Q&A with Marc Dedman
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Q&A
Q&A with Marc Dedman
Marc Dedman is a partner in the Nashville office of Barton LLP with more than 30 years of both civil and common law experience. His practice primarily focuses on insurance, commercial litigation, risk management and mitigation, and mediation.
An alumnus of Loyola University in New Orleans, Dedman earned an MBA from Columbia University and his law degree from Tulane University. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Dedman serves as chair of the Quality Assurance Board for Primerus.
Before becoming an attorney, what was your first job?
My first real job was working in the Maintenance Department of a hospital in Brinkley, Arkansas, emptying trash, sweeping and mopping floors, and working in the lawn and shrubbery when I was 15 years old. My second job was actually more exciting: working in rice fields with their very sharp rice shards, high summer heat, and rats and poisonous snakes! Both jobs paid very low wages.
What motivated you to pursue a legal career?
I really don’t know. I started telling people that I wanted to be a lawyer when I was 10 years old. No one in my family was a lawyer. I may have seen a television show with an attorney in it.
Who was your chief mentor and how did he or she influence your career?
My chief law mentor is unquestionably a gentleman, Joe Spicer, the best trial attorney I ever had the privilege to know. In addition to working long hours, he imbued in me the importance of practicalities, common sense, and making our client’s stories “real” for judges and juries because every legal dispute involves a story which needs to be told well. I’ve never known an attorney who could do that better.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
To be successful, all one has to do is work hard for half a day. It doesn’t matter whether it is the first 12 hours or the second 12 hours.
What is one thing you would like to learn to do?
Skydiving.
Marc Dedman and his wife, Janna, were all smiles when their daughter, Emma, was wed. Also pictured is their son, Robert.
What is your proudest career achievement?
My daughter, Emma, becoming a lawyer. For years, I had suggested many other careers to her. When she applied to law school, my wife told me “Don’t you see, she is becoming a lawyer because of you, not despite what you told her.”
What other career path might you have chosen?
Had I not passed the bar exam the first time I took it, I was to be assigned to field artillery at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, in the U.S. Army. I passed the bar exam and ended up at Ft. McNair, Washington, D.C. After my four years in the Army JAG Corps, I attended Columbia University in New York City with thoughts to go into investment banking. I went back into the practice of law instead.
What do you do to give back to your community?
Currently, I serve on the board and am incoming chair for Best Buddies, Tennessee. Best Buddies is an international organization that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). I also serve on the Visiting Committee for the Loyola University – New Orleans College of Business and I chair its International Programs Committee. Of course, I am very active in Primerus to give back to the legal community.
Can you share a positive referral experience within Primerus™?
I represented a gentleman from the U.S. who was being sued in Paris, France and Milan, Italy. Pascal Lê Dai in Paris and Giuseppe Cattani in Milan provided extraordinary representation, far exceeding the expectations of the client, which also made me look good, too. Win-Win-Win!
What is your happiest childhood memory?
One summer evening when I was 11 years old, I was lying in the back of a pickup truck going down the highway, looking up at the sky thinking that life could never get better. I still think of that experience when I get stressed.
Marc Dedman
What is your favorite movie and book?
Movie: “Yesterday” – It is a great movie with fantastic music, is uplifting, and has a very philosophical premise.
Book: There are too many to list and they are very mood specific.
What is the most awe-inspiring place you have visited?
Siem Reap, Cambodia. It exceeded every high expectation that I had before traveling there. It was a profound experience.
An avid long-distance runner, Marc Dedman is pictured about to set out on a 10-mile trek through snow-lined streets.
What are your favorite leisure time pursuits?
Running long distances (10 to 13 miles/ 16 to 21 kilometers) and also being with my family.
What is your favorite famous or inspirational quote?
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
Who is on your guest list for the ideal dinner party?
This one is easy, and my wife will confirm it is true! Joan d’Arc, Arthur Laffer, Paul Robeson, Winston Churchill, Anne Frank, Audrey Hepburn, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Buddy Edelin, Ed Fredkin, and my wife, Janna.
What are the top three items on your bucket list?
Leave the world a better place than I found it. Age place in another half-marathon. Go back to Siem Reap, Cambodia with my wife, who was not with me when I went there before with my daughter.
