Practice areas: Family Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate; view more
Licensed in Tennessee since: 2007
Education: Vanderbilt University Law School
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2024 - 2025 Call today:
615-949-5228
Law Office of Morgan Smith
1222 16th Ave S.Suite 23
Nashville, TN 37212 Visit website
Morgan E. Smith is a seasoned attorney at the Law Office of Morgan Smith in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, with an extensive career devoted to advocating for her clients in high-stakes and challenging matters. She focuses her practice on matters such as family law, divorce law, civil litigation, and employment and labor law.
With nearly 20 years of legal experience, Ms. Smith brings insight, skill and determination to every case she handles. A graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School and the New College of Florida, she holds licenses to practice in Tennessee, the District of Columbia and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Ms. Smith’s professional journey has included significant work both domestically and abroad. Early in her career, she contributed to international justice efforts with the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Netherlands. She has also served in legal roles within the federal and state systems, gaining valuable perspectives that now inform her practice in private litigation.
Ms. Smith is deeply committed to protecting the rights of employees, ensuring fair treatment for parents and safeguarding the welfare of children. In family law, she takes pride in crafting creative and equitable divorce settlements that shield clients from making decisions driven by emotional strain. In employment law, she is particularly passionate about wage and hour disputes, recognizing fair pay as a cornerstone of worker rights.
Highly regarded for her legal acumen, Ms. Smith has earned a perfect 10.0 rating on Avvo. She is also an engaged member of the American Association for Justice, the Nashville Bar Association and the Tennessee Bar Association. Known for her strategic thinking and unwavering dedication, she continues to make a meaningful impact in the greater Nashville community by pursuing justice and delivering strong advocacy for those she serves.
Practice areas
Family Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate, Civil Litigation: PlaintiffFocus areas
Alimony & Spousal Support, Appeals, Arbitration, Divorce, Marital Property, Mediation, Mediation & Collaborative Law, Prenuptial Agreements, Same Sex Family Law
- 70% Family Law
- 10% Alternative Dispute Resolution
- 10% Appellate
- 10% Civil Litigation: Plaintiff
First Admitted: 2007, Tennessee
Bar / Professional Activity
- Presenter, The How and What of IVF, Embryo’s, & Surrogacy in Divorce and Parentage, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association 2025 New Orleans Seminar, 2025
- United States District Court Middle District of Tennessee
- District of Columbia
- Tennessee
Verdicts / Settlements (Case Results)
- M2022-00415-COA-R3-CV, Augustina C. Durunna v. Nelson I. Durunna, prevailed on appeal with a remand to the trial court., 2024
- M2021-00474-COA-R3-JV, 06-01-2022, CHRISTINA JANE COMPHER v. DANA JANELLE WHITFIELD I represented the appellee/respondent Dana Janelle Whitfield. We defeated the initial action through a motion to dismiss with the Rutherford County Juvenile Court Magistrate. Ms. Compher appealed and it was upheld by the Ruther County Juvenile Court judge. Ms. Compher then appealed again and it was also upheld by the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Ms. Whitfield has a child through artificial insemination, and Ms. Compher filed an action for parentage rights of the child. In Tennessee, this area is very much cutting edge and in flux as our statute was updated just a few years ago, and reproductive technology and the issues that come with it have become almost a subsection of family law that only a few attorneys handle here in Nashville. The most interesting thing about this case is that even though it involves post-Obergefell issues as so many same sex couples use reproductive technology to have children together, the Ms. Whitfield and Ms. Compher were never romantically involved. , 2022
Videos
- Oral arguments before the Court of Appeals for Compher v. Whitfield, M2021-00474-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. 2022), Court of Appeals Argument: Compher v. Whitfield, Family Law, Reproductive Technology, Appellate, 2022
Special Licenses / Certifications
- Accepted to be a Rule 31 listed Tennessee Mediator in the area of Family Law, 2019
Educational Background
- B.A. from the New College of Florida, 2004
Scholarly Lectures / Writings
- Presented for the Nashville Conflict Resolution Center's Mediation CLE series with Jackie Dixon on the topic of resolving breakups of unmarried couples and specifically addressed two new cases, Pippin v. Pippin and Potts v. Potts that deals with the issue of children born through reproductive technology to unmarried couples., Joint-Presenter, CLE Resolving breakups of unmarried couples, Mediation CLE, 2021
- Greater Nashville Area
- Tennessee
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2024 - 2025
