Newsroom

Member Jon A. Woodall has been elected to the board of directors of Meritas, a global alliance of independent law firms that serves the legal needs of companies across major jurisdictions and global markets. Woodall was elected to the position from the more than 9,200 attorneys in the Meritas member network and will serve a three-year term with six other lawyers from around the world.

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Kentucky Society for Human Resource Management, has recognized McBrayer PLLC once again as one of the Best Places to Work in Kentucky, specifically in the small-sized employer category.

On December 3, 2024, a Federal District Court in Texas held on a preliminary basis that the Corporate Transparency Act and the related regulations are unconstitutional.

McBrayer Member Mari-Elise Paul has been recognized in the 2025 edition of WTR 1000 as one of the world's leading trademark practitioners.

What we saw in 2024:

2024 was the year of data privacy enforcement. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) brought at least four enforcement actions in 2024 that addressed sensitive location data.

On December 6, 2024, Lexington's Urban County Council signed an agreement to support a new regional economic development initiative called the Central Kentucky Business Park Authority.

As we welcome the new year, we are excited to share that a record number of McBrayer attorneys have earned distinguished recognition in the 2025 edition of Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers. An impressive total of 38 McBrayer attorneys are celebrated among Kentucky Super Lawyers and Kentucky Rising Stars this year, showcasing our firm’s commitment to excellence and leadership in the legal field.

Featured in the December issue of BARbriefs by the Louisville Bar Association, intellectual property attorneys Bruce Paul and Mari-Elise Paul have recently published the article "Generative Artificial Intelligence and Deepfakes Prompt a Need for Expanded Right of Publicity Protection in Kentucky."

McBrayer Louisville Member Jack Wheat was featured in the recent YouTube documentary Theft and the Crazy History of the Cabbage Patch Kids.

McBrayer Member Mitchel Denham recently won two cases before the Kentucky Supreme Court—Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government v. Moore, -- S.W.3d --, 2024 WL 3930410 (Ky. 2024) and Hardin v. Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, -- S.W. --, 2024 WL 3929570 (Ky. 2024). Both cases involved former Louisville Metro Police Department officers who appealed their terminations.  In both cases, the Louisville Metro Police Merit Board upheld the former officers’ terminations.

Once again, McBrayer has been ranked among the nation’s top law firms by Best Lawyers®, achieving recognition in their 2025 edition of Best Law Firms®. The firm continues to cement this status through continual growth, adding three new attorneys to its now largest-ever roster.

McBrayer has once again been distinguished as one of the leading law firms in the nation by Best Lawyers®, as recognized in the 2025 edition of Best Law Firms®.

McBrayer PLLC is proud to announce that Member Mari-Elise Paul has been selected to lead the firm’s formidable Intellectual Property practice. Paul takes the helm of a practice that has seen extensive, innovative growth in recent years, and operates at the highest level within the Commonwealth.

McBrayer PLLC Economic Development Chair Anne-Tyler Morgan was delighted to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for American Welding & Gas's (“AWG”) new fill plant facility in Georgetown/Scott County on August 28, 2024. McBrayer's economic development team was honored to assist AWG in securing vital Kentucky tax incentives to bring this new facility to life.

In July, McBrayer Member Mitchel Denham was appointed by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg to serve as a member of the Louisville Economic Development Alliance (LEDA). LEDA, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization, is tasked with leading business expansion, retention, and attraction initiatives. Its objectives include the development of a new citywide brand, and the facilitation of partnerships focused on talent development, small business and entrepreneur development, finance, and bonding, as well as policy analysis, research, and advocacy.

McBrayer Member Mitchel Denham has been re-appointed by Governor Andy Beshear for a second four-year term with the Louisville Regional Airport Authority (LRAA).

McBrayer PLLC once again celebrates another year of growth and excellence in serving clients, with a record-breaking 50 attorneys recognized in the 2025 editions of Best Lawyers® in America and Best Lawyers®: Ones to Watch.

McBrayer Associate Valerie Michael has been named to the Leadership Lexington's Class of 2024-2025. 

McBrayer’s expansion continues with the addition of two Associate attorneys and a Chief Human Resources Officer in the Lexington and Louisville offices, further expanding the firm’s litigation and intellectual property groups and adding a trusted HR professional to firm administration.

McBrayer's Intellectual Property attorneys have jumped into the realm of podcasting with their new podcast, Protected Thoughts. Hear discussions on up-to-the-minute issues in intellectual property from our knowledgeable and insightful IP team.

It is fitting that today, World Intellectual Property Day, would see an expansion of the McBrayer Intellectual Property practice with the addition of a handful of attorneys across both the Lexington and Louisville offices of the firm

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Kentucky Society for Human Resource Management have announced that McBrayer PLLC is one of the 2024 Best Places to Work in Kentucky in the small-sized employer category.

As they ring in the new year, MML&K Government Solutions and McBrayer PLLC are proud to announce a major move in Frankfort, Kentucky. MML&K Government Solutions will relocate from their current office at 305 Ann Street to a new office just across the street at 202 West Main Street, where the law firm of McBrayer PLLC will expand and open a new Frankfort practice to complement current offices in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky. 

On November 8, McBrayer attorney Jack Wheat will speak in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's seminar entitled "Spirits and Intellectual Property: Bourbon."

On Friday, November 3, McBrayer attorney Phillip Pearson will present at the 2023 Fall Professional Education Seminar sponsored by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company. 

McBrayer has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus under the Midsize Mansfield Rule. After joining the rigorous 18-month 2022-2023 cohort, McBrayer PLLC is proud to announce that it has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus.

McBrayer PLLC has expanded its roster of attorneys yet again with the addition of attorneys Katy Harvey and Emily Shepard, who were sworn into the Kentucky Bar on October 20.

Winterwood Incorporated held its Annual Training Meeting on October 16 and 17. McBrayer attorneys Jaron Blandford, William Carroll, Chris Eller, Jason Hollon, Addison Lowry, and Zachary Webster presented to the group. 

On October 19, McBrayer attorney Phillip Pearson will present, "Secure Act: Nuts and Bolts for the Practitioner" as part of the DC Bar Communities Estate and Tax Planning series. 

The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Foundation, led by President Jon Woodall, has surpassed the $500,000 mark in scholarships provided to date. 

McBrayer PLLC once again marks another year of growth and quality service to clients with 49 attorneys – beating the firm’s record of 30 set last year– recognized in the 2024 editions of Best Lawyers® in America and Best Lawyers®: Ones to Watch.

The Louisville office of McBrayer PLLC has been named to Louisville Business First's Best Places to Work in Greater Louisville list for 2023. 

McBrayer PLLC has undergone significant expansion over the last few years, especially in building up its estate planning practice. The firm’s estate planning group continues to grow with the addition of Victoria Dickson, who brings her estate planning practice to the firm’s Lexington office.

After adding eight new attorneys at the close of 2022, the Louisville office of McBrayer PLLC continues to expand with the addition of Mitchel Denham. Joining as a Member, Denham will bring his two decades of legal experience to the firm’s healthcare, litigation, and economic development practice groups. 

McBrayer has welcomed eight law students as clerks for the summer of 2023: Kara Legg, Faith Turner, Desmond Varner, Hayden Hickey, and Fatime Kerelaj in Lexington, and Nancy Ngo, Trinity Brown, and Te'Anana Wilson in Louisville. 

On May 11, McBrayer Member Cynthia Effinger and spoke at Louisville Girls Leadership's Onward! event on behalf of the firm, who served as presenting sponsor. 

By unanimous vote, McBrayer Member Anne-Tyler Morgan has been elected Chair of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Industrial Authority.

In Louisville Business First's annual Book of Lists, McBrayer PLLC's Louisville office was ranked as the fifth-largest employment law firm in Greater Louisville. 

McBrayer Louisville Co-Managing Member Cynthia Effinger was recently a featured guest on the Community Action Council’s (CAC) video interview series, “Unapologetically Woman.”

Packing an even stronger punch, the Economic Development team at McBrayer PLLC has joined forces with a stalwart veteran of the industry, Bob Helton. Helton’s consultancy sharpens McBrayer’s already powerful arsenal of economic development tools for companies looking for incentives to relocate or expand within Kentucky.

Terry McBrayer, the founder of Kentucky institution McBrayer PLLC, kept a small, yellow notebook as a ledger of his clients. His first entry in that notebook was on February 22nd, 1963, from his one-room legal office above a grocery store in Greenup, Kentucky. 60 years later, the firm he established has grown to new heights of both size and legal prowess, and it has become one of Kentucky’s leading law firms with regional, national, and now international reach.

McBrayer Member Stephen G. Amato was recently quoted in The Bourbon Flight from The Lane Report in an article regarding the impacts of the Kentucky bourbon boom on the legal field.