Overview

Sam Blanton’s practice is built around one question: what does this deal need to close and protect value? Based in Nashville, he represents developers, investors, builders, lenders, and entrepreneurs across Tennessee in commercial real estate acquisitions, financing, development transactions, and business sales—handling deals from first draft through closing with the pace and judgment that sophisticated clients expect.

Sam’s practice covers the full range of transactional work, from standard purchase agreements and commercial leases to bespoke structures built around the specific economics of a deal. He works on both sides of transactions: buyer and seller, landlord and tenant, borrower and lender, which gives him an accurate read on where deals get stuck and how to move them forward.

Title issues, curative work, last-minute complications: Sam solves problems to get deals closed. Brokers and developers work with Sam because they don’t need a second call when something goes wrong.

Representative Experience

Commercial Real Estate

Regularly represents institutional and private buyers and sellers in multi-million-dollar commercial and residential development transactions, from land acquisition through entitlement and disposition.

• Represented a lender group in a $50 million commercial construction loan, managing deal structure, documentation, and closing coordination across a complex borrower and collateral stack.
• Prepares loan opinion letters for lenders in connection with commercial real estate financing transactions across Tennessee.
• Drafts and negotiates full loan documentation packages for private credit transactions, representing both private lenders and borrowers in structured financing arrangements.
• Represents a publicly traded homebuilding company in Tennessee state administrative proceedings involving regulatory and land use matters affecting active development programs.
• Routinely drafts, negotiates, and enforces commercial lease agreements for landlords, tenants, and developers across retail, office, and industrial asset classes.
• Conducts title examination and resolves complex title defects, encumbrances, and curative issues on commercial and residential development transactions across Tennessee.
• Selected as escrow agent and closing counsel on the acquisition and merger of two homebuilding companies, handling title, curative work, and closing coordination on transactions where other counsel recognized the value of having one attorney manage the full close.

M&A and Business Transactions

• Represented the founders of a multi-million-dollar business in a sale to a publicly traded company, negotiating deal structure and terms that delivered materially more upfront consideration than the initial offer.
• Advises businesses across real estate, construction, manufacturing, and professional services on entity governance, contract negotiation, and transactional risk management.

Dispute Resolution

• Obtained a favorable settlement for a commercial landlord in litigation against a national restaurant chain for breach of lease.
• Won a bench trial on behalf of a rape victim against the State of Tennessee for negligent employment practices.
• Won a jury trial on behalf of an injured plaintiff against a national retail chain.

Education

• Marshall–Wythe School of Law, College of William & Mary — J.D., cum laude, 2019 | Member, Center for Legal and Court Technology
• Bethel University — B.A., summa cum laude, 2016 | Focus: History and Computer Science

Sam is from Hendersonville, Tennessee and is based in Nashville. Outside the office, he works as a USA Hockey certified ice hockey official and spends time with his family.