Faculty Profile: Christopher Sloan

Mr. Sloan is chair of the Firm's Emerging Companies Group and focuses his practice on start-ups and other emerging businesses and also handles complex software and other IT transactions for both small and large companies alike. He helps many early-stage, high-growth businesses with business planning and formation, venture capital funding, drafting and negotiating vendor and customer agreements, strategic contract negotiations, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property protection and other general business law and intellectual property law issues. He often serves as outside general counsel for these types of companies.

Mr. Sloan regularly represents both technology and brick-and-mortar clients in connection with software, IT and other vendor contract negotiations, including software and health care IT transactions valued as high as $100 million. He regularly counsels hospitals and other health care providers on IT and intellectual property issues. Mr. Sloan takes pride in providing his clients with practical, cost-effective advice tailored for each client's unique business objectives. He is actively involved in the technology and entrepreneur communities, and he is a frequent author, speaker, board member and leader in that community. 

He is actively involved in the Nashville Technology Council and currently serves as general counsel. Mr. Sloan was a member of the Nashville Chamber's Partnership 2010 Entrepreneurship Task Force and serves on the advisory board for the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. Mr. Sloan is a long-standing member of the executive committee of the Tennessee Bar Association's Intellectual Property Law Committee.

Mr. Sloan is a frequent speaker and contributor to CLE seminars, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Technology Council events and other similar events. Follow him on Twitter @casloan and LinkedIn @chrissloanesq.

Professional Honors & Activities

       Listed in The Best Lawyers in America in Intellectual Property Law (2005 - 2006, 2009 - 2010); Information Technology Law (2007 - 2016); Copyright Law (2012 - 2016); Corporate Law (2013 - 2016); Trademark Law (2015 - 2016)  

       Named the Best Lawyers' 2016 Nashville Information Technology Law Lawyer of the Year"

       Listed as a Rising Star in Mid-South Super Lawyers (2011 - 2013)

       Former Chairman of the Board, Member of Board of Directors and Executive Committee - Nashville Technology Council

       Board of Directors - Life Science Tennessee

       Advisory Board - Nashville Entrepreneur Center

       Honorary Member - Entrepreneurship Honor Society Sigma Nu Tau, Belmont University's Center for Entrepreneurship

       Named "Top 40 Professional in Tennessee Under 40" Nashville Business Journal (2013)

       Listed - Nashville Post "In Charge" list - Technology (2011 - 2012)

       Named "Power Leaders in Technology" by the Nashville Business Journal (2011, 2012)

       Selected as the "WorkIT Nashville Advocate of the Month" by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce (March 2013)

       Executive Committee and Intellectual Property Committee - Tennessee Bar Association

       Founding Board of Directors - Nashville Preparatory Charter School

       Member - Nashville, Tennessee and American Bar Associations

       Member - Partnership 2010 Entrepreneurship Task Force

       Member - American Health Lawyers Association

       Mentor - JumpStart Foundry

       Member - Startup Tennessee Advisory Board

       Member - Steering Committee, Nashville Internet Exchange

Publications & Speaking Engagements

       "Why Claiming 'No Competition' Can Lead To No Funding" The American City Business Journals, June 3, 2015

       "Four Common and Avoidable Mistakes Small Businesses Make" Small Business Today magazine, May 2014/Houston

       "Bill Could Grease the Skids for M&A Deals" Nashville Business Journal, May 21, 2014

       "Intellectual Property Boosts Value of Business" Nashville Business Journal, May 9, 2014

       Co-author - "Chapter 5: Licensing Intellectual Property" Intellectual Property Deskbook, American Bar Association Business Law Section, 2013

       "Avoid These Common Startup Legal Mistakes" Nashville Business Journal, May 17

       Speaker - "Law of Technology: What You Need to Know" Tennessee Bar Association, September 22, 2011

       Guest - "Boston Style Bluegrass: Phones, drones, privacy for royals and more" This Week in Law, September 21, 2012

       Panelist - "Venture Capital 101" Tennessee Governor's Conference, September 22, 2011

       Judge - TechVenture Challenge, Nashville, Tennessee, April 5, 2011

       Judge - Belmont Business Plan Competition, Nashville, Tennessee, April 1, 2011

       Moderator - "Negotiating a Term Sheet" Nashville Technology Council's Entrepreneurial Series, Nashville, Tennessee, February 15, 2011

       Speaker - Owen Entrepreneurship Center Breakfast, Nashville, Tennessee, September 24, 2010

       Panel member - "Panel Discussion: IT License Agreements" 2010 Mississippi Software Institute, Jackson, Mississippi, February 26, 2010

       Speaker - "Top 10 Issues for Software Companies" 2010 Mississippi Software Institute, Jackson, Mississippi, February 16, 2010

       Speaker - "Capital Formation" Nashville Technology Council's Entrepreneurial Series, Nashville, Tennessee, December 3, 2009

       Speaker - "Doing Business in China" North Alabama International Trade Association, Huntsville, Alabama, September 1, 2009

       Speaker - "IP for Small Businesses" Green Hills Rotary Club, Nashville, Tennessee, August 7, 2009

       Panel Member - "ChinaStill the Land of Opportunities for U.S. Businesses" Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce's China Business Group, Nashville, Tennessee, January 13, 2009

       Speaker - "Service Level Agreements: Tricks and Traps for the Unwary" Tennessee Bar Association's "The Law of Technology: What You Need to Know" seminar, Nashville, Tennessee, September 26, 2008

Admissions

       Tennessee

Education

       Vanderbilt University School of Law, JD, 1999

       University of Virginia, BA, 1996

Interests

Mr. Sloan is actively involved in many conservation organizations locally, nationally and internationally. He is one of the more widely recognized regional experts on bird identification and distribution, and he co-authors a quarterly column on birds of Tennessee & Kentucky for North American Birds. Several of his papers on birds have been accepted and published in scientific journals. Mr. Sloan is also an avid nature photographer and has sold photos to publications in North America and Europe. Some of his pictures can be found at www.chrissloanphotography.com. He is the co-author of "Birds of Tennessee: A New Annotated Checklist", published in July 2015.