Pam Warnock Blair

Biography

Pam Warnock Blair is an equity member of McNabb, Bragorgos &Burgess PLLC. She has a diverse state and federal court litigation practice including commercial litigation, tort claims, probate court disputes, and family law matters. She also maintains an insurance defense and insurance coverage practice representing insured parties in premises liability, medical malpractice, construction negligence, wrongful death, and insurance companies in coverage matters. She has also represented defendants in employment litigation and multi-district litigation. Pam has presented to lawyers, insurance adjusters, and law students on topics such as appellate advocacy, effective management of insurance defense files, premises liability, alternative dispute resolution techniques in family law, and the concept of lawyers as peacemakers. Pam serves on the fee dispute committee of the Memphis Bar Association. Pam served an adjunct professor at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law teaching the fundamentals of legal writing and reasoning as well as oral argument to first year students from 2008 – 2014. Pam was elected to the University of Memphis School of Law Alumni Board in 2023 for an eight-year term.  As a member of the Los Locos Triathlon team since 1997, she has participated in over 200 triathlons and multisport events in the southeast and remains an emeritus member.

Pam Blair News and Events:

• December 14, 2023 –  The Tennessee Court of Appeals affirmed Pam Blair’s trial court motion for summary judgment in a third party criminal act premises liability shooting case and subsequently denied the Appellants’ Petition for Rehearing on January 4, 2024.

• September 1, 2022 – Pam Blair and Scott McCullough convinced an Arkansas jury to award a defense verdict to their national insurance company client after a four-day trial in which Plaintiff was seeking greater than one million dollars in damages.

• May 21, 2022 – Pam Blair achieved a summary judgment for her client, a neighborhood homeowners’ association, accused of security negligence after a drive by shooting injured three people on the premises.

• March 15, 2022 – Richard Sorin and Pam Blair acheived a summary judgment dismissal for their national hotel chain client in a product defect/premises liability case in Arkansas after successfully excluding evidence from the Court’s consideration.
• August 11, 2021 – Pam Blair achieved a summary judgment dismissal of her client from a wrongful death accident case.
• July 1, 2021 – According to the Order of Chancellor Jenkins, Pam Blair accomplished the recission of a tax sale for her client who purchased a property wrongfully demolished between the sale and possession.
• June 23, 2021 – Richard Wackerfuss and Pam Blair accomplished a summary judgment dismissal of all claims against their regional chain restaurant client in a beer-line contamination case.
• October 8, 2020 – Pam Warnock Blair obtained a judgment in a bench trial for her contractor client, including the amount sought and attorney fees.
• August 17, 2020 – Pam Warnock Blair won a summary judgment for her client, a defendant in a tragic Arkansas bus accident by persuading the Court of the absence of evidence of negligent hiring and requisite agency.
• January 9, 2020 – Pam Warnock Blair secured a favorable trial verdict, including money damages, injunctive relief and attorney fees, for her regional retail franchisor client.
• June 16, 2019 – Nick Bragorgos and Pam Blair secured a jury trial verdict for their national restaurant chain client greater than three million dollars less than its client’s last settlement offer in a claim arising from a third-party criminal act.
• November 8, 2019 – Pam Warnock Blair secured a summary judgment concerning insurance coverage for her national company client, dismissing the company as a defendant.
• December 18, 2018 – Pam Warnock Blair successfully briefed and argued a Tennessee Supreme Court appeal by permission to affirm a favorable trial court ruling for her national retail chain client.
• November 16, 2018 – Pam Blair earned a defense verdict for her Arkansas farmer client alleged to have allowed the herbicide Dicamba to drift and damage nearby property.
• June 22, 2018 – Pam Warnock Blair secured a summary judgment dismissal of her opponent’s counterclaim for her national insurance company client in Arkansas federal court.
• December 18, 2017 – The Tennessee Supreme Court issued a ruling in favor of Pam Warnock Blair’s retail chain client, reversing the Court of Appeals and affirming the trial court’s ruling in a wrongful death case.
• March 29, 2017 – Pam Warnock Blair successfully defended an opponent’s Petition to the United States Court for Writ of Certiorari – to the benefit of her national franchise client.
• January 9, 2017 – Pam Warnock Blair is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.
• June 10, 2016 – Pam Warnock Blair persuaded the Court to dismiss all claims against her insurance agency client, avoiding the expense of a full jury trial for her client.
• May 25, 2016 – Pam Warnock Blair secured a defense verdict in Arkansas for her multistate retail tire dealer client to defeat the opposing Plaintiff’s claims of negligent repair.
• January 2, 2015 – Pam Warnock Blair secured an early federal court dismissal of a lawsuit filed against her national hotel chain client.
• August 22, 2014 – The Arkansas Supreme Court admitted Pam Warnock Blair to the State Bar of Arkansas.
• November 25, 2015 – The Supreme Court of Tennessee, on brief of Leland McNabb, Pam Blair and Andrew Droke, and denies application for permission to appeal from the decision of the Court of Appeals, affirming grant of Directed Verdict in March 2014 to the firm’s client in a suit arising from a substantial fire loss.
• November 16, 2015 – The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a federal court dismissal Pam Warnock Blair obtained for her national hotel chain client.
• January 2, 2015 – Pam Warnock Blair secured an early federal court dismissal of a lawsuit filed against her national hotel chain client.
• January 28, 2014 – The Tennessee Supreme Court approved Pam Blair as a Rule 31 Listed Civil and Family Mediator.
• March 11, 2013 – Pam Blair convinced a judge that the opposing plaintiffs were 100% at fault in an automobile accident case.
• August 29, 2012 – The trial court victory of MBB attorneys Nick Bragorgos and Pam Blair affirmed by Tennessee Court of Appeals.
• February 2012 – Pam Blair attends National Retail and Restaurant Defense Association’s Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Representative Appellate Cases:

• On May 16, 2024 after the Tennessee Court of Appeals affirmed Pam Blair’s trial court grant of a summary judgment in the defense of a third-party criminal act case, the Tennessee Supreme Court denied the Appellants’ application for permission to appeal.

• In December 2018 the Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed a favorable trial court ruling for Pam Blair’s national retail chain client in a wrongful death case arising from a customer’s altercation with an employee of the Defendant store.
• In a January 6, 2018 United States Supreme Court ruling, Pam Blair successfully defended an opponent’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. Petitioner sought to have the Court resolve an alleged split among the United States Circuit Courts concerning whether or not a defendant previously convicted of resisting arrest can maintain a cause of action against arresting officers if the defendant never had the opportunity to seek habeas corpus relief because she incurred no jail time. Petitioner’s cause of action against Pam Blair’s national hotel chain client alleging the conspiracy of the hotel with the police officers was dismissed at the trial level and affirmed in the Sixth Circuit. SCOTUS did not accept the case.
• On November 16, 2015, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a federal court dismissal Pam Blair obtained for her national hotel chain client. Among other causes of action, the Plaintiff claimed the hotel conspired with police officers to deprive her of her rights because she was arrested during an altercation.
• Leland McNabb and Pam Blair successfully defended an appeal of a directed verdict obtained for a Defendant fireplace contractor client in a cause alleging that negligent construction resulted in a fire. The appellate issues pointed to whether or not the Plaintiff failed to prove a justiciable duty owed by the contractor and whether not a statute of repose applied to the case facts. (Opinion issued April 17, 2015, Hayes v. Coopertown Mastersweep, Inc., W2014-00783.) The Tennessee Supreme Court denied the Plaintiffs’ permission to appeal on November 30, 2015.
• Nick Bragorgos and Pam Blair successfully defended an appeal of several trial court evidentiary rulings obtained in favour of their trucking company client in Sapinder Singh v. [a trucking company], W2011-01986.
• In a pharmacy error case litigated as a medical malpractice case by Pam Blair, the Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court summary judgment for Defendant pharmacy in Beal ex rel Putnam v. Walgreen Co., 408 Fed. Appx.898 2010 WL 4669905 (C.A.6 (Tenn.)). Pam Blair successfully negated essential elements of the Plaintiffs’ claim by excluding expert testimony and excluding Plaintiffs’ claim for punitive damages in the trial court.
• Pam Blair successfully defended Plaintiffs appeal in a construction case, Watkins v. Tankersly Construction, W2004-00869. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s grant of a summary judgment arising from her assertion of a relevant statute of repose. Argument centered on statutory interpretation.
• On appeal, Nick Bragorgos and Pam Blair attained a large remittitur of a jury trial verdict in a minor pedestrian death case in Dunn v. Davis, W2006-00251. The McNabb lawyers demonstrated limitations in the proof to the Court of Appeals that did not substantiate the original verdict.
• In a construction case, Pam Blair defended a subdivision developer in a negligence claim. The trial court interpreted the Tennessee statute of repose concerning improvement to real property and barred the Plaintiffs claim; Plaintiff appealed; the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court summary judgment. Griffin v. Munford Development, W2007-00812 (perm. app.denied 2008),
• Pam Blair defended a developer in a tragic pedestrian death case. Plaintiffs asserted the absence of a sidewalk was the proximate cause of the death of two minors. The trial court dismissed the claim as untimely filed after hearing argument over the determination of the date of the completion of the improvement to real estate. Plaintiffs appealed unsuccessfully. Jenkins v. Southland Capital, W-2007-01180 (perm. app. denied 2008)
• In a procedurally complicated case, Pam Blair stepped in mid-litigation to defend the appeal of a Knoxville pharmacy error case in Massi v. Walgreen Co., 337 Fed. Appx. 542, 2009 WL 2230722 (C.A.6 Tenn.)) after a conflict developed. The case hit the Sixth Circuit under two different docket numbers; the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal both times. 

Alternative Dispute Resolution:

Pam customizes family mediation services to the budget and goals of her clients. In every case, her goal is to minimize drama and save expense for the divorcing couple. Ideally, this results in less cost and turmoil to the couple.

Education

• University of Memphis School of Law, Memphis, Tennessee
  • J.D. – 1983
• University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee
  • B.A. – 1980

Practice Areas

• Civil Litigation
• Insurance Defense and Coverage
• Mediation
• Commercial and Business Litigation
• Appellate Practice
• Family/Probate Law

Current Employment Position

• Equity Member

Bar Admissions

• Tennessee, 1983
• U.S. District Court Western District of Tennessee, 1985
• U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1986
• Arkansas, 2014
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Tennessee, 1986
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Tennessee, 2008
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Arkansas, 2010
• U.S. Supreme Court, 2017