Pierce W. Hamblin is an attorney in the Ward, Hocker & Thornton Lexington Office.  Pierce’s career has primarily been as a Civil Trial Lawyer focused on Insurance Litigation of Products Liability, Automobile cases and Medical/Legal Litigation. He has served as a Special Master at the Order of Kentucky Courts in Mass Tort Litigation in Eastern Kentucky. He has defended multiple insurance companies in Bad Faith Litigation in Kentucky as lead Council. In 2006, he began Mediation and Arbitration. Pierce has mediated over 10,000 alternative dispute cases. This became a regular part of his practice. He was a charter member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals from Kentucky since 2010.

University of Kentucky College of Law, Lexington, Kentucky J.D. – 1977
University of Virginia School of Law, Major JAG Charlottesville, Virginia – 1986
University of Kentucky, Major Business Administration, Lexington, Kentucky – 1973
Honors: With High Distinction
Honors: Dean’s List
Honors: Omicron Delta Kappa
Honors: Beta Gamma Sigma

Lexington, KY

Kentucky Supreme Court, 1977
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Kentucky, 1977
U.S. District Court Western District of Kentucky, 1977
U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1978

Fayette County Bar Association, Member, 1977 to Present
Kentucky Bar Association, Member, 1977 to Present
Kentucky Defense Attorneys Association, Member
Kentucky Academy of Trial Attorneys, Member
Certified Legal Specialties
Mediation and Arbitration, Kentucky, 1977

Kentucky Chapter Outstanding Achievement as Mediator by American Board of Trial Advocates (2025)
Election to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Kentucky’s Supreme Court and Court of Appeals (2024)
“Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers, Mediation, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2022, 2024
Fayette County Bar Association’s Henry T. Duncan Award for Integrity and Leadership (2023)
Featured in Ohio Super Lawyers Magazine, “The Big Guy”, January 2015
Inducted into the UK ROTC Hall of Fame, 2015
Best Lawyers in America, Arbitration and Mediation
Recipient KBA Kentucky Service to Young Lawyers Award, 2013
Top 50 Kentucky Super Lawyers since 2009, and multiple years ranked among the Top 10
Repeated recognition by Best Lawyers in Mediation and Arbitration (Lexington)
Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Rating
University of Kentucky Rosenberg College of Law Hall of Fame 2006
Recipient KBA Kentucky Service to Young Lawyers Award, 2013
Designations including Distinguished Lawyer of the Year (Kentucky Bar Association, 2006) and
Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America, The Trial Lawyer Honorary Society
Fellow, American Academy of Trial Counsel
Fellow, American College of Civil Trial Mediators (Charter Member from Kentucky)

Fayette County Bar Association Pro Bono Program, Chairman of the Board of Directors, 2014 to 2015
Fayette County Bar Association, Chairman, Civil Litigation Section, 2010 to Present

Adjunct Professor, Litigation Skills, University of Kentucky College of Law, 1980 to Present
Adjunct Professor, Negotiations, University of Kentucky College of Law, 2008 to Present
U.S. Army, Military Intelligence, Captain, 1973 to 1978