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Aslinger Kennerly, Montgomery & Finley describing an unconventional career path from law school through judicial clerkships and government criminal appellate work to the role of an ERISA attorney and managing shareholder. The article follows her transitions across Tennessee courts, trial experience as an Assistant DA, and the firm’s civil practice shift, highlighting research, writing, problem-solving, and technical ERISA work as both challenging and rewarding.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":10,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/my-unusual-journey-toerisa-attorney/320934/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/my-unusual-journey-toerisa-attorney/320934.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Sarah ","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What sparked the author’s move toward ERISA law?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Her transition began with an assignment researching an ERISA-related issue from a senior shareholder. 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Page 11 Schooled in Ethics : Tennessee Supreme Court Says It’s Unethical to Advise a Facebook Friend How to GetAway with Murder . . . Page 13  \nA Monthly Publication of the Knoxville Bar Association | April 2021  \nMAJOR CHANGES COMING TO THE TENNESSEE BAR EXAM  \n\n| \u003Cbr>TELL ME A ST ORY\u003Cbr>By: Kathy D. Aslinger\u003Cbr>Kennerly, Montgomery & Finley | |\n| --- | --- |\n\nMY UNUSUAL JOURNEY TOERISA ATTORNEY  \nWhen I graduated from law school, if anyone had asked if I could see myself as an ERISA attorney and/or the Managing Shareholder of amid-sized law firm, I likely would have asked,“What’s ERISA?”before telling them they must be nuts. So how did I get here?  \nLike most new law grads, I was willing to keep my options open, but I had known after my second year of law school what I really wanted to do: be a prosecutor. I applied for jobs at DA’s offices all over Middle and East Tennessee, but nothing came my way. Thankfully, I received a job offer I couldn’t turn down as a judicial  \nlaw clerk for Judge Herschel P. Franks on the Tennessee Court of Appeals. After a year, I had the opportunity to transition from civil law to criminal law, and I become a judicial clerk for Judge David Welles on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in Nashville.  \nI loved being a judicial clerk. The judges I worked for were amazing mentors, I got to work on important cases that helped develop law, and my writing skills grew by leaps and bounds—thanks in no small part to my fellow  \nUT classmate and judicial clerk Amy Frogge, who is one of the best editors I know. I still think being a judicial clerk was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had, despite the well-meaning friends and family who, upon learning I worked as a “clerk,” assured me than one day I would get lucky and be hired as a “real” attorney.  \nWhen my clerkship was over, I accepted a position with the Criminal Justice Division of the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office. Over the next four years, I handled criminal appeals before the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and the Tennessee Supreme Court. Like clerking, this was a great experience, although I didn’t truly understand what a unique opportunity I had at the time. Years later, shortly after I joined Kennerly Montgomery, it dawned on me when one of the attorneys at my firm asked me how many appellate cases I had handled,  \nand I saw the look of surprise on his face when I replied,“I don’t know, probably a couple hundred.” (LEXIS later told me it was 224.) Apparently, that is somewhat unusual.  \nAs much as I enjoyed my appellate work, I never lost the desire tobe a trial-level prosecutor, so when an Assistant DA position became available in Nashville, I jumped. I still remember how scared I was on my first day navigating General Sessions Court, and how silly I felt being nervous when appearing before the appellate courts didn’t faze me. Thankfully General Sessions Court, like the appellate courts, became easier with time and experience.  \nAfter just a year at the Nashville DA’s office, my personal life led me back to East Tennessee, where I spent three more years fulfilling my law school dream as an Assistant DA. During that time, I learned how to try cases, think on my feet, and jump straight into a hearing while knowing very little about the facts ofa case. As with all things, there were  \nparts that I enjoyed and parts I didn’t, but I am happy to have had the opportunity to learn and grow as an attorney. I will always cherish the relationships I built in those years.  \nEventually, however, I reached the point where I knew that my career needed to take a new direction. After eleven years as a government attorney, I didn’t know where to start. George Waters, an Assistant Public Defender I worked with frequently, handed me a business card for Michael Kelley, a shareholder at Kennerly Montgomery, and told me  \nto give him a call. When I protested that I didn’t kn","cbCail4fBdce9xnE","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCail4fBdce9xnE","pdf",1232890,"English","# MY UNUSUAL JOURNEY TOERISA ATTORNEY\n## From law school to judicial clerkships\n## Prosecutor and appellate experience\n## Transition to employee benefits and ERISA practice","[{\"question\":\"What sparked the author’s move toward ERISA law?\",\"answer\":\"Her transition began with an assignment researching an ERISA-related issue from a senior shareholder. Over time, research and problem-solving in ERISA “clicked” with her personality.\"},{\"question\":\"What roles did the author hold before joining the firm?\",\"answer\":\"She served as a judicial clerk in Tennessee appellate courts and later worked in the Criminal Justice Division of the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office handling criminal appeals, then worked as an Assistant DA.\"},{\"question\":\"Why was the first year after joining Kennerly Montgomery difficult?\",\"answer\":\"She lacked experience with civil practice tasks such as preparing interrogatories and scheduling a court reporter, so she asked questions like a first-year associate and had to learn quickly.\"}]","MY UNUSUAL JOURNEY TOERISA ATTORNEY | PDF",1789955358]