Like other professions, the legal field presents its practitioners with a series of time-honored objectives. From graduating law school to passing the bar exam to becoming an associate with a firm, many lawyers follow a long-established path that’s always pointing them forward.
Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison attorneys Hollie Floberg, April Sawhill and Katherine Lentz have walked this well-worn trail.
After working as an accountant and college-level instructor, Floberg graduated from Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia in 2016 and then began to practice tax and estate law at Grant Konvalinka.
Lentz applied for an internship at Grant Konvalinka between her second and third years at the University of Tennessee College of Law and then secured work as an associate at the firm the following year. Over time, she developed a practice that focuses on family law, alternative dispute resolution and litigation.
Sawhill graduated from UT law school in 2004 and then represented clients in commercial litigation and insurance coverage matters in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She left the active practice of law in 2013 to live abroad and then joined Grant Konvalinka in 2022 after returning to the U.S.
Now these attorneys have completed their next rite of passage: becoming directors at their firm.
Grant Konvalinka expressed its reasons for promoting the women in news releases that accentuated their legal skills and value to the firm.
The practice praised Floberg for being “a trusted adviser,” commended Sawhill for bringing “a tenacious, yet balanced, approach to resolving her clients’ problems” and recognized Lentz for “striving to provide the best representation for individuals and families during some of the most difficult times of life.”
“Our expectations for all of our attorneys are very high,” says Lentz. “We pride ourselves on offering a valuable service, providing excellent work and being efficient and price conscientious.”
Grant Konvalinka’s board of directors will maintain these expectations as the women assume the added responsibilities of being leaders at the firm, Sawhill says.
“As an associate, you learn as much as you can about the law. You serve the directors and their clients. But as you build your expertise, your niche and your client relationships, you move away from a director feeding you work and become the one bringing the work to the table.
“After you become a director, you shift to bringing work to the associates and mentoring them. Hopefully, you’ll select one or two you see as not only potentially assisting you with your work but also moving into the pipeline so that as you transition to other things – or maybe even out of practice one day – they’ll be there to fill that role and provide continuity for the firm’s clients.”
Floberg says she’s already sensing the added responsibility of being a director at Grant Konvalinka. “I feel a greater need than I did as an associate to be marketing the firm and having a positive impact on the community.”
Fortunately, Floberg adds, she believes she’s ready. Lentz and Sawhill do as well, they say.
“We’re very fortunate in that we have robust and developed practices,” Lentz notes. “But becoming a director brings an exciting sense of ownership to our work. We have a dynamic group of associates – including some female associates – and it’s exciting and humbling to be in a position to hopefully provide them with leadership and encourage the comradery and collaboration [for which our firm is known].”
Sawhill served as a leader at the Grand Rapids firm when it made her a partner but says she wasn’t able to fulfill the mandate of her role due to being a new parent. Now, like Lentz, she says she’s prepared to help lead Grant Konvalinka as it enters the next generation of its nearly 50-year practice.
“When I made partner the first time, my kids were young and I was trying to keep my head above water, so I didn’t feel a responsibility to the next generation. I don’t have those pressures now, so I’m looking forward to nurturing the newer attorneys. We work in a lot of areas of the law and have a lot of talented associates who will benefit from our mentorship.”
Even as Sawhill prepares to confer her knowledge and experience to the associates, she says she recognizes that the path new attorneys are taking differs from the one she, Lentz and Floberg traveled.
“Their journey is different,” she muses. “I didn’t have female partner role models. And there are more flexibilities today. When Katherine and I started to practice law, there was no such thing as work-life balance. That’s developed over the last 20 years and now we’re seeing the new generation of attorneys put it into practice. They expect that they’ll be able to serve their clients and cultivate their career but also have a life outside of it.”
“Young attorneys have different expectations and demands than we did because they’ve seen what’s possible,” Lentz adds.
Grant Konvalinka announced the promotions of Floberg, Lentz and Sawhill in February, on the cusp of Women’s History Month in March. This provides the new directors with an opportunity to reflect on the progress women have made in the legal profession.
Lentz, who recently became a Rule 31 mediator in family law, says there’s still work to be done but that she feels tremendous support from other female attorneys and from the Chattanooga Bar Association in general.
“I’m a mediator because of the support of my fellow female attorneys. Jillyn O’Shaughnessy, Misty Harris, Michele Coffman and Ellie Hill specifically encouraged me and said, ‘You should do this.’ And that’s something to celebrate.”
“I believe every female attorney has a story about someone mistaking her for a court reporter, paralegal or legal secretary – all of whom are critical to the practice of law and traditionally were women,” says Sawhill. “But I’m not seeing that as much as I used to.”
“I graduated from law school in 2016, so I didn’t encounter the same problems women have historically endured in the legal profession,” says Floberg. “But I realize it’s that way because of the women who came before us.”
Floberg, Lentz and Sawhill join Brittany Faith and O’Shaughnessy as female directors at Grant Konvalinka, the professional home of 28 attorneys.
As they consider the next leg of their journey, they say it will challenge them to rise to the top of their practice areas. Lentz sums up their thoughts.
“When someone in the community says, ‘I’m looking for a great family law attorney,’ we want someone to reply, ‘Call Katherine Lentz.’ Or if someone says, ‘I need a tax attorney,’ we want Hollie Floberg to be at the top of the list. And if a client needs help with complex litigation, we want them to immediately think of April Sawhill.
“We’ve achieved a lot internally but there’s still a lot to be achieved externally. And that’s the example the other directors have set for us. We’re very fortunate to have practiced under the mentorship of well-known and exceptional attorneys. So our plan is to continue to gain knowledge and expertise and developer deeper, richer practices.
“Ultimately, our goal is to be meaningful contributors to this firm. I’ve never practiced anywhere else and I’m not planning on going anywhere. This is my house and I intend to make a positive contribution.”