Richard Chesnut
Of Counsel
Richard Chesnut attended Vanderbilt University, where he played baseball, served on the Honor Council, was president of his fraternity, and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1972. Richard then attended the University of Alabama School of Law.
While in law school, Richard worked for Richard Shelby’s law practice and title company, Tuscaloosa Title. Upon Richard’s graduation from law school, Senator Shelby recommended Richard to Huntsville attorney Buck Watson. Watson hired Richard in 1975, and Richard has been a friend to Huntsville and North Alabama ever since.
In 1983, Richard and his friend and fellow Mayfair Park coach, Allen Brinkley, became law partners, where Richard established and grew a thriving real estate practice at Brinkley and Chesnut.
While Richard’s broad practice has included complex litigation, his mainstay is real estate transactional work and litigation.
Richard has represented regional builders, banks, and homeowners, and has closed thousands of commercial and residential real estate transactions. His practice has also included searching title and working for landmen in both Alabama and Mississippi to obtain mineral and mining rights.
During the Covid years, Fidelity National Title Insurance Company hired Richard as an underwriter, a position that allowed him to use his experience to help other attorneys in North Alabama resolve title issues to get deals closed the right way.
In 2024, Richard re-entered the practice of law with his son, Patrick. Recognizing a concerning trend in land-title practice, they started a title company to assist smaller law practices that have been pushed out of this area of the law by large corporate entities who, among other things, outsource title searches to artificial intelligence or to subcontractors in foreign countries with no access to archived books, plats, or records.
Richard and his late wife, Betty, raised their two children, Patrick and Lauren (Lowe), in Huntsville. Richard is a member of First United Methodist Church and enjoys spending time with his six grandchildren: Betsy Lowe; and Caroline, Patrick, Anna Louise, Ruth, and James Ellis Chesnut. He also plays guitar for the Musgrove Sessions, whom you can catch at the Greene Street Market and around Huntsville.
