National employment law firm Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP is pleased to announce the appointment of Mary Dohner Smith as office managing partner in Nashville. In addition to this new role, Dohner Smith is a member of Constangy’s firmwide executive committee and serves in leadership positions for several local and national professional organizations. She succeeds William “Zan” Blue, Jr., who will continue his general labor and employment practice full-time after serving as the Nashville office managing partner since 2001.
“Mary is a tremendous attorney, respected by her clients, colleagues and lawyers across the country. We are delighted to have such an excellent and revered leader to step into this role and continue on the path of success Zan helped to pave,” said Neil Wasser, chairman of the executive committee at Constangy.
“It is an honor to be entrusted with this leadership role in an office full of talented attorneys,” Dohner Smith said. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to continue to build upon the team’s unparalleled legacy, guiding the firm’s service to our clients and community in Nashville.”
Dohner Smith is a recognized leader within the firm and across the legal industry. Outside of her firm leadership positions, she serves in key roles for a range of professional and civic organizations. Dohner Smith serves as vice chair of the Long Range Planning Committee for the American Bar Association’s Trial, Tort & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS). She is active with the Tennessee Bar Association, having served on its Board of Governors as Treasurer, on the Leadership Law Steering Committee and as a member of the Glass Ceiling and Mentoring Taskforces. She has served on the Law Day Committee with the Nashville Bar Association and is a past president of the Marion Griffin Chapter of the Lawyers’ Association for Women. Dohner Smith is also active with organizations supporting the U.S. military and its service members, including Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary.
In her legal practice, Dohner Smith counsels clients with every aspect of the employment relationship. She has been involved in complex litigation regarding all aspects of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), retaliatory discharge, and state law claims for breach of contract, fraud, negligence, and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Dohner Smith has been widely honored for her service to clients and professional and civic organizations. She was ranked by Chambers USA in 2020-2022 for Labor and Employment Law and has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America© each year since 2016. In 2021, she was named the publication’s “Lawyer of the Year” in Nashville for the Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants category. She was included in Mid-South Super Lawyers from 2017 to 2019 and in 2022. The Nashville Business Journal named her to its “Best of the Bar” list in 2017, and she is a Fellow with the American Bar Foundation. Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve awarded Dohner Smith with the Patriot Award, which recognizes efforts made to support citizen warriors through a wide range of measures, including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families, and granting leaves of absence if needed.
Dohner Smith earned her law degree from the Marquette University Law School and her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.