Practice Areas

We represent individuals, businesses, non-profits, and governmental agencies.  Our clients count on us to provide counsel in all the areas of the law that impact their lives and livelihoods.  This means that each individual attorney maintains a diverse practice, and the firm can handle just about any client need.  The firm’s lawyers are experienced in their fields, highly regarded by their peers, and deeply committed to their communities.

Some of our distinctions. . .

The Firm

U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers® named Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella, PC to its “Best Firms” list for the Nashville Metro area.

Harlan Dodson and Margaret L. Behm have each consistently been named to the Nashville Post’s “In Charge” List naming Nashvillians who serve as key advisers and policy-makers to businesses, government, and non-profits.

Margaret L. Behm, Harlan Dodson, and Donald Capparella were each named to Nashville Business Journal’s “Best of the Bar” list in 2014, 2015, and 2016.Picture4

Tyler Chance Yarbro, who in 2013 and 2016 was named to the Nashville Business Journal’s “Best of the Bar” list was also identified by the Nashville Post as one of Nashville’s Law Leaders Rising.

Margaret L. Behm and Donald Capparella have been included multiple times on the Mid-South “Super Lawyers” List.  Candi Henry was named to the Superlawyers 2015 Mid-South “Rising Stars” List and was named to the list again in 2016.

Wills, Trusts, Estates, & Business-Succession Planning

Harlan Dodson has served as instructor of Estate Planning at Nashville School of Law for more than 30 years and was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2013-2015 in the field of trusts and estates litigation.  He is the Editor of the Tennessee Practice series on Estate Planning and the author of the state’s only text devoted to Estate Planning and Administration in Tennessee.

Paul S. Parker is a frequent lecturer for the National Business Institute on trust and probate matters as well as the Editor of the Tennessee Practice series on Probate.

Business Transactions and Real Estate

Best Lawyers Award BadgeHarlan Dodson was named the Best Lawyers® 2013 Nashville Commercial Transactions / UCC Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Nashville.  He also appears on the Best Lawyers list in the field of Corporate Law.

Margaret L. Behm has been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© in the fields of Corporate Law and Commercial Litigation.  She was previously named by the Nashville Business Journal as “Best of the Bar” for Commercial Litigation.

Harlan Dodson and Margaret L. Behm served as counsel for the Nashville MTA in the acquisition of Music City Central and the former PACCAR/Peterbilt plant in Madison, Tennessee. The firm has served as counsel for a major bank in financing and foreclosures of multi-million dollar properties.  We have assisted in designing a number of creative real estate ventures including representing a non-profit entity in structuring a multi-million dollar real estate venture with a for-profit developer.

Municipal and Government Law


Margaret L. Behm has been selected by her peers to be named to the “Best Lawyers in America” list for municipal law for the 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2o16 editions of the publication, including a designation as the Best Lawyers® 2016 Municipal Practice “Lawyer of the Year” in Nashville.  For the 2016 edition of the Nashville Business Journal‘s Best of the Bar awards, Margaret was recognized for her work in Government law.

The firm serves as general counsel to the Metropolitan Transit Authority and represented other Tennessee agencies and municipalities.

Appellate Practice

For five consecutive years, Donald Capparella has been selected by his peers to be named in the “Best Lawyers in America” list in the field of appellate practice, and for the 2014 and 2016 editions of the publication he was named  the Best Lawyers® Appellate Practice “Lawyer of the Year” in Nashville.   He has been named by the Nashville Post as one of Nashville’s 101 Top lawyers, and he has been named to the “Best of the Bar”  list for appellate practice by the Nashville Business Journal four times.

Best Lawyers Award BadgeTwo attorneys are former appellate law clerks—Michael Bressman clerked for Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Candi Henry clerked for the Hon. William C. Koch, Jr. on both the Tennessee Court of Appeals and the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Donald Capparella and Candi Henry, have each served as chairs of the Nashville Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Committee and serve as editors of the Tennessee Appellate Practice Handbook. Donald and Candi have also have been featured as presenters at the Tennessee Supreme Court Bootcamp—an event sponsored by the Tennessee Bar Association to help orient practitioners to practice before the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Criminal Defense   

Tyler Chance Yarbro represented thousands of clients as a public defender and sits on the advisory board for the Davidson County Trial Courts’ Community Corrections program.

General Civil Litigation

Donald Capparella was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 in the fields of Insurance Law.

For the 2016 edition of the Nashville Business Journal’s Best of the Bar awards,  Donald Capparella and Tyler Chance Yarbro were each named to the list for their work in litigation.

Donald Capparella serves as editor of the Tennessee Tort Law Letter.  Tyler Chance Yarbro serves as assistant editor, and Candi Henry previously served as assistant editor for seven years.

Elder Law

Margaret L. Behm, Candi Henry, and Jillian Mastroianni have served as editors of West Publishing’s Tennessee Practice, writing on the topics of Elder Law, Guardianships and Conservatorships in Volume 15 of the series.

Insurance Law

Best Lawyers Award BadgeDonald Capparella was named the Best Lawyers®2015 Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Nashville, and he repeated this honor, being named the Best Lawyers® 2017 Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Nashville.  He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America in the field since 2013.  The firm is  “Tier 1” listed by U.S. News and Best Lawyers in the Metro Nashville area for the field of insurance law.

Service in the field of Legal Education

Harlan Dodson is instructor of Estate Planning and Administration at Nashville School of Law.

Tyler Chance Yarbro is an instructor of Trial Advocacy at Vanderbilt University Law School.

Michael Bressman is Associate Professor of the Practice of Law at Vanderbilt University Law School.

Candi Henry is Professor of Law and Legal Writing at Nashville School of Law.  She previously served as adjunct professor of Conflict Management and Negotiation for Tennessee Tech University for seven years.

Margaret L. Behm served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School for more than 30 years, teaching courses such as Legal Writing, Trial Advocacy, and Legal Professionalism &  Practice.

Public Service

Attorneys4justice_Final2015-atty-for-justiceThe firm has received a Pro Bono Service Award from the Tennessee Supreme Court for three consecutive years, and, in 2016, eight attorneys received individual recognition from the Court for their pro bono work.

The firm is a founding an continuing member of  the Tennessee Justice Center’s “Raising the Bar” Campaign to help ensure that families across Tennessee have access to the vital care that they need and that the Tennessee Justice Center can continue to advocate for them when the basic needs of life are at stake.

Margaret L. Behm and Harlan Dodson have each received the John C. Tune Public Service Award—the highest honor presented by the Nashville Bar Association.

Donald Capparella was recognized by the Center for Nonprofit Management as “Board Member of the Year” for his service to the Nashville Shakespeare Festival.

Margaret L. Behm has received the B. Riney Green Award from Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services, recognizing her commitment to promoting inter-program cooperation and strengthening access to justice across the state in her three-year role as Chair of the Tennessee Access to Justice Commission.  She has also received the David C. Rutherford Award, recognizing the highest standards of professionalism, charitable contribution in the legal field and in the community as a whole, and the spirit of collegiality among bench and bar.

Margaret L. Behm, Michael Bressman, and Candi Henry were each named to the Tennessee Bar Association’s 2016 Pro Bono Honor Roll. Henry has been named to the list each year since 2011.

Together, our attorneys serve as volunteers or board members for 21 different non-profit entities and community organizations.

All of our attorneys pledge to provide at least 50 hours of pro bono service to Tennesseans in need each year.

Our Awards

Dodson Parker Behm and Capparella PC
1310 Sixth Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37208

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