Month: July 2025

Five Years and 807 Files Later

In the nearly 5 years after leaving my old law firm, I’ve opened 807 new matters.

That is a lot of files.

In fact, it’s so many that I was reluctant to mention it. For many lawyers, opening a lot of files is a negative thing, an indication that you run a high volume, “small” matter firm. The true honor, some would argue, is working on a very small number of very large, complex cases.

I won’t debate the different philosophies. After taking a leap of faith and leaving a big law firm to start a brand new, solo-focused firm, I’m just grateful that there have been at least 807 times that a client has said “I need David Anthony’s help on this” and called me.

And, sure, I’ve handled a lot of small files, like the dozens of times I’ve sent a demand letter and nothing else. Many have been big: File No. 797 was to foreclose on a notable Nashville commercial property valued at $120 million. File Nos. 227 to 274 were when a big bank client found out I had left and told my old firm to send me every open case I had touched while working there.

In retrospect, I should have left earlier. Some of my hesitation was, candidly, fear. Fear of whether I needed to be at a big firm to be taken seriously. Of whether I needed all the bells and whistles of a big firm. Whether clients would trust me if I started my own firm. Whether my phone would ring.

I was way off, but I’ve got mouths to feed and needed to be careful. You never know what the future holds. Some lawyers leave a big firm with a few boxes of files, but no plan on how to get more.

When younger lawyers ask me for advice, I tell them that there are things you can do early in your career that prepare you for long term success. That client development and professional development go hand-in-hand. Being a very good lawyer is the baseline expectation, but what really builds a career is the ability to connect with your clients, to understand their business and needs, to inspire trust, and to care enough to deserve that trust.

I tell clients too often: “You don’t have to worry about this any more. Your problems are now my problems.” That is absolutely not the most healthy approach to work/life balance (see the part in that post about my late night ER visit). Having said that, your clients can tell if you are just pushing paper around to satisfy your law firm’s billable hour requirements.

You have to practice law with a purpose. Be the attorney who goes the extra mile, who communicates more, and who makes the client look good. Impress the clients when you send the simple demand letter, and then they’ll call you on the big foreclosure.

Lawyer (and lawyer business coach) Lee Rosen has a great post about this, “Associates: You are Going to Leave.” In short, prepare to leave, long before you would ever leave.

After I left the old firm, I never looked back. I never needed to. I was lucky, but I also think we can create our own luck, with preparation and being bold when presented with opportunities.

Around this time of year, I always promise that I’ll share stories and advice about starting your own firm. I invariably get busy with work and then don’t post as much as I intended (this post was actually scheduled for about 2 weeks ago, when I opened File No. 800).

Oh well, maybe this year will be different. A disclaimer: While writing this, my paralegal opened File No. 808, and a client emailed me File Nos. 809 and 810.

New Tennessee Foreclosure Statute Doesn’t Change Lender’s Obligations under Deed of Trust

The changes to Tennessee’s foreclosure laws went into effect on July 1, 2025, and, as you can imagine, Tennessee banks and foreclosure lawyers have had lots of questions on how to navigate them.

This post isn’t going to answer all of them (for that, tune in to my upcoming presentation to the Knoxville Bar Association).

Today, let’s discuss one specific issue that keeps coming up: Now that new Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-5-101(a)(1) only requires publication “two (2) times in a newspaper,” does that preempt what my deed of trust says?

Many deeds of trust don’t have specific requirements; they just make a passing reference to “applicable law.” With those, you follow the statute and (now) do two publications.

Be careful, though: Lots of deeds of trust contain more specific requirements.

A few weeks ago (and after July 1), I prepared to foreclose under a $57,000,000 deed of trust. Naturally, I read every word of that deed of trust. (Many, many, many times.)

That deed of trust required the trustee to “advertise the time, place, and terms of sale at least three (3) different times in some newspaper published in the county where the Land is located…”

Remember, Tennessee is a “two track” foreclosure state,  meaning that a foreclosing lender must satisfy the requirements of both the Tennessee foreclosure statutes and the requirements agreed to by the parties in the Deed of Trust.

So, in short: Yay, they have reduced the number of times a foreclosing lender must publish the foreclosure sale notice in the newspaper! Also, be sure to check your deed of trust to make sure you haven’t agreed otherwise.