Nashville School of Law welcomes Lisa Helton, attorney with Sherrard, Roe, Voigt, Harbison law firm in Nashville, as the new Rigorous Writing Coordinator for the School.
The Rigorous Writing Exercise (RWE) was introduced in 2017 and has been led by former NSL Legal Skills & Values Instructor Candi Henry. It is a required program for all third-year students to graduate law school. Tennessee attorneys and judges are volunteer mentors, helping our students select a legal topic for the 15-to 20-page research paper.
“I’m really excited to connect with students who are at the beginning of their legal careers. It is an amazing experience to explore this profession, and I am honored to assist my students with that journey,” said Lisa Helton. “As a litigator I spend a significant amount of time drafting briefs, so I believe this writing experience will help my Rigorous Writing Exercise students as they work on their in-depth writing project.”
Some of Helton’s practice areas include estate and trust litigation, appellate practice, landlord/tenant law, and IRS tax litigation.
Helton graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she was admitted to the College Scholars program and deemed a top graduate in the College of Arts and Sciences: Social Sciences. In 2004, she received a J.D., magna cum laude, with a concentration in advocacy and dispute resolution, from the University of Tennessee College of Law. Lisa was Order of the Coif, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, president of UT Law Women and a member of the Tennessee Law Review. Helton was recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2023 “Lawyer of the Year” in Nashville for both Trust and Estate Litigation and Tax Litigation and Controversy.
Nashville School of Law Administration thanks Professor Candi Henry for her time and dedication to this program. Henry helped create a well-organized, successful RWE program during the past five years.
“I genuinely looked forward to reading every single one of the final projects submitted, and I always learned something—either about an area of law I was not familiar with or a way that a segment of the court system works,” said NSL Professor Candi Henry. “It is inspiring to see how NSL students are positioning themselves to go out into the world and use their practices to address challenges in the legal system.”
Henry is the Chief Legal Counsel for the Greater Nashville Regional Council (GNRC). The regional government entity, which includes 13 Tennessee counties, helps administer state and federal funds for highways, aging and disability assistance, and economic and community development programs.