Leigh Walton

Practice Areas

With more than 40 years of practice, Leigh Walton has advised a wide variety of public companies primarily in the healthcare industry in the areas of corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and securities offerings.

She led the regulatory team for the nation’s leading healthcare provider through the largest domestic leveraged buyout in history at the time. Further, she led the legal team in the spinoff of a public hospital company from a public healthcare provider.

Leigh has helped develop the national healthcare practice at Bass, Berry & Sims. She is known for her ability to blend mergers and acquisitions, securities and regulatory law in furnishing practical advice to companies. She works with clients on:

- Mergers, acquisitions and dispositions

- Corporate finance

- Corporate governance

Leigh is a past chair of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section Mergers & Acquisitions Committee, which has more than 5,000 members in 40 countries on five continents. She served two six-year terms on the ABA’s Corporate Laws Committee, where she co-chaired the Corporate Director’s Guidebook Task Force. Leigh was elected in 2019 to the American College of Governance Counsel, a professional and educational association of lawyers widely recognized for their achievements in corporate governance.

Career

Joined Bass, Berry & Sims in 1979. Leigh is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University Law School teaching Healthcare Mergers and Acquisitions.

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association: Corporate Laws Committee (1997-2003; 2016-2022; Corporate Directors Guidebook Task Force, Co-Chair (2017); Mergers & Acquisitions Committee (1986-present; Chair, 2009-2012); Women in Mergers & Acquisitions Task Force, Co-Chair (2015-2016)

American College of Governance Counsel (2019-present)

American Health Law Association (1992-present)

Nashville Bar Association, Board of Directors (2023-present)

American Bar Foundation: Fellow (2009-present)

Personal

JD, Vanderbilt Law School (1979) - Order of the Coif

BA, Randolph-Macon Woman's College (1973) - Phi Beta Kappa

Awards