Knoxville Chapter November Meeting

As a leader of Kennerly Montgomery's pension and employee benefits practice, Kathy D. Aslinger assists public and private employers, plan fiduciaries, trustees, third party administrators, and advisors maneuver through the complex world of employee benefit plan design, implementation, and compliance. Additionally, she uses her experience and knowledge to assist companies in the following areas: due diligence and benefit considerations during merger and acquisitions; controlled group and affiliated service group analysis; executive compensation; audits; fiduciary liability issues; multiple employer and multiemployer benefit plan issues; DOL and IRS compliance; HIPAA; COBRA; ERISA and state law obligations; and Affordable Care Act compliance.

For an ERISA attorney, Kathy has an unusual background. She spent the first 11 years of her career as a government attorney and prosecutor. During that time, she worked as a judicial clerk for judges on the Tennessee Court of Appeals and Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, as an appellate attorney for the Tennessee Attorney General's Office, and as an Assistant District Attorney. She has tried cases before judges and juries and handled approximately 200 appeals before the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, the Tennessee Supreme Court and the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. She credits the research, writing, and advocacy skills she gained during these years for her continued success in the realm of employee benefits, and while she works hard to keep her clients out of the courtroom, she is grateful that she has the experience and ability to assist them in the courtroom if needed.

In addition to her ERISA practice, Kathy serves as the Managing Shareholder of the Firm. This role enables her to lead, mentor and guide the Firm in a positive direction.

Brandon Morrow engages in a broad civil litigation practice, with a strong emphasis on labor and employment matters. He has experience crafting creative solutions to resolve disputes, but realizes that some situations require zealous representation in front of judges and juries. Brandon regularly handles trade secret and non-compete issues, and regularly defends employers before state and federal courts as well as administrative agencies against a variety of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims. He regularly drafts and reviews employment agreements, employee handbooks, and employment policies. Outside of labor and employment law, Brandon has significant experience representing religious institutions in a variety of Constitutional and civil rights claims. He has also served as appellate counsel in a number of matters, ranging from insurance coverage disputes to federal civil rights claims. Brandon speaks regularly at human resources conferences and employment law seminars and co-authors an employment law column, The Law at Work, in the Tennessee Bar Journal.

Erica D. Green joined the firm in 2017. Her practice includes assisting and advising employers on a broad range of employment matters arising under state and federal law; general business; insurance defense; corporate and commercial law; estate planning; and general litigation. During law school, Ms. Green received Academic Excellence Awards for her performance in Law of the Workplace, International Religious Freedom, Contract Drafting, and Civil Pretrial Litigation. In addition to her studies, she was a member of Law Women and Transactions: Tennessee Journal of Business Law, as well as being a College of Law Ambassador.

Betsy J. Beck is an experienced litigator and focuses her practice on Employment and Labor law. She takes a proactive approach to employment issues, from policy drafting and training to daily advice on handling complaints and litigation, and strives to answer time-sensitive employment related questions as quickly as possible.

She advises and represents employers on a broad range of employment and labor law matters arising under state and federal law. Her clients are from a wide range of industries, from quick-serve restaurants to non-profit organizations.

Ms. Beck has developed, maintained and revised affirmative action plans for several large employers in East Tennessee.

She represents and advises employer on matters involving: • Discrimination • Harassment • Retaliation • Wage and hour regulations and audits • Employee medical leave issues • Employee handbooks • Substance abuse policies

She also frequently develops and presents on-site training programs to her clients on various topics, including: • Harassment • Drug and alcohol awareness • Litigation avoidance • Employee disabilities and medical leaves • Hiring and Employee Management

Jimmy Snodgrass graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2014 and the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2017. Jimmy first worked as the pro se law clerk for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, as well as a term law clerk for United States Magistrate Judges H. Bruce Guyton and Debra C. Polin. He currently works as an associate attorney for Kramer Rayson LLP with an employment law and general litigation practice.