David M. Eldridge

Mr. Eldridge was educated at the University of Tennessee, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1982. He graduated from the Wake Forest University School of Law, cum laude, in 1986. While there, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of its law review publication. Following graduation, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable W. Eugene Davis of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Eldridge began the private practice of law in 1987, joining Ritchie, Fels & Dillard in 1988, where in 1992 he became a partner. In 2003, Mr. Eldridge established the law firm of Eldridge & Blakney, P.C. where he serves as the managing partner. He has devoted his practice to the representation of individuals and organizations facing criminal investigation and prosecution for 27 years. Mr. Eldridge has received the highest rating awarded by Martindale – Hubbell (AV) for the last seventeen (17) years and is a graduate of the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia. He is Board Certified as a Criminal Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has been selected by his peers to be included in The Best Lawyers in America since 2006, was named as Lawyer of the Year for Knoxville in Criminal Defense: Non-White Collar for 2011, and received the same honor for Criminal Defense: White Collar for 2014. Mr. Eldridge has been selected for inclusion among the top 100 lawyers in Tennessee in the Mid-South Super Lawyers magazine since 2006. He has taught at continuing legal education seminars hosted by the American Bar Association (ABA), the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the Bureau of National Affairs, the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA), the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (TACDL), the Institute for Continuing Legal Education for Georgia, the Knoxville Bar Association (KBA), and others. He has also published instructional articles in ABA, NACDL, TBA, TACDL, and KBA publications. Mr. Eldridge has also lectured overseas at the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan where he presented a discussion of the Implications of World Wide Media Coverage of the Criminal Justice System. He is the past Chair of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section, is a member of TACDL, a Life Member of NACDL, and is past president of the Hamilton Burnett American Inn of Court. Mr. Eldridge is a Past President of the Knoxville Bar Association. He was inducted as a Fellow of the Knoxville Bar Foundation in 2007 and as a Fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation in 2008. He was inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2013.