Ready for Trial with Dana McLendon

Sharon Guffee is the Juvenile Court Judge in Williamson County, Tennessee. Judge Guffee served 8 years in juvenile services as Child Support Magistrate and Juvenile Magistrate before being elected Juvenile Judge. She has now served 10 years as the Williamson County Juvenile Judge. During the past eighteen years, Judge Guffee has heard 30,070 cases. Judge Guffee continues to work with local advocates, leaders, and others for the betterment of the community. For more information: https://www.reelectjudgeguffee.com

Brittany Barnett is a lawyer who left a lucrative private practice in corporate law to fight for justice. In this episode, she tells how her own family experience guided her and how she ultimately knew the job she always wanted was not the job she needed.

Abby Rubenfeld is a legend. She's been on the front line for equal rights for decades. In this episode, we discuss how Abby "got her quill" and how the fight for equal rights for women is far from over.

Josh Windham is a lawyer with the Institute for Justice. Josh is currently the lead counsel for a case involving the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency ("TWRA") and the TWRA's practice of entering private property without a warrant, and without permission from or notice to the landowner for the purpose of surveilling the landowner and their guests.

Kevin Sharp is a lawyer in Nashville who resigned as a federal judge to work on criminal justice reform. In this episode, we take a deep dive into the strange and terrible tragedy that is the story of Leonard Peltier.

Judge Sharp is the Managing Partner of Sanford Heisler Sharp’s Nashville office, which opened in the spring of 2017. He joined Sanford Heisler Sharp after serving as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee from May 2011 through April 2017, serving from 2014 to 2017 as the Court’s Chief Judge.

Tony Turnbow is a lawyer practicing in Franklin, Tennessee. He is the author of "Hardened to Hickory," the story of Andrew Jackson's first experience as a military commander. In this episode, we discuss Meriwether Lewis, Andrew Jackson, Aaron Burr, and other important persons from history.

Joe Baugh is a lawyer in Franklin, Tennessee. He began practicing in the mid-1970s and served as the District Attorney for sixteen years before returning to private practice. In this episode we discuss the way it was when he began and how things have changed since.

Robbie Beal is a former public defender, prosecutor, juvenile referee, Circuit Court Judge, and Chancellor and is now a lawyer in private practice with a significant practice as a mediator in family law cases. In this episode, we cover all of that and more.

Caitlin Moon is a professor at Vanderbilt Law School in Nashville, Tennessee. Cat teaches primarily in the areas of technology and innovation in the practice of law. In this episode, we tackle how the law students of today are learning not only new technology to bring to the practice of law, but altogether new paradigms of client relationships and monetizing a law license. We also discuss the current dilemma that new law school graduates are facing as fifty states wrestle with the bar exam in the era of COVID-19.

Kendall White is a lawyer practicing primarily in criminal defense throughout Middle Tennessee. In this episode, we talk about difficult clients, the erosion of your right against unreasonable search and seizure, and one thing you should never, ever do when interacting with the police.

Dina Shabayek prosecuted some of the worst cases in Nashville for many years, then became a defense lawyer and decided in the end to run a yoga studio. This daughter of first generation Egyptian immigrants has an interesting story to tell.

David Raybin is one of the most influential and effective trial lawyers in Tennessee. He began practicing in 1973 and has had a profound effect on the lives of countless people. In this episode he dispenses advice to young lawyers, recounts the cases of which he is the most proud, and sheds light on what it really means to be a trial lawyer.

You have a choice. Do you want to go to ball games, recitals, graduations and weddings with or without drama? Do you want your child's childhood memories to be about your drama or their achievements?

Matt Milligan is a lawyer who now serves as the Director of the Institute for Conflict Management at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. In this episode, Matt brings an academic perspective to what trial lawyers do every day: negotiate. It turns out, most lawyers aren't nearly as good at it as we think we are, or as we could be.

Sunny Eaton is a lawyer with a diverse practice in Nashville, Tennessee. Sunny represents people charged with crimes but also has a growing intellectual property practice. Sunny has a truly unique story about the sabbatical she and her wife took, the lessons she learned on that trip, and how she applies them in her practice today. Photo credit: Joshua Corey

Joey Fuson is a lawyer at Freeman & Fuson in Nashville, Tennessee. Since 2006, Joey has represented people charged with crimes all over Middle Tennessee and has developed a cutting edge practice in the emerging cannabis industry.

Ready for Trial is a podcast hosted by Dana McLendon, a lawyer based in Franklin, Tennessee since 1993.

Judge Justin Angel is a circuit judge in Tennessee's 12th Judicial District. He presides over criminal and civil cases in six counties. Judge Angel was elected in 2014 at age 32, making him one of the youngest circuit judges in Tennessee. In this episode, we discuss his decision to seek the bench, fatherhood, the advice he gives young lawyers, and what not to do in court.

You won't spend long with Amanda Gentry before you conclude she loves what she does and she's good at it. When I contacted Amanda to see if she was interested in being a guest, she said, "F@#$ yes!" In this conversation, Amanda explains how a childhood memory has led to an obsession with clowns, describes what it's like to be a "street lawyer", discusses a murder case that is over but not the mystery behind it, and what it will take for marijuana to become decriminalized in Tennessee.

This is a really short outline of the two ways to get divorced in Tennessee: you agree to disagree and make a deal, or you fight it out at the courthouse.

Nichole Dusche and Kate Delk are law partners at Dusche & Delk in Franklin, Tennessee. I wanted to talk to them because I've known both of them since they began practicing law. I've seen them go from brand new prosecutors to seasoned criminal defense lawyers. In this episode, Nichole and Kate talk about the transition from prosecuting criminal cases to defending them, maintaining a balance between work and family, mental illness as it manifests in the criminal justice system, and the agony of having a victim brutally murdered.

Philip R. Newman is a lawyer at Puryear, Newman & Morton in Franklin, Tennessee. Phil has practiced in Tennessee since 1993, and focuses on family law. Phil is also a highly respected mediator.