched his determination to become an attorney.

After graduating and before entering law school, Yoakum worked as business manager for the Sammons Group LLC, and Jack Sammons, who had been appointed by Chancery Court as special master and receiver. Yoakum graduated from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 2005 . . . (read more)