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Background Check
BACKGROUND CHECK Amy Willoughby Bryant | Bart Pickett
Thanks to a certain pop star and her national publicity, the country now knows about conservatorships. Davidson County fortunately finds itself with the much-needed oversight provided by the Office of Conservatorship Management under the helm of its Director Amy Willoughby Bryant. State Trial Courts appointed her in December 2018. The path to this role was not a clear one. Bryant laughingly recalls when she applied, she had never heard of the office and was not familiar with its work. Thankfully for her, after researching the job and meeting with Judge Kennedy, she walked away knowing she was meant for the role. Bryant grew up in Memphis, the oldest of 4 siblings. Her mother worked for the IRS, and her father owned a real estate company. She attended Overton School for the Performing Arts where she played violin in the orchestra. When TSU offered her a full scholarship including one semester at the University of Hawaii, Bryant moved to Nashville in 2000. At the time, her intention was to take over her father’s real estate business. After studying for her real estate license following her freshman year, her interest in real estate law began and convinced her to seek out law school. After not finding a pre-law group at TSU, she founded the Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity at TSU, for which she still serves as their advisor.
When she visited colleges in high school, Bryant remembers being in love with St. Louis University’s campus which led to her applying to its law school. Without knowing anyone, she packed up and moved to St. Louis in the fall of 2004 to begin law school with the intention of becoming a real estate lawyer. She also had no intention of moving back to Tennessee but she ended up right back in Nashville following graduation.
Bryant studied for the bar in Nashville in the summer of 2007. She had moved back for her husband at the time. She did not have a job but found herself applying at every title company and real estate job she could find. Ultimately, Realty Title hired her in August 2007, but due to the real estate crash, the company fired several of their attorneys that December.
Bryant found herself suddenly having to pivot. She took on some Counsel on Call assignments for a time. She also went to Juvenile Court to explore appointments. She remembers going one day and observing Judge Shelia Calloway, who appointed Bryant to a case. Bryant, with zero litigation experience, expressed her concern and to her relief was appointed a co-counsel. Calloway also offered to allow Bryant to come observe her trial advocacy class at Vanderbilt Law which Bryant jumped on.
By October 2009, Bryant had started her own practice and had her own real estate business. While she loved being an entrepreneur, Bryant had remarried and was raising their children and found herself looking for more stable hours. She found that balance when she started as an attorney for TennCare in 2015. At TennCare, she found herself enjoying the management aspect of her job but felt that she had peaked for the foreseeable future in that department. As a result, she started searching other governmental jobs, particularly director roles. In her current role, Bryant found what she looked for in a job. She is able to educate the public, manage employees, and help develop policies, programming and initiatives. The office regularly oversees approximately 2,400 conservatorships in Davidson County. When not at work, Bryant has volunteered her service on numerous boards. She currently serves as an NBF Trustee, the co-chair of the NBA Diversity Committee, and on the National Guardianship Board. She also teaches at Belmont Law as an adjunct professor. Bryant and her husband, Julian, live in Mt. Juliet with three of their children (6, 8, and 10) and their cat Skeeter. Her oldest is a freshman at Morehouse College. In her free-time, Bryant can be found doing anything outdoors, traveling, or Latin dancing. n
BART PICKETT is an attorney at the Law Offices of Julie Bhattacharya Peak where he represents Liberty Mutual Group, Inc.’s insureds and customers of its affiliated groups in litigation throughout Middle Tennessee.
• Similarly, a health care institution is directed to comply with the Principal’s directions and those of the Health Care Agent. Regardless, the institution may refuse to comply due to reasons of conscience or if the instruction “requires medically inappropriate health care or health care contrary to generally accepted health care standards applicable to the health care institution.”7 • A Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care are still valid and coexist with the Advanced Care Directive and the Appointment of Health Care Agent. Prior documents executed as a Living Will and Medical Power of Attorney are still valid. A person does not have to execute a new Advanced Care Directive and Appointment of Health Care Agent.8 • If a person does not have an Appointment of Health Care Agent, a health care surrogate can be identified to make decisions. Tennessee statute sets an order of preference of who is authorized to become a surrogate. First, is the person’s spouse, so long as they are not legally separated. Next, is an adult child of the person. Next, a parent of the person, and then an adult sibling of the person. Next, an adult relative of the person. 9 • The Health Care Agent’s authority becomes active when the person is deemed to lack capacity.10 Capacity is defined as having “the ability to understand the significant benefits, risks, and alternatives to proposed health care and to make and communicate a health care decision.”11 • The Advanced Care Directives and the Appointment of Health Care Agent can be combined into one document.
These two health care documents work together. An Advanced Care Directive provides instruction for a person’s health care and the Appointment of Health Care Agent identifies the person responsible for implementing these and other health care instructions.
Health care decisions are some of the most important decisions a person can make for themselves. With an Advanced Care Directive and the Appointment of Health Care Agent in place, a person can better ensure that they will experience endof-life care that matches their wishes. n
DAVID HELLER is a partner at Martin Heller Potempa & Shepard. Heller’s practice focuses on family wealth preservation, which includes estate planning, estate tax planning, and asset protection planning.
Endnotes
1 T.C.A. Section 68-11-1801, the Tennessee Health Care Decisions Act 2 T.C.A. Section 68-11-1802(a)(1) 3 T.C.A. Section 68-11-1805 4 T.C.A. Section 68-11-1803(a) 5 T.C.A. Section 68-11-1803(b) 6 T.C.A. Section 68-11-1803(e) 7 T.C.A. Section 68-11-1808(b) 8 T.C.A. Section 68-11-1803(j) 9 T.C.A. Section 68-11-1806(3) 10 T.C.A. Section 68-11-1803(c) 11 T.C.A. Section 68-11-1802(a)(3)
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