Family Ties Keep Our Profession Strong

Our Bar is blessed with so many attorneys who are related to one another: spouses, siblings, parents/children, cousins, aunts/uncles, grandparents, and more. Reading about these father-daughter and father-son attorney relationships will make you proud of our Bar.

Jennifer Townsend and Tyrone Townsend

Q. What was the motivation for each of you to become a lawyer?

Tyrone: Law is a second career for both of us. I started in the communications space. I was burnt out and decided to make a change, so I enrolled in law school.

Jennifer: My dad told me I should be a lawyer for a while, but I decided to become a social worker instead. Right before I finished grad school, I got a fortune cookie that said, “You would make a good lawyer.” After grad school I ended up working as a social worker at the public defender’s office. I left the public defender’s office to go to law school. If I had just listened to my dad, I’d have had a little less student loan debt.

Q. Why do you enjoy being a lawyer?

Tyrone: We both like to problem solve.

Jennifer: I think I was able to transition careers easily because social work is essentially creative problem solving and lawyering is problem solving within the bounds of statutes and case law.

Q. What do you like to do together when you are not working?

Tyrone and Jennifer: We like to compete to see who the better chef is.

Q. What is a legal-based movie that you like to watch together and/or what legal-based podcast do you both like?

Tyrone: Both of us are criminal defense minded. Jennifer loves true crime podcasts like “Undisclosed” and relays the stories to me.

Jennifer: If we want to watch something based on real life then we’d say “Innocence Files” on Netflix. For a legal thriller it would have to be “Lincoln Lawyer” or “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Jim Gillis and Halley Harris

Q. What was the motivation for each of you to become a lawyer?

Jim: I was a Philosophy major in college and also the Student Advocate for the SBA while in college, so practicing law sort of fit right in with my natural argumentative nature.

Halley: My first motivation for becoming an attorney was, of course, my father. Growing up my father would take me to his office or Court and I loved watching him in action. I always thought he was so smart and I wanted to be just like him. Another motivation later in life was the joy I got as a paralegal working at a large personal injury firm. I really enjoyed feeling like I was making a difference and helping people who were severely injured on the job or in accidents.

Q. Why do you enjoy being a lawyer?

Jim: I like helping others, and being a solo practitioner gives me the freedom to decide who I want to represent and how that representation will be handled.

Halley: To this day, I enjoy being a lawyer for the same reasons that motivated me to become a lawyer. I enjoy being an attorney because it allows me to spend a lot of time with family, quite literally. Being a solo practitioner not only allows me to control my hectic schedule that being a mom of two small kids requires, but it has allowed me to work and grow very close to my father. Everyone tells me how blessed I am to have my father as my mentor, and I don’t disagree one bit.

Q. What do you like to do together when you are not working?

Jim and Halley: When we’re not working, we enjoy spending time with our extended family vacationing at the family house at Lake Martin or going to the beach. We also enjoy going to concerts and out to eat.

Q. What is a legal-based movie that you like to watch together?

Jim and Halley: Our absolute favorite legal based movie to watch together is “My Cousin Vinny.” We laugh through the entire movie. It is completely our style of comedy.

Q. What was the motivation for each of you to become a lawyer?

Jack: I identified the goals that were most important to me. I wanted to have a meaningful purpose to my work in helping people and my community. I also required that my career be intellectually challenging, exciting, enjoyable and that it afford me the independence to choose where I wished to live to raise a family and build my life. After careful consideration, I determined that becoming a lawyer was the perfect intersection of my goals. Little did I know that it would turn out to be that and much, much more.

Jackson: Growing up around the profession, I had the opportunity to observe first-hand the impact that being a lawyer can have on your clients, community, and family. I recognized at an early age that being a lawyer was a challenging and rewarding profession and one that affords the opportunity to help others in a meaningful way. Many of the adults I admired throughout my life were lawyers and I am glad that I aspired to follow in their footsteps.

Q. Why do you enjoy being a lawyer?

Jack: I enjoy the interesting people, variety of the work, intellectual stimulation, and striving to achieve the goals of my clients in a competitive setting. Although maybe not always fun, managing my practice, developing and retaining clients, and creating strategies which allow me to best serve them is rewarding. For me, active participation in the Birmingham and Alabama Bars adds a satisfying element to being an attorney. It is gratifying not only to assist with the business of the Bar, but it allows me to meet lawyers from all around the city and state who I would likely not ever have met in the course of my law practice.

Jackson: First and foremost, I enjoy being able to help people. Often, when people need a lawyer, they are going through one of the most stressful times in their life. I am proud to provide them with a source of comfort and confidence during those times. I also enjoy the endless opportunities to learn about things I otherwise would never be exposed to. My practice is fairly diverse and I have represented a wide range of clients involved in countless different industries and businesses. Being able to sit down with them and learn as much as possible about their particular specialty is fascinating to me (most of the time). The constant mental stimulation is something I enjoy — for the most part, every day is something new.

Q. What do you like to do together when you are not working?

Jack: We enjoy spending time with our family, and we spend time at our farm. We also enjoy outdoor activities such as hunting, skeet, trap, and sporting clays, as well as watching University of Alabama sports.

Jackson: We always enjoy hunting and working at our farm or generally being outdoors together. In recent years, those opportunities have become less frequent, though we still enjoy doing them when we have the chance. Now, spending time together as a family and enjoying being with our children/grandchildren is always fun.

Q. What is a legal-based movie that you like to watch together?

Jack: So many movies, so little space — “Witness for the Prosecution,” “Inherit the Wind,” “Young Mr. Lincoln,” “12 Angry Men,” “The Firm,” “A Time to Kill,” “The Rainmaker,” “The Client,” “The Verdict,” “A Civil Action,” “My Cousin Vinny” (lots of practical wisdom on practicing law in Alabama if you look beyond the laughs), and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Jackson: I can’t ever answer this question without mentioning “My Cousin Vinny.” That movie has been a staple in our family for years, though there are countless others. Top of mind are: “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “12 Angry Men,” “A Civil Action,” “A Time to Kill,” “The Rainmaker,” “The Firm,” and just about any other John Grisham novel. Dad tried to make us watch “Inherit the Wind” as kids, but I don’t think any of us made it five minutes into the movie before we fell asleep. I still can’t get on board with that one!