MTSU alumnus Michael Dagley will discuss his legal career and answer questions from students and the public Thursday, April 9, at the annual Dr. Frank Essex Practitioners Roundtable.

Set from 1 to 2 p.m. April 9 in Room 106, the Simmons Amphitheatre, of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building, the yearly event brings MTSU alumni and other members of the legal community to campus to speak on pre-law career opportunities as well as their own education and experience in the field.

Michael Dagley

The roundtable discussion is presented by the MTSU Department of Political Science and is open to students in all majors as well as the rest of the campus community. A searchable campus map with parking details is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParking14-15.

Dagley, who is a partner in the Nashville law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims, graduated magna cum laude from MTSU in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts in history and earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1981. During his time at MTSU, he was president of the university Honors Council as well as a member of the MTSU Debate Hall of Fame.

During his 33-year legal career, Dagley has specialized in representing clients in securities litigation, class actions, shareholder derivative actions and merger and acquisitions.

He’s most recently worked on behalf of hospital and healthcare systems with software failures and has defended numerous Nashville healthcare companies on contractual disputes as well as advising on healthcare fraud, False Claims Act matters and government investigations.

Dagley has been included in the Nashville Business Journal’s “Best of the Bar” list and has been named among the “Best Lawyers in America” and “Best Lawyers in Tennessee” by the Best Lawyers peer-review publication. In the last five years alone, he’s won eight multimillion-dollar contingency cases, including one of more than $100 million.

The Frank Essex Practitioners Roundtable honors Dr. Frank W. Essex, professor emeritus in political science at the university. He taught at MTSU for 27 years and retired in 1993, serving during his career and continuing to serve as a mentor to many in political office as well as attorneys and judges in Tennessee and elsewhere.

For more information about the annual Frank Essex Practitioners Roundtable, contact the MTSU Department of Political Science at 615-898-2708.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)