Eric Osborne

An accomplished attorney and Professor of Contracts, Eric sees litigation as an opportunity to protect his clients’ business and personal interests, to advance critical principles of justice and fairness, and to help people in times of crisis and need. Eric focuses his practice on contract disputes, white-collar criminal defense, antitrust, and civil rights cases. He has briefed multiple matters before the United States Supreme Court and has tried over a dozen jury trials.

In the last few years Eric has handled some of the highest-profile civil rights cases in Tennessee and, in doing so, has developed a reputation for taking on controversial cases across the political spectrum. Eric’s recent work includes Hall v. Trump, which resulted in the end of solitary confinement in Tennessee, Ashe / Lawson v. Hargett, which challenges the constitutionality of a statute that criminalizes voting in political primary elections, and Newsom v. Golden, which was heard by the Tennessee Supreme Court and clarified the parameters of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. For the past year, Eric has been the lead lawyer on behalf of the Covenant School Parents in Brewer v. Metro, a case that has drawn national attention for the parents’ effort to protect children from harm by preventing the release of a school shooter’s writings.

In his commercial litigation practice, Eric regularly handles complex cases involving contract construction and a wide range of other business disputes. Reflective of his sophistication in these matters, Eric currently serves as a Professor of Contracts at the Nashville School of Law. Much of Eric’s practice has focused on appellate and trial-level briefing of complex issues in federal and state courts, and his appellate work has earned him recognition by his peers as a Super Lawyers Rising Star—Appellate for the past six years.

Much of Eric’s work involves helping clients address issues pertaining to government. In addition to the civil rights work noted above, this includes criminal defense, where Eric brings both prosecutorial and defense-side experience to his representation in white-collar criminal matters, including those involving the False Claims Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute, and the Office of Foreign Asset Control. Eric has also handled multiple bid protests at the municipal and state level for clients challenging or defending government contract awards.

In antitrust matters, Eric focuses his talents on major national cases, including antitrust actions against the credit card and packaged seafood industries. Eric currently leads the firm’s effort on behalf of many of the country’s largest employers against the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its members.

In addition to teaching contracts, Eric is committed to the community. He serves as the outside general counsel to multiple non-profit clients. Eric is also involved with legal aid and contributes substantial pro bono time every year. For example, in 2016, Eric helped draft an open letter to Secretary of State John Kerry that contributed to the State Department declaring that ISIS was committing genocide against the Christians in Iraq and Syria. Since 2019 Eric has served as an inaugural member of the Legal Services Corporation’s Emerging Leaders Council, a national group of young leaders working to increase public awareness of and support for equal access to justice for low-income Americans.

A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and lifelong Presbyterian, Eric has a robust practice serving the legal needs of churches and not-for-profit organizations. He also volunteers his time and efforts on behalf of several religious and charitable endeavors. For eight years he served on the board of the Presbyterian Foundation—the national foundation that supports the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and he previously served on the board of the Medical Benevolence Foundation, which provides medical care and medical training in some of the poorest countries in the world. Locally, Eric serves on the board of the Nashville Wine Auction and is a deacon, and serves on the Endowment Committee at First Presbyterian Church.

Eric is married to Eleanor, a physician. Eric and Eleanor are both native Tennesseans with family ties that go back over a century in the state.