FLETCHER KEITH ADKINSON

ATTORNEY AT LAW
P.O. BOX 177, HARTSVILLE, TENNESSEE 37074
615.655.5267 FAX: 615.655.5525
ALSO ADMITTED TO PRACTICE IN WASHINGTON, D.C,, VIRGINIA; WEST VIRGINIA, & CALIFORNIA

Keith Adkinson has been actively engaged in the practice of law for over 40 years. He is admitted to practice in Virginia, West Virginia, California, Tennessee and the District of Columbia. He is also a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Additionally, he has been admitted pro hac vice in numerous other states to participate in cases of his selection before that state’s judiciary.

Mr. Adkinson received his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia in 1966 and his Juris Doctor degree from the University in 1969. He started practicing law in Beverly Hills, CA with the firm of Wyman, Bautzer, Rothman & Kuchel, and later in their Washington, DC office until 1974. His areas of concentration were litigation, corporate securities, entertainment and legislative counseling. His clients ranged from Kirk Kerkorian to MGM to Frank Sinatra, along with a host of major corporations and entertainment personalities.

From 1974 until 1979, Mr. Adkinson was Counsel to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations [The “Rackets Committee”]. In that capacity, he spearheaded investigations into organized criminal activity, labor racketeering, fraud, misfeasance, malfeasance, collusion, mismanagement, incompetence, corruption or unethical practices in all branches of government and all other aspects of crime and lawlessness within the United States. Those investigations included:

• Riots, Civil & Criminal Disorders
• Illegal currency manipulations affecting South Vietnam
• Organized Crime—Securities: Thefts & Frauds
• Transfer of Technology to the Soviet Union
• Current Energy Shortages Oversight
• The Robert Vesco Investigation
• Indian Health Care
• Materials Shortages
• Prepaid Health Plans
• Federal Drug Enforcement
• Federal Narcotics Enforcement
• The Frank Peroff Case
• Illicit Traffic in Weapons and Drugs Across the US-Mexican Border
• Teamsters Central States Pension Fund
• Labor Union Insurance
• Labor Management Racketeering
• Fraud, Abuse, Waste and Mismanagement of Programs by Dept. of Health, Education & Welfare
• Organized Criminal Activities – South Florida & US Penitentiary, Atlanta, GA
• Arson-for-Hire
• Transfer of Technology to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
• Bureau of Engraving and Printing
• Professional Motor Vehicle Theft and Chop Shops
• Illegal Narcotics Profits
• Organized Crime and the Use of Violence
• Witness Security Programs
• Oversight of the Labor Department’s Investigation of the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund
• Arson in America
• Staff Study of the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta, GA

From 1979 until 1982, Mr. Adkinson was Of Counsel to the Chicago based management labor law firm Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson, working out of its Washington, DC office. While with the firm, he concentrated on legislative counseling and developed an active Washington presence for the firm.

During the 1980 Reagan/Bush Presidential Campaign, Mr. Adkinson was tapped by Campaign Chairman Bill Casey to be the National Director of Democrats for Reagan/Bush. He enlisted the commitment of Leon Jaworski, Watergate Special Prosecutor and Houston, TX legal Brahmin, to be the Chairman of this component of the election campaign. After the victorious campaign, Mr. Adkinson was selected to serve on the Department of Justice Presidential Transition Team, with general responsibility for the various components of the Department and specific responsibility for the Drug Enforcement Administration and the US Bureau of Prison, among others. Subsequent to these responsibilities, Mr. Adkinson was appointed by President Reagan to two terms as a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations.

In July, 1982, Mr. Adkinson established his own law practice in Washington, DC providing specialized legal and consulting services primarily in the areas of legislative counseling, white collar criminal defense, general corporate, small business formation and development, securities registration, venture capital, entertainment and international trade. His clients ranged from administration officials, congressmen and senators to major corporations and major alleged white collar criminals.

In 1984, while Mr. Adkinson was litigating a major real estate matter in lower Alabama, he was invited by his client to meet with a young lady then known as Cathy Deupree Mayer. That meeting changed both of their lives. He undertook the case, proved that she was the daughter of Hank Williams, sued in Alabama to re-open the estate [making her an heir, 40 years after Hank’s death], sued in New York for her proportionate share of the copyright renewals of her dad’s songs – they won and changed multiple laws in the process. He married his client in September, 1986.

Mr. Adkinson has spearheaded numerous related intellectual property cases growing out of and related to his representation of his father-in-law’s estate and his representation of Jett Williams. His current practice is restricted to his and Jett’s Grand Ole Opry performing buddies and cases of significant legal merit, from his point of view, and those that catch his interest.