Hon. Ellen Hobbs Lyle (Ret.)

The Hon. Ellen Hobbs Lyle (Ret.) joins JAMS after a distinguished career of 27 years as a chancery court judge in Nashville for the Twentieth Judicial District of Tennessee, where she served as the trial judge in significant and complex civil cases. Her judicial career includes appointment by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2015 as the first judge of its Business Court Docket Pilot Project for complex commercial/business litigation.

During her time on the bench, Chancellor Lyle was universally regarded as hardworking, intelligent and objective. She has a long-documented ability to handle complex legal issues as well as a deft hand in dealing with people. Chancellor Lyle has many attributes that make her an ideal neutral, including impartiality, patience and perseverance. Her even judicial temperament and ability to quickly grasp and resolve difficult subject matter will make her invaluable to parties seeking a mediator or arbitrator.

Throughout her career, Chancellor Lyle has received numerous awards and wide recognition, including most recently AgeWell of Middle Tennessee's Sage Award (2023), Tennessee Alliance For Legal Services' Riney Green Award (2023), the Nashville Business Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2022), American Board of Trial Advocates Tennessee Chapter’s Judicial Excellence Award (2021), Nashville Bar Association’s Law Day Keynote Speaker (2022) and Nashville Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award (2021).

Prior to serving on the Tennessee Twentieth Judicial District Chancery Court, Chancellor Lyle was in private practice as a partner and associate in civil litigation at Nashville law firm Trabue, Sturdivant & DeWitt, and an associate attorney at Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston.

A native Nashvillian, Chancellor Lyle has long-standing ties to and knowledge of the Nashville community.

Chancellor Lyle is not accepting new matters at this time. For additional scheduling information, please contact her case manager.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

Chancellor Lyle’s wide-ranging judicial experience covers thousands of cases of commercial, business and government litigation. She has authored hundreds of decisions of findings of fact and conclusions of law in the areas of partnership, corporations, LLC and PLLC litigation, health care, noncompetition and trade secrets, entertainment, construction, insurance, franchise, real property, constitutional and statutory and administrative law, education/schools and employment.

Decisions Chancellor Lyle authored in the Business Court Docket Pilot Project (2015–2019) can be viewed at tncourts.gov/bizcourt. Bench and jury trials she presided over include the proposed Genesco/Finish Line $1.5 billion merger, a 2021 jury verdict over $100 million involving claims of massive fraud and alter ego individual and corporate liability, and application of the city charter concerning the location of the Nashville Soccer Stadium.