Jason Wesley “Chip” Eagle

Chip has spent more than 30 years involved in various aspects of estate & charitable planning, trust & estate administration, and nonprofit leadership. The genesis of his interest in estate planning and probate began at a very young age when a poorly drafted will caused significant emotional turmoil within his family. That experience, paired with an innate desire to advocate for people, fueled a direct path to law school with the desire to create better outcomes for other families.

Starting at a small law firm in Knoxville during the early 90’s, Chip primarily focused on family law, estate planning and estate administration. Desiring more structured professional training, he spent more than a decade in banking as a trust officer administering trusts and estates ranging in size from $25,000 to $11,000,000. His banking career peaked when he was appointed Vice President & Market Trust Director for a large regional bank located in Pittsburgh. In that role, he supervised 25 trust attorneys with responsibility for more than 50,000 trusts.

A few years into his role as Market Trust Director, Chip determined that his position in banking was too far removed from individual clients to fulfill his desire to advocate for others. He explored opportunities in the nonprofit world where he enjoyed helping people achieve their charitable giving goals. His first nonprofit role was Assistant Vice President for Planned Giving at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Over the course of many years, he was also Senior Director of Development for a university where he led a successful $28,000,000 capital campaign, and has held senior leadership positions at local nonprofits combating poverty.

An injury, followed by a long recovery, provided Chip with the opportunity to reevaluate his career path again. He concluded it was finally time to return to his roots in the private practice of law. He considers it a tremendous honor to facilitate the process that allows for a client’s final wishes to be carried out via the proper estate planning and the administering of an estate or trust. Having served as an attorney, trustee, executor, guardian-ad-litem, and charity representative, he understands and empathizes with the array of emotions, challenges, and motivations that Douglass & Runger clients are experiencing when they arrive at our offices. He believes that empathy, paired with his technical knowledge, are his greatest professional strengths.

Chip is a dedicated and enthusiastic Midtowner. He has renovated many older homes in Central Gardens and can often be found at Otherland’s Coffee Shop or Overton Park. He is a faithful human for a cat named Spock.