Kaya Grace Porter, an associate in the Nashville office of Lewis Thomason, has been elected to the Nashville Bar Association’s 2021 Board of Directors by vote of the association’s membership of 2,800 attorneys.
The Nashville Bar Association (“NBA”) is a professional organization which serves the legal community of Nashville, the largest metropolitan bar association in Tennessee. The Board of Directors governs the Nashville Bar Association, and Lewis Thomason enthusiastically supports Porter’s election to the Board.
Porter has been an active and charismatic member of the NBA since admission to law practice, and her service to the organization predates Porter’s Board election. Porter was first appointed to lead the Nashville Bar Association’s Diversity Committee in 2018 and reappointed in 2019 and 2020, each year by a different NBA president. Under Porter’s leadership, the Diversity Committee planned a statewide diversity symposium, revamped the standards by which law firms and organizations are recognized for their diversity and inclusion initiatives, delivered cutting-edge programs on generational diversity, unconscious bias, neurological diversity, and so much more. Porter is particularly passionate about the Diversity Committee’s annual High School Summer Intern Program and mentoring youth of racially underrepresented backgrounds on their journeys through college, law school, and ultimately practicing attorneys.
Porter is the two-time recipient of the Nashville Bar Association’s President Award. She was one of Nashville’s Top 30 under 30 in 2019 and graduated from Nashville Emerging Leaders with the Class of 2020.
Porter practices education law, labor and employment law, and general civil litigation, strategically defending matters before state and federal courts alike. For Boards of Education, Porter counsels on issues such as special education and employee discipline and termination. Porter is experienced in defending Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Tennessee Human Rights Act (THRA), Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), and Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) litigation matters.