Robert D. Tuke, Esq.

Bob Tuke is a partner in the firm and is an Adjunct Professor at Vanderbilt University School of Law, where he has taught Professional and Ethical Considerations in Corporate Practice.  This spring he will teach Campaign Finance and Election Law.  He represents Meharry Medical College, among other clients.  He is the author of articles on securities, ethics, municipal finance, health care, and adoption law.  He is a member of the Nashville, Tennessee, and American Bar Associations and of the National Association of Bond Lawyers.  He is a Fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation and the Nashville Bar Foundation.  He also is a Fellow and past President of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.  He served on the Tennessee Adoption Law Study Commission and was a principal draftsman of Tennessee’s revised Adoption Code. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America and Who’s Who in American Law. He also is listed among Super Lawyers of the Midsouth as a Tennessee corporate and business lawyer.

Mr. Tuke has served as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, and borrower’s counsel in many tax-exempt finance transactions, and as lender’s and borrower’s counsel in multi-state commercial financings and letter of credit financings.  He also has served as lead counsel in numerous merger and acquisition transactions, tender offers, proxy contests, corporate restructurings, registered securities offerings, and private placements.  He has litigated several federal court actions challenging state anti-takeover statutes.  He has served as counsel to corporate directors and special committees and has advised various enterprises regarding the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.  He has also prepared many conservation easements and has participated in a number of historic preservation transactions.

Mr. Tuke received his education from the University of Virginia (B.A., with distinction, 1969) and Vanderbilt University (J.D., 1976), where he was Order of the Coif, Editor-in-Chief of the Vanderbilt Law Review, and a Patrick Wilson Merit Scholar.  Mr. Tuke was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 1976 and the United States Supreme Court in 1986.  He is also admitted to practice before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Sixth and Federal Circuits, and before the United States Court of International Trade.

He is an Adjunct Professor at Vanderbilt University School of Law, where he has taught Professional and Ethical Considerations in Corporate Practice.  He is Chairman of the Tennessee State Veterans Homes Board and President of the Board of Operation Stand Down Nashville, Inc., a veteran’s service organization.  He is past President of Historic Nashville, Inc. and past Chairman of Community Nashville.  He also serves on the Boards of Directors of Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation and Tennessee Environmental Council, and he serves on the Executive Committee of Miriam’s Promise adoption agency.  He serves on the Metro Nashville CATV Special Committee.  He has chaired the Campaign for the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee.  He is a director of the Tennessee State Veterans Homes Board.  He also is a member of the Nashville Marine Corps Coordinating Council.  He is a Leadership Nashville alumnus and Sergeant at Arms of the Downtown Nashville Rotary Club.  He has served as General Counsel to the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and on the Chamber’s Board of Governors.  He is a Lay Eucharistic Minister at St. George’s Episcopal Church.

Mr. Tuke ran as the Tennessee Democratic Candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2008 and served as Chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party in 2005-2006. He was an active duty Marine officer from 1969-1973 and served in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry in combat, among other decorations.

Mr. Tuke is married to Susan C. Tuke and they have two grown children.