Tyler M. Caviness is a founding partner at Stephens, DiRado & Caviness, LLP. He was raised in Nashville, Tennessee before moving to East Tennessee to earn his bachelor’s degree in English from Tennessee Wesleyan College where he also received a scholarship to play lacrosse. He earned his Juris Doctorate with a concentration in advocacy and dispute resolution from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2017. While in law school, he was active in College of Law’s Innocence and Wrongful Convictions Legal Clinic and earned distinguished student recognition for his work on behalf of his clients.
Before founding Stephens, DiRado & Caviness, Mr. Caviness’s practice encompassed a variety of criminal defense matters at the State and Federal levels in Knoxville and surrounding counties in East Tennessee. He has successfully defended clients at trial and won favorable rulings on appeal.
Mr. Caviness is a graduate of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (TACDL) Trial College and currently serves as a TACDL committee co-chair. He has presented on legal issues to lawyers from across Tennessee and published several articles addressing criminal defense-specific issues in TACDL’s state-wide magazine, For the Defense. He has completed specialized training in the defense of DUI cases and completed a 24-hour course on the techniques used by law enforcement in DUI cases that is recognized by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA). He has also been recognized as “Top 40 Under 40” in criminal defense by the National Trial Lawyers association.
Mr. Caviness is licensed to practice in all Tennessee state-level courts, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He is a member of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Knoxville Bar Association.
In his free time, Mr. Caviness enjoys spending time with his family and two dogs, coaching lacrosse for the Knoxville Youth Sports program, and attending Tennessee Volunteers sporting events.
