Firm Celebrates Milestone 139th Anniversary

Jul 19, 2021

By Anna Hill

The Chattanooga office was recently featured in the local CityScope Magazine honoring Chattanooga businesses who have celebrated 100 year milestones. The following is the article written by Anna Hill of CityScope.

The law firm that Chattanooga now knows as Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, PLLC, was originally founded as the firm of DeWitt, Shepherd & Thomas in June of 1882. Now approaching its 140th birthday, the firm has been serving the community for a significant portion of Chattanooga’s history. One of the firm’s first partners, W.G.M. Thomas, was responsible for incorporating the town of Lookout Mountain and took it upon himself to represent it free of charge for the rest of his life. Thomas was known to be a man of integrity and upstanding character, with the Chattanooga Bar Association noting that “it is doubtful whether any Chattanooga lawyer ever worked harder for causes in which he strongly believed than Mr. Thomas.”

Paul R. Leitner, one of the firm’s longtime partners who passed away earlier this year, marveled at the changes that society went through over the decades, bringing the firm along with them into the future. In his memoir, he noted that when he began at the firm in the 1950s, there were no copy machines, no typewriters with any kind of memory capacity, and usually no air-conditioning. However, as technology evolved, so did the firm: It now has a multi-state network of attorneys, as well as offices in Chattanooga, Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis.

Today, the firm continues to carry out its mission in a way that honors the partners of years past. William E. Godbold III, the managing partner of the firm’s Chattanooga office, tells us, “Paul Leitner believed that the greatest asset of any organization is its staff of employees and attorneys. He emphasized that integrity and truly being of service to clients are more important than economic rewards.” Godbold believes that this integrity has been vital to the firm’s continuing success and emphasizes the importance of fairness and respect, both internally and externally.

The firm also pays homage to founding partner W.G.M. Thomas by staying involved in the community around them, just as he always did. “We’ve remained dedicated to serving the communities in which we live and work. Our attorneys are active in church, civic, and philanthropic efforts,” Godbold explains. Looking to the future, the firm plans to hold tight to the core values they’ve adhered to for so many years while also adapting to keep up with the times – a balance that’s worked well for 139 years.