About Lela
Lela M. Hollabaugh has served as the lead trial lawyer in more than a dozen jury trials, as well as more than two dozen bench trials, arbitrations and administrative hearings. She advises leading natural gas pipeline companies on issues involving location, land acquisition, construction and operations. Hollabaugh serves as lead counsel for several pipeline projects in the southeast involving more than 200 lawsuits. She also represents leading pharmaceutical, medical device and other manufacturers in matters ranging from individual lawsuits to mass tort cases. Hollabaugh has served in several leadership positions in legal, industry, and government organizations. She is a past-president of the Nashville Bar Association and is a past member of the International Association of Defense Counsel’s Board of Directors. She was appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2009 to the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility. The Supreme Court appointed her as Chair of the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility in 2011 and re-appointed her in that role in 2012 and 2013. Hollabaugh is also listed on the American Arbitration Association’s (AAA) Roster of Neutrals for Commercial Litigation. She holds a J.D. and B.S. (with honors) from the University of Tennessee.
Practice Areas
Case History
Education
Professional Affiliations
Awards & Recognition
- Lawyer of the Year: Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law, Nashville (2026)
- Lawyer of the Year: Energy Law, Nashville (2025)
- Lawyer of the Year: Energy Law, Nashville (2023)
- Lawyer of the Year: Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants, Nashville (2022)
- Lawyer of the Year: Energy Law, Nashville (2021)
- Lawyer of the Year: Energy Law, Nashville (2019)
- Lawyer of the Year: Energy Law, Nashville (2017)
- Lawyer of the Year: Energy Law, Nashville (2014)
- Recognized: Commercial Litigation
- Recognized: Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
- Recognized: Energy Law
- Recognized: Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
- Recognized: Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
- Practice Area: Appellate Practice
- Listed in Nashville Business Journal, "Best of the Bar," 2013
- Listed in Who's Who Legal, "International Who's Who Products Liability Defence Lawyers," 2012-2013
- NBJ - Best of the Bar