Editorial
Front Page - Friday, August 20, 2010
Associate attorney enjoying the beginning of her journey
David Laprad
Katy Russell is an associate attorney at Luther Anderson. She has a growing civil litigation, insurance defense and family law practice at the firm.
- David Laprad
Katy Russell, an associate attorney at Luther Anderson, apologizes for the brevity of her story. She then suggests her former boss, Jack Campbell Jr., the 94-year-old patriarch of Campbell & Campbell, would probably have more to say about his career than she does about hers. Russell, who’s 34, is right, but she’s not taking into account how the beginning of a story is just as important as the end, as it sets the tone for what’s ahead.
Born in 1976 and raised on Lookout Mountain, Russell attended Girls Preparatory
School and then did her undergraduate work at Florida State. Although she says she went south to take advantage of the school’s music program, she wound up earning a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1997. Russell then returned home, and in 1999, obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
As Russell contemplated her next move, she considered business and international law. Instead of choosing one, she pursued both, earning a Master of Business Administration and a Juris Doctor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Russell’s intent was to use her knowledge of the law while working in business; however, a summer clerkship at Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams, a mid-sized firm in Chattanooga, introduced her to the world of litigation, which she found captivating.
“I enjoyed the interaction among the participants of a case, the formality of the proceeding, and speaking in public,” she says.
The following summer, Russell interned at Williams-Sonoma, a home furnishings and cookware retailer with locations in Memphis, Tenn. The company offered Russell a job, but when her fiancé voiced a desire to stay in Chattanooga, she changed her focus from business to law.
While Russell was looking for work in Scenic City, Campbell & Campbell offered her a job as a general law practitioner. She accepted, and spent the next four years learning the ropes and growing her practice. Looking back, Russell says she can’t produce enough superlatives to describe her time there or the people with whom she worked.
“When I started out, I went through a trial by fire, but the Campbells are wonderful people and good role models, and they provided me with a great foundation in the law,” she says.
Four years later, Russell decided to leave Campbell & Campbell to work at Luther Anderson, a defense firm for the insurance industry. Today, she has a growing civil litigation, insurance defense and family law practice at the firm.
While Russell didn’t intentionally choose the path on which she’s walking, she says she made the right choices regarding
her career.
“I can’t say I’d always wanted to be a lawyer, but practicing law has made me stronger and more convicted, and helped me to develop a backbone,” she says.
Russell was admitted to the U.S. District Bankruptcy Court, Federal Eastern Division of Tennessee, and the Federal Northern District of Georgia, in 2005. She was admitted to the Tennessee and Georgia Bars in 2006. In addition, she’s a member of the Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, Georgia and American Bar Associations, and is the outgoing president of the Southeast Tennessee Legal Association for Women.
While president of SET-LAW in 2009, Russell, along with her fellow officers and board members, began the process of reinvigorating the organization. Originally formed as a way to help female attorneys network, brainstorm and share their experiences, SETLAW saw a drop in interest over time due to the busy schedules of its members. Recently, however, the association experienced a rebirth as a civically minded organization, and its ranks are growing once again.
In 2011, SETLAW hopes to hold its first “Take Your Daughter to Work Day,” during which female youth will meet judges, see the inside of a jail and have an enjoyable day with their mom. Russell says the idea is to introduce young ladies to the legal world, give them an appreciation for what their mothers do for a living and encourage them to consider a career in law.
In the meantime, Russell plans to continue to develop her practice, spend time with her husband, travel and take advantage of the amenities Chattanooga offers.
If the first chapter of Russell’s career is an indication, the years ahead should provide her with plenty of winning material for a longer story.
wShe’s moving her practice forward in small but essential steps, she’s involving herself in her community and she’s open to whatever the future brings – as she has been since the beginning of her journey. If she continues in the same direction, someday, a young attorney might sit down with a reporter to talk about his or her career, and suggest Russell would probably have more to say about hers.
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