Someone told you I was retired?? But Nope!
I remain a regular at East Tennessee courthouses, filing and finalizing cases, and taking pictures of happy families.
I don’t know exactly what fuels the retirement rumors, despite my presence in all the lawyerly places and Angi and I keeping normal office hours. Maybe me saying that the 8th Edition of Coppock on Tennessee Adoption Law, published in 2024, is the last edition I plan to write triggered some of this talk. I have quit that job. Good Law, the seminar company I started in 2017 offering training to Tennessee lawyers, takes an increasing amount of my professional time and I love working with adoptive families and other lawyers. I dropped writing law books to preserve time for the work I enjoy most, law practice and training.
The cases I love most are foster parent and relative caregiver adoptions. Angi and I are always excited to get those calls and celebrate with the families.
My practice continues to include all types of Tennessee adoption cases. Like most lawyers, I don’t accept every case I am offered. Many variables go into the decision to represent a family. If I don’t accept a case, I can usually offer useful information and suggest another qualified lawyer.
Contested termination cases are very time-intensive. I have stopped accepting cases destined for trial, at least as lead counsel. I have tried a lot of contested termination/adoptions and found that trial work displaces the work that I really love, working with foster parents and relatives in uncontested cases. But still, I want to help families in conflict.
In contested cases, my expertise is best focused on assessing whether termination cases are strong enough to file, drafting initial petitions, establishing and guiding litigation strategy, and advising on difficult points of law. Now I offer these services directly to other lawyers. To prospective adoptive parents, I offer consultations on whether a termination case, likely to be contested, is strong enough and ready to file. When it is a good case, I offer strategic planning advice, and I help them find a good litigator. I remain available to consult with their litigator as desired.
So, no, I’m not retired. I am working full time and accepting cases based on my strengths and what I love most. God willing, I will retire one day, but no date certain is set. I’m actively seeking the legal work I love most, uncontested DCS, private agency, and relative adoptions. I am also busy training other lawyers as fast as I can so when I do finally retire, there will be a book, a catalog of on-demand courses, and a strong Tennessee adoption bar to serve Tennessee’s families.
