Dustin E. Meek
office: (502) 238-9902
email: dmeek@tachaulaw.com
Born Ashland, Ky. (1966); admitted to bar: Kentucky (1991). Admitted to practice, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky and Southern District of Indiana. Education: Transylvania University (B.A., 1988); University of Louisville (J.D., 1991). Member, Journal of Family Law (1989-91).
Associate, Brown, Todd & Heyburn, Louisville, Ky. (1991-95); Associate, Tachau Maddox Hovious & Dickens PLC (1995-1998); Partner, Tachau Maddox Hovious & Dickens (1998-2007). Member: Kentucky and Louisville Bar Associations (Chairman, Louisville Bar Association Litigation Section, 1998); Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference Planning Committee (2004).
Practice Areas: Business, employment and fiduciary litigation; healthcare law (including Certificate of Need litigation).
Litigation Experience
Dustin routinely appears before state and federal trial courts and administrative tribunals. She has appeared and argued before the Kentucky Court of Appeals, the Kentucky Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Seventh Circuits on lender liability matters, employment discrimination and ERISA claims, commercial land planning disputes, and insurance coverage matters. She has tried cases to a jury, and conducted numerous administrative hearings, arbitration and injunctive relief hearings.
The primary area of Dustin's current practice involves the representation of national banks and their subsidiaries in various areas including lender disputes, trust and estate litigation, employment discrimination and non-compete claims, executive compensation and ERISA matters, and retail disputes. For example, Dustin has recently obtained summary judgment dismissing $10 million in potential claims against a national bank in a Kentucky federal court matter. In a second matter, Dustin used strategic discovery efforts and related litigation in Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois and Nevada to obtain dismissal of multimillion dollar lender liability claims against the bank, while also being awarded judgments against the debtors for more than $5.5 million, including attorneys' fees and costs. In a third matter, Dustin successfully defended the bank in a substantial executive compensation arbitration, which prevented a series of similar claims involving more than $10 million in potential losses.
In trust and estate matters, Dustin has represented and counseled institutional fiduciaries in matters involving from $100,000 to $30 million. Most recently, she was successful in helping defend two attempts by beneficiaries to remove firm clients as executor and trustee in separate matters involving millions of dollars.
Dustin also maintains an active employment law practice, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. She has prosecuted and defended numerous temporary injunctions and restraining orders in connection with employee trade secret, fiduciary and non-compete matters, and recently obtained an injunction and contempt order against a former senior executive who was stealing company clients and business opportunities. Dustin has also prosecuted and defended claims of age, race, gender, disability and religious discrimination. For example, one of our clients retained Dustin after a trial court dismissal had been reversed by the Kentucky Court of Appeals. On discretionary review, the Kentucky Supreme Court reversed the decision in part and expressly adopted in Kentucky the sexual harassment affirmative defenses originally set out by the U.S. Supreme Court Ellerth and Faragher decisions. Ultimately, Dustin was successful in obtaining dismissal on a renewed summary judgment motion.
In the healthcare arena, Dustin has represented healthcare organizations in obtaining and in opposing certificates of need to develop medical centers. In recent years, Dustin's efforts have received media attention because she has successfully litigated and appealed matters permitting the development of two separate ambulatory surgery centers at a cost of over $100 million.
A former highly-ranked college athlete, Dustin now experiences competition primarily as an active spectator of the sports activities of her three sons.