NBJ Announces 2024 Best of the Bar Honorees

Beth Sims, FirstBank General Counsel, has been named as a Nashville Business Journal 2024 Best of the Bar honoree! This prestigious recognition is a testament to Beth’s dedication and contributions to her field. Her commitment to excellence and expertise have made her an invaluable asset to FirstBank.

The Nashville Business Journal is excited to announce the 2024 Best of the Bar honorees.

To determine our winners, we first accepted nominations from the public. Nominees then participated in a round of closed voting, with weight being given to votes from outside their firm or company. The top-scoring names are this year’s Best of the Bar honorees, listed alphabetically below.

We’re also pleased to announce this year’s Lifetime Achievement winner, David Tarpley, lead attorney for housing and consumer law at Legal Aid of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands. Tarpley graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1971 and joined Legal Aid Society the same year, becoming managing attorney of the consumer section in 1974.

Tarpley served on the board of directors for Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Middle Tennessee for more than two decades. He’s won numerous awards and recognition, including Tennessee Bar Association’s Public Service Attorney of the Year in 1997 and a lifetime achievement award from the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services in 2021.

You can read our exclusive interview with Tarpley — along with a special section highlighting all of this year’s honorees — in our July 26 print issue.

Join us in congratulating this year’s honorees!

• Mike Abelow
• Beth Adams
• Gail Vaughn Ashworth
• Bahar Azhdari
• Laura Baker
• Cindy Barnett
• Mary Beard
• Margaret Behm
• April Berman
• Julian Bibb IV
• Adolpho Birch
• Lillian Blackshear
• Trace Blankenship
• Bob Boston
• Martha Boyd
• Amy Willoughby Bryant
• Matt Burnstein
• Bo Campbell
• Donald Capparella
• Brigid Carpenter
• Will Cheek
• Daniel Clayton
• Chase Cole
• Lisa Cole
• James Crumlin Jr.
• John Day
• Jackie Dixon
• Harlan Dodson
• Sherie Edwards
• Jason Epstein
• Samuel Funk
• Mary Taylor Gallagher
• Charles Grant
• Jay Hardcastle
• Rob Harris
• Robb Harvey
• Aubrey Harwell
• Trey Harwell
• William “Paz” Haynes
• Lela Hollabaugh
• Sheri Jacobs
• Paul Jennings
• Lauren Kilgore
• Randall Kinnard
• Brad Lampley
• Jennifer Lankford
• Ryan Levy
• Kim Looney
• Melvin Malone
• Mark Miller
• Marlene Eskind Moses
• Barbara Moss
• Larry Papel
• Paul Parker
• Andrea Perry
• Brant Phillips
• Erin Palmer Polly
• Matt Potempa
• Bill Purcell
• David Raybin
• Elizabeth Sauer
• Beth Sims
• Scott Sims
• Elizabeth Sitgreaves
• Gregory Smith
• Laura Smith
• Michael Sontag
• Nancy Stabell
• Joycelyn Stevenson
• John Tarpley
• David Thompson
• Gif Thornton
• DarKenya Waller
• Emily Warth
• Maia Woodhouse
• Jeff Yarbro
• Tyler Yarbro
• Gulam Zade
• Stephen Zralek