Meagan Jones is the President of the Association for Women Attorneys for the 2023 calendar year.  Meagan, originally from Marion, Arkansas, obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and her law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in Memphis, Tennessee. 

 

Meagan is an Associate at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C., where her practice primarily involves assisting corporate and business clients in handling matters related to mergers and acquisitions, corporate formation and governance, contract review, securities offerings, and federal and state regulatory filings.  Prior to joining Baker Donelson, Meagan clerked for the Honorable David S. Kennedy, Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Tenssee and also the Honorable Robert S. Weiss at the Shelby County Circuit Court.  Meagan currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, where she is the head coach of the Duberstein Moot Court Travel Team.

Born in D.C., raised in Clarksville, and Memphian by choice. Ashley obtained her B.A. in Psychology, and minor in Women’s Studies from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, and she currently serves as a Trial Attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

 

Prior to her work in this role, she served as a prosecutor in the Domestic Violence Unit here in Shelby County. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated since the fall of 2011, and long standing member of the Association for Women Attorneys since the fall of 2014. Ashley maintains being actively engaged in both the legal community and Memphis through organizations such as Inns of Courts, the membership committee for the Dixon Gallery & Garden, and the Urban Art Commission.

Noor Obaji is the Vice President of AWA.  She is an associate at Lewis Thomason, PC, where she focuses her practice area on healthcare liability defense. 

 

Noor graduated from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 2018.  She served as the President of the AWA Student Chapter during her 3L year.  Noor is excited to serve the Memphis legal community this year. 

Linda Seely is a licensed Tennessee lawyer and Mediator.  She served as the Director of the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section in Washington, DC until May of 2021 when she assumed her position at Butler Snow as Pro Bono Counsel.  For 20 years, she served as Pro Bono Director, first for West Tennessee Legal Services, and then from 2004-2016 for Memphis Area Legal Services. 

 

Linda has served on many nonprofit boards, and as President of several organizations including as President of the Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women, the Memphis Bar Association and on the board of the Tennessee Association of Professional Mediators as well as serving on both the Board of Governors and in the House of Delegates for the Tennessee Bar Association.  She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Women Attorneys in Memphis (2023) and is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the MidSouth Community Justice and Mediation Center.  She is a member of the Leo J. Berman Inns of Court and has Emeritus status.

 

She was appointed to the Tennessee Bar Association Access to Justice Committee in June of 2021 by President Elect Jim Barry and to the Advisory Committee of the Tennessee Administrative Offices of the Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission in January of 2022.  

 

Linda has been married for nearly 30 years to her husband and retired attorney, Carl E. Seely.

Anita serves as the Treasurer for AWA.  Anita is a member at Farris Bobango PLC.  Her practice concentrates in the areas of financial institutions regulatory compliance, commercial finance transactions, real estate transactions, and general corporate law.  

 

She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University and her Juris Doctor degree from Boston University.  

Originally from Chattanooga, Laura Deakins, a shareholder at Lewis Thomason.  Her practice is focused in civil litigation, primarily on the defense of corporations and insurance companies, as well as doctors and hospitals in healthcare liability matters.  She also has extensive appellate experience. 

 

Prior to joining Lewis Thomason, Ms. Deakins served four years as the judicial law clerk to the Honorable Holly Kirby on both the Tennessee Supreme Court and Tennessee Court of Appeals where she worked on over 100 appellate opinions in a wide variety of legal fields.  Ms. Deakins has achieved successful results for her clients through defense jury verdicts, summary judgments, mediations, and on appeal.

Elizabeth is an associate at Reifers, Holmes & Peters LLC.  Elizabeth focuses her practice in the defense of claims filed against Class I railroads, including Federal Employers' Liability Act, occupational exposure, and common carrier liability. 

 

Elizabeth earned her J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law. 

Rachel is a 2021 graduate of the University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Tennessee.  While in law school, she was a member of the Moot Court Board and competed with the Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court travel team.  During her final year of law school, Rachel served as a law clerk for the former Honorable Robert Weiss, Division Eight of the Shelby County Circuit Court. 

 

As an Arkansas native, Rachel obtained her undergraduate degree in Business Administration at Arkansas State University in 2018 and is a former chapter president and alumna of the Alpha Omicron Pi Women’s Fraternity.

Rachel focuses her practice in the areas of family law and estate planning.  She is a Board Member for the Association for Women Attorneys, serving as Co-Chair of the Annual Golf Tournament.  Rachel also serves as a Board Member for Hannah’s Hope.  When she is not practicing law, Rachel enjoys spending time outdoors and hunting with her Husband, Alex and their fur-child, Bodhi.

Rachel is a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Holly Kirby on the Tennessee Supreme Court. 

 

Rachel is a native of Benton, Arkansas and obtained her undergraduate degree in Dietetics at Arkansas State University.  She is a 2022 graduate of the University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and is newly licensed to practice law in Tennessee.