I write this in the middle of the summer when things are hot and very busy at the TBA. We are not only looking at the upcoming year but also planning as far out as the convention that will occur in June 2025 in Franklin. TBA staff and officers are planning and executing. They put in so much work and I thank them for it.

We are coming upon the fall, which is one of my favorite times of the year. We have cooler weather and college football. We also welcome a brand new class of lawyers. One of the duties and privileges of the TBA president is to move for admission for those new lawyers applying for admission to the courts of the state of Tennessee. While it allows my batting average on successful motions to go way up, it also allows me to speak to and meet many of them. Some of these lawyers know what to expect because they may have friends or family members who are lawyers. Others do not have those connections and do not know what is ahead for them. I, along with many others, am concerned that too many will not have anyone to mentor them. They will start practicing without knowing many of the unwritten rules of practice.

Therefore, I encourage and challenge readers of this column to offer to mentor both those close to us and those on the other side of a case. We know that some are so certain of themselves that they will not listen, but others will be very happy to receive any assistance.

I have been blessed to work with so many lawyers who have taught me so many things — really too many to mention. I started my legal career by clerking at Hodges, Doughty & Carson in Knoxville where I was able to learn so many things from people, such as former TBA President Jack Wheeler. He reminded me to treat everyone with respect, especially when you enter any courthouse. I learned that every courthouse has a gossip communications network where everyone talks to everyone. You may not know it but if you irritate the clerk working the desk, it will likely get back to the judges. I had an associate who was supposed to be sworn in at a specific time but the clerk made a mistake and did not schedule it the day we had discussed. The associate said that they were going to say something to the clerk in an unfriendly way. I told him what had been reinforced to me by Jack a while ago.

While working at Manier Herod Hollabaugh & Smith, I was lucky enough to drink free alcohol at the firm bar while listening to the stories and absorbing the lessons that I would not have learned if I was on my own. As Judge Thomas Aquinas Higgins used to say, “The problem with lawyers is that they don’t drink enough whiskey together.” That and eating lunch alone in your office is for another day. By hanging around lawyers and listening, I was and continue to learn so many things about our profession.

After cofounding what is now Patterson Intellectual Property Law, I had the pleasure of working with Jack Waddey and Mark Patterson. Jack mentored me a lot on the business of the practice of law. Mark mentored me on the importance of details and succinctness.

From time to time, I will grab a drink with Ed Yarbrough (Black Manhattan) and to a lesser extent Hal Hardin (Mich Ultra) and continue to learn things from them. We talk about what is current and what happened before us. New lawyers may not have the opportunity, but more importantly, they do not understand the “why” of doing such things.

Now that I am at Baker Donelson, I get to work with so many people from whom I have learned so much. One of the many highlights is learning empathy from Tim Lupinacci, Baker’s COO, from having to herd more than 700 cats and listening and taking notes in each interaction.

I know I may say this too many times, but we are so lucky that we get to practice this sacred profession. Because of that we also have an obligation to pay it back and pay it forward. So please take any opportunity to offer these new and really bright people some mentoring. As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Young lawyers know the law while old lawyers know the exceptions.” |||

ED LANQUIST JR. is a shareholder in the Nashville office of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz and has practiced intellectual property (IP) law for more than 30 years. Prior to joining Baker Donelson, he co-founded a full-service IP and technology law firm. Over the course of his career, he has advised companies of all sizes on the protection of their IP. He graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1988 and is a past president of the Nashville Bar Association and the Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association. Lanquist has served on over 50 nonprofit boards.