Skip to main content
Sunday, November 15, 2026Nov 15
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

Motion seeks dismissal of lawyers in contested Brock estate

In this staff file photo, J. Don Brock, right, and his son, Ben, stand near a piece of machinery manufactured by their company, Astec Industries, in Chattanooga.
In this staff file photo, J. Don Brock, right, and his son, Ben, stand near a piece of machinery manufactured by their company, Astec Industries, in Chattanooga.

By Zack Peterson 4 min read

One lawyer in the contest over J. Don Brock’s multimillion-dollar estate has filed a motion saying the opposing attorneys should recuse themselves.

Jerry Summers, the attorney representing the late Astec Industries founder’s five adopted children in the will contest, wrote that two Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C. attorneys representing Brock’s estate are compromised because of their close ties to the late engineering magnate.

For decades, Richard Bethea served as a close friend, attorney and confidant to Brock, who founded Astec Industries in 1972, according to the motion, filed Thursday in Hamilton County Chancery Court. Astec is an asphalt equipment maker.

photo J. Don Brock

From 1997 to 2002, Bethea worked for Astec Industries as executive vice president and secretary and continued to provide general outside counsel after leaving the company, the motion says.

The firm Bethea later joined, Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C., prepared Brock’s will in 2013 while the CEO battled the mesothelioma cancer that would claim his life in March 2015.