Carter

Keenan is a member of Butler Snow’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group. Prior to joining the firm, he served as the Deputy Civil Chief in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee. Currently, his practice focuses in the areas of complex commercial litigation, conducting internal investigations for clients in various industries and defending clients in white-collar prosecutions. Keenan is an experienced litigator and trial attorney. He has represented clients in jurisdictions throughout the country and has tried over 20 jury trials to verdict.

• Labor & Employment
• Commercial Litigation
• White Collar, Compliance & Government Investigations
• Professional Liability

Construction

Keenan Carter is a member of the Commercial Litigation Group and is an experienced litigator and trial attorney. Keenan has a breadth of experience, including handling complex business disputes, defending clients sued for alleged discriminatory employment practices, and prosecuting white collar cases.

He has represented clients in jurisdictions throughout the country and has tried over 20 jury trials to verdict. Before joining Butler Snow, Keenan served as Deputy Civil Chief in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee. His Department of Justice experience included successfully prosecuting violent and white-collar crimes and representing the United States in employment, wrongful death, medical malpractice, negligent hiring, construction, and contract cases.

Keenan received his J.D. from The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and is admitted to the State Bars of Texas and Tennessee, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas, the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Tennessee, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Sixth Circuit.

• Extensive civil and criminal litigation experience in both trial and appellate courts throughout the country.
• Prior to joining Butler Snow, served as Deputy Civil Chief in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee. Department of Justice experience included successfully prosecuting violent and white collar crimes and representing the United States in employment, wrongful death, medical malpractice, negligent hiring, construction, and contract cases.  
• Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, worked in private practice for firms in Dallas and Nashville wherein his practice focused primarily on commercial litigation and the resolution of complex business disputes.  
• Represented clients in multiple arbitration and bench trials.  He also has significant criminal and civil jury trial experience.  
• Representative Cases
  • Sanford v. Waugh, 323 S.W.3d 836 (Tenn. 2010) – Represented client in case of first impression dealing with whether the officers of an insolvent corporation owed a fiduciary duty to creditors.
  • United States v. Shaw, 707 F.3d 666 (6th Cir. 2013) – Represented the United States on appeal in case determining whether police officers’ execution of an arrest warrant violated the defendant’s 4th Amendment protection prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures.
  • United States v. Tomlinson, 11 F. Supp. 3d 856 (W.D. Tenn. 2015) – Represented the United States in an appeal deciding whether the government’s use of peremptory challenges violated the defendant’s constitutional right to a fair trial.

• Best Lawyers in America®
  • Commercial Litigation, 2021-2025
• Deputy Civil Chief, United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of Tennessee
• Best of the Bar, Memphis Business Journal, 2023
• Alumni, Leadership Franklin’s Class of 2008
• Alumni, Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law Class of 2007
• Graduate, IADC 2005 Trial Academy at Stanford University
• Fellow, Memphis Bar Foundation
• Board of Trustees, Baptist Memorial Health Care System

• Texas, 1998
• Tennessee, 2004
• U.S. District Courts
• Texas: Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western
• Tennessee: Eastern, Middle, Western
• U.S. Court of Appeals
• 5th Circuit
• 6th Circuit

• University of Memphis, Cecil. C. Humphreys School of Law, J.D., 1998
  • The University of Memphis Law Review
  • Moot Court Board
• Middle Tennessee State University, B.S., Business Administration, 1995

• John Marshall American Inn of Court – Franklin, TN, 2010
• Harry Phillips American Inn of Court – Nashville, TN, 2005-2007
• American Bar Association
• Tennessee Bar Association
• Memphis Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute (DRI)
• Nashville Bar Association
  • Chair, Minority Opportunities Committee, 2005

• Co-Presenter, "Is it Privileged? Part 2," Memphis Bar Association, YLD Rookie Lawyer Series, April 14, 2021.
• Co-Presenter, "Is it Privileged? Part 1," Memphis Bar Association, YLD Rookie Lawyer Series, March 30, 2021.
• Author, “Admissibility of Internet Evidence,” IADC Committee Newsletter. 
• Author, “The Medical Device Amendment of 1976: To Preempt or not to Preempt…that is the Question,” The Whisper. 

• Lupus Foundation of America, Mid-south Chapter
  • Former Member, Board of Directors