Southern Comfort Buffet

Southern garden salad
Arcadian Mixed Lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, and white cheddar, ranch dressing, vidalia vinaigrette
Creamy Cole Slaw
Deviled egg macaroni salad
Nashville hot chicken + local honey
Grilled flat iron + Jack Daniels Fire BBQ
White cheddar + buttermilk mashed potatoes
Southern style buttered green beans +bacon, onion

All daily lunch menus include iced tea service, coffee and hot tea

Dessert
Bourbon Street Pecan Pie
Red Velvet Cake

Despite diversity and inclusion being a daily topic within the legal profession, the needle is barely moving, in particular, for women of color within the profession. The DRI Women of Color Roundtable will be a candid discussion on challenges facing women of color within the legal profession and will provide insight on how women of color attorneys can overcome those challenges.

Welcome and Introduction
Stacy L. Douglas, Partner and Director of Diversity & Inclusion – Everett Dorey LLP, Los Angeles, CA  

Can I Get Close to You? Networking Panel

Moderator:
Christina A. Gonzales, Shareholder – Marshall Dennehey, Philadelphia, PA

Panelists: 

• R. Matt Cairns, Associate General Counsel – Textron, Providence, RI
• Geneau M. Thames, General Counsel – VP, General Counsel and Secretary – Harford Mutual Insurance Group, Bel Air, MD

The Path to Promotion

Moderator: 
Darleene Peters, Partner – Irwin Fritchie Urquhart Moore & Daniels, LLC, New Orleans, LA

Panelists: 

• Charissa N. Walker, Partner – Tucker Ellis LLP, Cleveland, OH
• Sandra Diggs-Miller, Vice President, External Affairs – Entergy, New Orleans, LA  
• Deborah St. Lawrence Thompson, Partner – Nelson Mullins, Baltimore, MD
• Amy Stewart, Owner – Stewart Law Group, Dallas, TX   

Show Me the Money

Moderator: 
Tyrra V. Walker, Associate – Chartwell Law, Atlanta, GA  

Panelists: 

• Reginald Johnson, Chief Diversity Officer & SVP NA Field Human Resources – Signet Jewelers, Dallas, TX
• Ron Jordan, Founder – Carter-Whie & Shaw, Chestertown, MD
• Douglas K. Burrell, Partner – Chartwell Law, Norcross, GA

This program is designed to provide young lawyers with a framework of understanding for artificial intelligence and transformative technologies for their legal practice. The panel discussion will include experts in generative AI, along with lawyers who have utilized these tools. Young lawyers will walk away from this discussion with a better understanding of the ever-evolving tools available to assist them with discovery, preparation of argument, brief writing, and everything in between.

Join us for a fireside chat where we delve into the art of business development including personal stories, strategies, and hard-won insights. Whether you just started as an associate or are almost aged out of DRI Young Lawyers, this conversation is designed to empower you on your path to becoming a successful rainmaker. Mindset Matters: Your mindset and how you approach interactions can transform your legal career. Defining your Motive/ Elevator Pitch: Your “why” and how you can help others. Building your Personal Brand: Positioning yourself effectively within your firm and to clients. Navigating Client Relationships: Creating meaningful connections, including through retention, acquisitions, and referrals. Balancing Tradition and Innovation: How to blend time-tested practices with innovative approaches—including what it means to be a rainmaker in the digital age.

Make time for some self-care! Work up a sweat during this afternoon workout at F45 Training. Attendees will be challenged, have fun, and leave feeling stronger. F45 Training is a 45-minute class suitable for all skill levels. Please meet in the hotel lobby no later than 4:00 p.m. so we can walk together (15-minute walk from the hotel) as a group.

Follow the steps below to register:
1. The class is $25 and is not included in your registration.
2. Those who plan on attending, please click here to reserve your spot.
3. Let attendees know you’re attending by adding your contact information here.

Not into workouts? No problem. Meet in the hotel lobby at 4:15 pm for a choice of pay-your-own-way Nashville exploration. No advance registration required.

• Johnny Cash Museum - $30 a person (purchase tickets at museum)
• Old Smokey Distillery - Free
• Tennessee State Capitol (Exterior) – Free

Meet with like-minded professionals from 5-6 p.m. at the world-Famous Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, 422 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203. All are welcome!

Meet in the Renaissance lobby around 4:50 p.m. if you’d like to walk with the group to Tootsie’s. Please note this social hour is a pay-your-own-way event.

Join fellow Young Lawyers seminar attendees for dine-arounds following the evening's networking reception. Dine-arounds are pay-on-your-own and a great way to meet and connect with new (and old) friends! Sign up here.  

Join fellow parents for coffee “off campus!” Grab a coffee, tea, and engage fellow attendees at Elegy Coffee, 150 4th Ave, N.G250, Nashville, TN 37219 (a four-minute walk from the hotel). The group will depart from the hotel lobby no later than 7:50 a.m. All are welcome!

Many litigators have a goal of one day being anointed as the “first chair trial lawyer” for a case. But for younger lawyers, or lawyers working on heavily staffed matters, that position can seem quite far away. Even if you are not deemed the “first chair” at trial, you can add immense value to the trial team—and develop your own trial chops—in the supporting role of a second, third, or even fourth chair. Attend this session to hear from an attorney who has filled these roles on how to add value and be successful at trial, no matter your position.

The Rule 26 conference and initial scheduling conference set the tone for litigation in federal court. Attorneys who prepare well for them earn the respect of the court and the client and become indispensable to the case. Learn about the significance of early case management, discovery planning, and identifying settlement opportunities.

“I’ve been doing this since before you went to law school” is a phrase lawyers hear often in the first five years of practice. Whether it is by senior counsel attempting to bully you into accepting their position, clients who feel they know best, or pro se litigants who claim the courts have no jurisdiction over their lives, junior counsel will be faced with difficult conversations that need to be resolved to advance their client’s case. Too often new lawyers equate zealous advocacy with fighting “fire with fire” and find themselves getting burned. They can also end up prejudicing their client’s position or incurring unnecessary cost and delay by responding to procedural brinkmanship. There is a better way. Learning how to effectively handle these difficult conversations professionally is essential in developing a reputation as a zealous and effective advocate. This panel will provide attendees with three main outcomes: Practical and effective methods of reasoning with the unreasonable counsel, convincing the skeptical client, and governing the ungovernable self-rep. Awareness of common “traps” and bad habits young lawyers should avoid when faced with a “difficult conversation”; and Resources and skills for dealing with implicit, and explicit, bias that new lawyers often face based on their age, gender, disabilities, or other immutable characteristics.

Please join us in supporting Blessings in a Backpack, an organization that mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for school-aged children across America who might otherwise go hungry. Seminar attendees will have the opportunity to fill bags of food on the way to the joint networking lunch on Thursday, June 13. Feeding a child before you feed yourself is a wonderful way to support children and families in the Nashville community.

Tex-Mex Tastes Lunch

• Tortilla chips & fire roasted salsa
• Mexican street corn & rice salad
• Mexican caesar salad, creamy avocado dressing, toasted pepitas, tortilla strips, cotija cheese
• House smoked pork carnitas, fresh cilantro, cotija cheese, fresh red onion, lime, corn tortillas
• Cheesy salsa enchilada chicken skillet
• Refried beans

Dessert

• Tres leches
• Cinnamon Spice Chocolate Cake

All daily lunch menus include iced tea service, coffees, and hot tea

Fast Pitch will take place in 5 Points (ML1 level). 

Test your knowledge of discovery rules and best practices in this interactive Jeopardy-themed session. Audience participation will be strongly encouraged, and prizes will be awarded!

Join fellow women lawyers at Rippy's Honky Tonk, 429 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203. The group will meet at 5 p.m. in the lobby and head to Rippy’s, which is a five-minute walk from the hotel. No reservation is needed, but this is a pay-your-own way social! A chance to hit Broadway and meet fellow attendees before the evening’s Young Lawyers Premier Networking Reception back at the hotel.

Join fellow Young Lawyers seminar attendees for dine-arounds following the evening's premier networking reception. Dine-arounds are pay-on-your-own and a great way to meet and connect with new (and old) friends! Sign up here.  

Recently made partner or approaching that milestone? Join others Friday for candid conversations regarding this milestone at Little Fib (located inside the Renaissance Nashville). No reservation needed, but this is a pay-your-own way social!

Preparing for mediation can be a daunting task, especially for newer attorneys. However, mediation is a great tool to help resolve a case or learn more about the opposing side’s case if mediation is ultimately unsuccessful. This presentation should give you the tools you need to effectively prepare for mediation and set yourself and your client up for success.

Batson v. Kentucky and its progeny were meant to eliminate bias in jury selection. But has that happened? The program also will provide viewers with skills on how to identify the biases of potential jurors and how those biases could come into play during deliberations.

This program will discuss the ethical obligations and pitfalls of the tripartite relationship between defense counsel, the insured, and the insurer.