Kenneth S. Byrd
Partner, Nashville Office
email
615 313-9000
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A partner based in our Nashville office, Kenneth S. Byrd is an experienced trial attorney at Lieff Cabraser, obtaining several large jury trial verdicts against Big Tobacco over the past several years. He received the Tennessee Association for Justice’s 2015 Paladin Award for his successful litigation against cigarette manufacturers R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Philip Morris USA Inc., and Lorillard Tobacco Company in Florida federal courts. The Paladin Award is TAJ’s highest honor and is given to the state’s top trial lawyer of the year. Kenny’s successful work on these cases included separate $27 million and $41 million jury verdicts that were upheld on appeal.
Kenny represents clients in mass tort cases, defective product cases and consumer fraud litigation. He represents consumers in consumer class action cases as well as injured individuals and their loved ones in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits filed in across the country. In 2019, Judge M. Casey Rodgers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida appointed Kenny to the Early Vetting Committee in the nationwide product defect lawsuit against 3M relating to allegations that for over a decade, 3M provided defective and dangerous earplugs to men and women in the U.S. military.
Kenny is also a member of Lieff Cabraser’s False Claim Act/Fraud on the Government practice group, assisting whistleblowers to stop fraud and the misuse of funds in government contracts and programs.
Long form bio (click to open pdf).
- Boston College Law School, Boston, Massachusetts
J.D. (Cum Laude) – 2004 - Samford University
B.S. – 1995
Honors: Cum Laude
Major: Mathematics
Minor: Journalism
- Tennessee, 2004
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, 2009
- U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, 2019
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2016
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, 2020
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, 2006
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, 2005
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee, 2007
- American Bar Association
- American Constitution Society, Nashville Chapter (Member; Chair of 2008 Supreme Court Preview Event)
- Camp Ridgecrest Alumni & Friends (Board Member)
- Harry Phillips American Inn of Court, Nashville Chapter (Associate Member, 2008 – 2010; Barrister, 2010-2014)
- Historic Edgefield, Inc. (President, 2009-2011)
- Nashville Bar Association
- Tennessee Bar Association
- Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association (Board of Governors)
- Faculty, “Texas Two Step. When Insurance is Gone and the Bankruptcy Court Is Not: Mass Torts in Crisis,” Mississippi Association for Justice (MAJ) Winter CLE Seminar, December 2022
- Speaker, “Mass Torts/Class Actions and Bankruptcy Issues,” Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts Inaugural Conference, December 2022
- Co-author, American Bar Association, Survey of Federal Circuit Court’s Class Action Decisions, 2018
- Selected for inclusion by peers in The Best Lawyers in America in fields of Consumer Protection Law, Personal Injury Litigation-Plaintiffs, and Product Liability Litigation-Plaintiffs, 2018-2023
- “Lawyer of the Year for Product Liability Litigation,” Nashville, Best Lawyers, 2023
- “Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2021-2023
- “Outstanding Private Practice Antitrust Achievement,” American Antitrust Institute, 2020
- “Paladin Award,” Tennessee Association for Justice, 2015
- “Rising Star for Mid-South,” Super Lawyers, 2014
- February 24, 2023
27 Lieff Cabraser Attorneys Recognized as Lawdragon “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers” for 2023 - December 15, 2022
Mark Chalos and Kenny Byrd Serve as Faculty in Mississippi Association for Justice (MAJ) 2022 Winter CLE Seminar - December 7, 2022
David Stellings and Kenny Byrd Speak at “Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts” Inaugural Conference - November 8, 2022
34 Lieff Cabraser Lawyers Named to 2023 Best Lawyers Listings - August 23, 2021
31 Lieff Cabraser Lawyers Named to 2022 Best Lawyers Listings
- Nashville