Carrying on a Johnson City Legacy
Each morning in his downtown office, Knoxville lawyer Marcos Garza sits at his desk contemplating how best he will serve his clients that day. It might mean listening intently as a new client talks through the experiences that brought them to the firm. It might mean sitting beside them in the courtroom, advocating on their behalf and helping them find closure. But it also might mean looking ahead to how he can bring his unique way of serving to people in other communities.
Garza will expand his firm this fall, maintaining his office in downtown Knoxville, but broaden his reach to Johnson City where he will merge with the Law Office of Tony Seaton & Associates.
“Tony has been a force in the trial lawyer community for more than four decades,” Garza says. “By merging with his firm, we will not only be able to bring a level of service that’s unmatched to that area, but carry on the legacy of an exceptional trial lawyer.”
Seaton, the former president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, started his firm back in 1984, one of the first lawyers to focus on personal injury and workers compensation. “We’re tried-and-true trial lawyers,” Seaton says.
However, after 42 years as a trial lawyer, Seaton said he knew it was time for a change. He was prepared to either hand the reigns over to someone inside the firm, merge with another firm, or close the doors. However, passing the legacy on to a capable trial lawyer whom he could trust was the ideal.
“You’ve got to have an entrepreneurial spirit, have the ability to take risks, and you’ve got to be a trial lawyer,” he says of the person he was searching for to run the firm. “That’s hard to find.” Until he met Garza, that is.
A former paralegal of Seaton’s who was working for Garza at the time, connected the two attorneys, and Seaton immediately began to see a different future for his firm. “I began to understand that Marcos Garza was the kind of guy that I wanted to pass our name along to because he has the same ideas that I do in terms of doing the best job for his clients and treating his staff as well as anyone I’ve ever seen,” Seaton says.
Garza’s thriving firm in Knoxville—we’re he serves clients with dignity, empathy, and a genuine care for their experiences—continues to grow, as was always the intention. Merging with Seaton’s firm not only allows for that growth to continue, but also ensures Johnson City continues to have capable trial lawyers close to home.
As for Seaton, the seasoned attorney will continue to operate the Johnson City office, but take on less cases and shift his primary focus to training the next generation of lawyers—something he’s worked on for multiple decades—at both branches of the newly expanded Garza Law Firm.
“Growth in any kind of a firm or business can be a double-edged sword,” Seaton says. “Unleashed growth can create more problems, but I don’t see that with Marcos. He’s so detailed and dedicated that the growth is going to be good for his firm, and it will be good for the folks his firm attracts.”
With a legendary trial lawyer now part of the team, Garza has set himself, his team, and his clients in Johnson City up for success. The Garza Law Firm continues to expand its role as an advocate for justice and as a leader in the legal community.
Garza Law Firm 550 W. Main Street, Suite 340, Knoxville, TN 37902 118 Watauga Avenue, Johnson City, TN 37601 (865) 540-8300 garzalaw.com