Hodges Doughty & Carson

What Hodges Doughty & Carson does

Hodges, Doughty & Carson, PLLC is a Knoxville, Tennessee-based general practice law firm founded in 1931, operating as a private Professional Limited Liability Company with 20+ attorneys serving individuals, families, businesses, and healthcare providers across Knoxville and Eastern Tennessee. The firm provides full-service legal representation across seven primary practice areas: Bankruptcy & Creditors' Rights, Business & Commercial Law, Civil Litigation, Estate Planning & Probate, Family Law, Healthcare Law, and Personal Injury, with additional Employment Law capability embedded within civil litigation. Service delivery is conducted through office-based, phone, and virtual consultations from its headquarters at 445 S. Gay Street, Suite 401, Knoxville. The firm is differentiated by over 90 years of continuous operation, multiple AV Preeminent-rated attorneys, and consistent Tier 1 regional rankings in U.S. News Best Law Firms and Martindale-Hubbell recognition.

The firm's revenue model is professional services billing — hourly rates, fixed fees for defined matters, and contingency arrangements for personal injury cases — with no disclosed pricing structure, subscription, or technology-enabled product lines. Client acquisition is sales-led and relies on community reputation, attorney referral networks, and direct inbound inquiries through the website (hdclaw.com), phone (865-205-6554), and contact forms. No technology platform, API, or proprietary software product exists; the firm does not publish revenue, has no external investors, and operates as a traditional attorney-owned partnership. In January 2025, the firm merged with O'Neil, Parker & Williamson (OPW), combining client rosters and expanding service capacity. Governance is led by Managing Member Bart C. Williams and Managing Partner Thomas H. Dickenson (affiliated since 1987).

Name

Hodges Doughty & Carson

Legal name

Hodges, Doughty & Carson, PLLC

Website

https://hdclaw.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1931

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hodges, Doughty & Carson is a Knoxville, Tennessee-based full-service law firm founded in 1931 with 20+ attorneys serving individuals, families, businesses, and healthcare providers across Eastern Tennessee through bankruptcy, business, litigation, estate, family, healthcare, and personal injury practices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Private Client (Trusts & Estates) Law (BPAHAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Employment & Labor Law (BPAHAAAD), Real Estate & Construction Law (BPAHAAAE)

Keywords

• Legal services
• Business law
• Estate planning
• Family law
• Personal injury law

Headquarters

HQ city

Knoxville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services: Professional legal services billed through hourly rates, fixed fees for specific services, and contingency arrangements for applicable cases such as personal injury matters.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Hodges Doughty & Carson is a full-service law firm founded in 1931 and headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. The firm provides legal representation and counsel across multiple practice areas including bankruptcy, business and corporate law, civil litigation, estate planning, family law, healthcare law, personal injury, and employment law, serving clients throughout Eastern Tennessee.

Product overview

Hodges, Doughty & Carson, PLLC is a full-service law firm offering comprehensive legal services through distinct practice areas. The firm provides Bankruptcy & Creditors' Rights, Business & Commercial Law, Civil Litigation, Estate Planning & Probate, Family Law, Healthcare Law, Personal Injury, and Employment Law services. The practice operates as a unified firm with attorneys collaborating across multiple disciplines to serve individuals, families, and businesses throughout Knoxville and Eastern Tennessee.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bankruptcy Legal Services
• Business and Corporate Law
• Civil Litigation
• Estate Planning
• Family Law
• Healthcare Law
• Personal Injury
• Employment Law

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• O'Neil, Parker & Williamson (OPW)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOPW has merged with Hodges, Doughty & Carson, PLLC. OPW clients welcomed and will continue to be served by the combined firm.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Meares + Mabrey PC: Tennessee-based plaintiff-side personal injury and civil litigation firm with regional recognition, competing for the same East Tennessee consumer plaintiff matters and mass-tort docket.

Direct peers

• Bernstein Stair & McAdams LLP: Knoxville-based mid-size full-service firm with similar general-practice coverage and comparable Tier-1 Best Law Firms recognition, competing for the same individuals, families, and businesses in the Knoxville MSA.
• Woolf McClane Bright Allen & Carpenter: Knoxville's oldest continuously operating law firm (founded 1899) with a comparable general-practice model and overlapping practice areas including estate planning, family law, and litigation; competes directly in the same local referral ecosystem.
• Frantz Farrrell McAuliffe & Kinser: Knoxville-based mid-size firm with parallel personal injury, insurance defense, workers' compensation, and business litigation practices, competing for the same regional insurance-defense and plaintiff-side matters.
• Egerton McAfee Armistead & Davis PC: Knoxville-headquartered general practice firm serving East Tennessee with overlapping practice areas including civil litigation, business law, healthcare law, and personal injury, directly competing for the same regional client base.
• Kennerly Montgomery & Finley PC: East Tennessee general practice firm with overlapping corporate, litigation, healthcare, and employment practices and comparable attorney headcount, serving the same Knoxville-area business and consumer client base.
• Lewis Thomason King Krieg & Waldrop: Long-standing Knoxville-based full-service law firm with comparable practice breadth (litigation, business, healthcare, employment) and similar Tier 1 U.S. News rankings, making it a direct head-to-head competitor in the East Tennessee market.

Broad incumbents

• Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC: Largest Tennessee-based full-service firm with a substantial Knoxville office and broad practice coverage across business, healthcare, litigation, and employment, representing the regional incumbent against which smaller Knoxville firms compete for higher-value corporate matters.
• Butler Snow LLP: Multi-state Southeastern platform firm with significant healthcare, business, and litigation practices that competes for the same regional corporate and healthcare-provider clients across Tennessee.
• Bass Berry & Sims PLC: Nashville-headquartered Tennessee powerhouse with broad corporate, M&A, healthcare, and litigation practices; encroaches on the larger end of Hodges Doughty's business-law work as clients scale and require bigger-firm resources.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HodgesDoughty

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hodges Doughty & Carson