Every attorney begins their career in the shadows of the jurists who are walking ahead of them. Before they can travel their own path, they must learn from their colleagues in the law who have knowledge, experience and wisdom to pass down.
At 26 and only one full year out of law school, Logan Davis is standing in a particularly long shadow – that of her father, renowned criminal defense lawyer Lee Davis.
Logan also is working under the same roof with him at Davis & Hoss, a small firm located in a stately Fort Wood neighborhood house in downtown Chattanooga.
When Logan started her undergraduate studies at Tulane University in New Orleans, she didn’t envision working there someday – or any other law firm, for that matter.
Instead, she majored in French because she liked it and studied abroad in Paris because she wanted to. Beyond that, she had no plans.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Logan says, speaking through a Davis & Hoss mask while seated at a long table in her firm’s conference room. “But while I was in Paris, I took a French law class and a death penalty seminar, which started me thinking about becoming an attorney.”
Even as Logan continued her education at Tulane Law School, working at Davis & Hoss as a criminal defense attorney was not on her radar. Instead, she spent her summer internships at prosecutors’ offices, and was considering going in that direction after becoming licensed.
However, time spent volunteering at the school’s domestic violence clinic opened Logan’s eyes to how her work on even a small case can have a big impact on a client’s life, and the next thing she knew, she was settling in at her father’s firm.
Logan says even that connection from her thought process about her future to working at Davis & Hoss is thin. But she does say seeing her father work through the years helped to shape her journey.
This includes her earliest memories of him practicing the law, from when she was 4 or 5 years old.
“He was handling the exhibits for a trial with rubber gloves. I remember being in the courtroom and playing with the gloves,” she laughs.
Logan also recalls the afternoons she spent in her father’s former office on East 5th Street and serving as his runner during her summer breaks from high school.
“I liked doing that, but I was apprehensive about following him into his profession,” Logan notes. “Once I was in law school, though, I realized I was genuinely interested in it and enjoyed it.”
Logan says her father was encouraging and supportive throughout her search for direction, but never tried to steer her in any particular direction.
“He never said I needed to return to Chattanooga, or that I needed to do defense work,” she says. “But the way he lives his life and practices the law had an impact on me.
“When you speak with lawyers of a certain generation, there can be a jadedness, and they’ll jokingly say, ‘You don’t want to be a lawyer,’ or ‘You don’t want to go to law school,’” she continues. “But my dad has never been like that. He loves the law and the legal profession. He’s one of those people who still believes it’s a noble pursuit.”
Since joining Davis & Hoss, Logan has been cutting her teeth on minor drug charges and domestic disputes, but she doesn’t think of them as small cases. Rather, she recognizes their importance to her clients, as well as her development as a lawyer.
“Representing a good person who made a mistake and steering their case to a positive outcome feels good,” she explains. “Sometimes, there’s the perception that only big cases are important, but being a rookie attorney and seeing how a small case can impact a client has been cool.”
Logan’s days of handling only lesser charges are coming to an end, however, now that Hamilton County Judge Barry Steelman has appointed her to defend a 15-year-old juvenile in a murder case.
The defendant is being charged as an adult after allegedly killing someone in a drive-by shooting. To date, he’s been arraigned and is awaiting trial at Silverdale Detention Center as Logan navigates the discovery process.
She says the case is complex, but she feels fortunate to have three seasoned criminal defense lawyers at Davis & Hoss who can offer advice and guidance, including Bryan Hoss, Janie Parks Varnell and her father – who will serving as second chair during the trial.
If working with her father on the kind of case he’s been handling for over 30 years intimidates Logan – or simply makes her nervous – she’s not showing it.
Instead, she feels fortunate to have him at her side, as she knows his knowledge and experience will not only bolster her defense of her client but also her growth as a lawyer, she says.
For his part, the elder Davis says he’s looking forward to trying the case with his daughter.
“I’ve trained many young lawyers, and I see great potential in this hardworking attorney,” he says, referring to Logan professionally rather than familially. “She’s devoted to her case and client and understands that preparation is the key to her success.
“I’m going to enjoy watching her work and helping where I can.”
One quality Logan says she’s already assimilated from her father is his collegial approach to speaking with opposing counsel and the others involved in a case.
While she claims she can “come out swinging” if she has to, she’d rather find a place of mutual interest and agreement and use it to build a rapport with her opponent.
“We’re professionals, we respect each other and we’re working on the same case,” she says. “You can’t always find common ground – sometimes, things will get tense because you’re on fundamentally different sides – but a lot of times, you can.”
Logan says she used this approach to good effect when discussing discovery with the prosecutor on her murder case, and will carry what she learned forward in her practice.
“Some clients assume you’re supposed to be a bulldog, but if you treat people with respect, you can accomplish a lot.”
While Logan says she’s benefited from her father’s presence during the nascent stage of her career, she realizes she’s going to have to learn many things about the practice of law on her own.
This includes understanding that some cases will do more than test her intellectual understanding of the law, they will also try her emotions.
“I’m finding that there can be an emotional component to a case, whether it’s seeing what the defendant is going through or watching the defendant talk with family and seeing what the parents are going through,” she says.
“That can humanize your clients, but at the same time, you can’t let it overpower you because you have to be able to do your job.”
Logan is also getting a sense of what her role will be in the grand scheme of the U.S. justice system, but here again, she draws guidance from her father.
“It’s easy to become jaded. You see a lot of injustice nationally, which can make you feel small, like there’s nothing you can do,” she says. “But my dad does a good job of focusing me on the things that are in my control and what my abilities can do and how they can impact this community.”
Logan is drawing insight from more than her father, she’s also immersing herself in the larger local bar and interacting with other attorneys, as well as judges.
As a member of the Chattanooga Bar Association, Logan attended the recent annual meeting virtually, and as part of the local Inns of Court, she’s taking advantage of the educational and mentoring opportunities available.
All of this is stock and trade for a new attorney. But if there’s one thing Logan would do differently, it’s practice in court more often. She’s also eager to become involved with community organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, but is waiting out the pandemic.
To fill her spare time, Logan has taken on the care of a 5-pound Havanese. She took in the pup while quarantined and has found it to be a substantial, but joyful, responsibility.
Logan also spends time with her family, which includes her mother, Heather Ott, an English teacher at Baylor School, and her sister, Parker, a student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Her brother, Matthew, is a junior at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Although some parents look forward to their children leaving the nest, the elder Davis says he loves that his daughter is starting her career at his office.
“Whether Logan is here only during the beginning of her career or longer, I’m trying to simply appreciate the time we have together,” he says. “But I also know there are other opportunities out there for her. She should do what she wants, follow her interests and trust her instincts.”
Just like when Logan studied French at Tulane University, she doesn’t have a plan for her future. Instead, she’s working at Davis & Hoss because she likes it and is practicing criminal defense because she wants to.
“It’s what I’m doing for now.”