Travis B. Swearingen

Partner Litigation

Nashville +1 629 222 0113

Travis B. Swearingen

Overview

Travis Swearingen is a litigation partner in the Nashville office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Travis primarily represents healthcare industry clients, advising on regulatory and compliance matters and defending them in complex class and mass-action disputes.

Travis has been recognized by Super Lawyers® for his work in business litigation, by Best Lawyers in America® for his work in health care law and by The Legal 500 United States for his work in mass torts and class actions.

He has served in leadership roles for the International Association of Defense Counsel, Defense Research Institute, Tennessee Bar Association and Tennessee Alumni Association.

Prior to joining Kirkland, Travis was involved in the following representative matters in the past few years:

  • Trial counsel for Tennessee water utility company in rate dispute before the Tennessee Public Utility Commission.
  • Lead trial counsel for Tennessee hospital system in wrongful death claim arising from a patient’s emergency intubation.
  • Lead trial counsel for Tennessee hospital system involving a certificate of need to establish a new community hospital in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
  • Lead trial counsel for a Tennessee hospital system involving a certificate of need to establish a new free-standing emergency department in Arlington, Tennessee.
  • Lead trial counsel in medical negligence case involving allegations of brachial plexus injury and permanent disability arising from shoulder dystocia during birth.

More

Thought Leadership

Speaking Engagements

Speaker, “Zoom Depositions: Early Trial Strategy, Offensive and Defensive Positioning, and Improving Technology,” DRI Drug and Medical Device Seminar,  May 7, 2025

Presenter, “Drug and Device Caselaw Update: Looking Back at the Recent Development,” IADC Drug, Device and Biotechnology Committee Webinar, May 13, 2020

Speaker, “The Millennial Juror,” International Association of Defense Counsel’s 2019 Annual Meeting, Asheville, North Carolina, July 10, 2019

Recognition

The Best Lawyers in America®

  • Health Care Law, 2020–2026

Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers®

  • Super Lawyers, Health Care, Business Litigation, 2022–2023
  • Mid-South Rising Star, Business Litigation, 2012–2021

The Legal 500 United States

  • Dispute Resolution: Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices – Defense, 2023

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

  • 2006Tennessee

Courts

  • United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
  • United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee

Education

  • Vanderbilt Law SchoolJ.D.2006
    Associate Editor, Journal of Entertainment Law and Practice
  • University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleB.S., Economics & Englishsumma cum laude2003
    Gamma Beta Phi