Pete Cline founded this firm in 1984 with the purpose of providing exemplary legal services to the people of Middlesboro and the surrounding counties. Since then, Cline and his associates have abided by a philosophy of personal attention to clients that is unmatched in the region.
Our firm concentrates on four core practice areas to provide the knowledge, experience and attention to detail our clients deserve. We are especially renowned for our experience and substantial trial experience in:
Civil Rights – We champion the rights of victims of workplace discrimination, particularly gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Pete Cline’s reputation for professionalism and success in this area is why other attorneys around the region seek his counsel in complex civil rights matters. Pete Cline originated and served as lead co-counsel in a class action against a large grocery store chain in the South alleging a glass ceiling for women that resulted in a $14 million settlement and established a statistical reporting system to ensure the advancement of women to management positions.
Business Transactions and Litigation – During eight years as corporate counsel for Harbert Corporation, Pete Cline developed extensive skills in transactional law, stock and asset acquisition, business financing and banking. With this experience, which is rare for a rural attorney, Pete Cline helps clients wade through the complexities of creating, selling and maintaining business entities and of pursuing and defending commercial disputes. He is chief counsel for First State Financial and serves as chief counsel at Vaughn & Melton Inc., Pineville Community Hospital and Sequoia Energy, LLC, responsible for litigation, litigation management and the general legal needs of these entities. Pete Cline’s litigation skills led to a $6 million judgment, the second highest ever in Bell County, for a contract coal mining company that lost equipment and profits as a consequence of inaccurate mine maps that caused a “cut in” into an abandoned mine and flooding of the active mine.
Personal Injury / Wrongful Death – We protect the rights of accident victims and their families and work diligently to make them whole. We focus particularly on vehicle accidents. Our seasoned attorneys have a reputation for achieving maximum results for clients while maintaining compassion and integrity. Our attorneys strive to provide clients peace of mind and help them sort through the confusion that follows a serious vehicle accident. Clients count on us to deal with powerful insurance companies regarding liability and coverage and to obtain full value for their claims. Injury victims also don’t have to worry about being able to afford representation; our personal injury clients pay no initial consultation fee. Cline Law Office’s success in the personal injury arena include obtaining maximum insurance proceeds for a phone company employee crushed by a vehicle and garnering a six-figure settlement for a child with closed-head injuries that resulted from a rear-end collision.
Insurance Litigation – Our firm consistently resolves coverage issues in favor of our individual and business clients. Sometimes this involves complex negotiations. When those fail, we litigate coverage disputes, and we win. If your insurance company is wrongfully refusing you coverage under an existing policy of insurance, we will sue that insurer for its bad faith failure to pay. We recovered $725,000 for a hospital against its insurer that refused coverage under an employment practices liability policy.
No matter your legal needs, our mission is to provide you with quality and experienced representation. Period.
