Focus on Erin Palmer Polly

I went to the University of Tennessee College of Law and graduated in 2002. After that, I joined a litigation boutique in Nashville — Walker, Tipps & Malone PLC. I’m a litigator, and I’ve focused my practice on commercial and personal injury matters. In 2015, my law firm merged with Butler Snow LLP, which is a fantastic law firm with approximately 300 lawyers in over 20 different offices. I love practicing law, especially with the folks here at Butler Snow LLP and with the clients I have the privilege of representing.

I spend a lot of time researching both the law and the facts that are relevant to my case. When you have a lawsuit, you have to become as much of an expert as you can in that particular area, so it requires that you spend a good deal of time getting up to speed. I also spend time drafting legal briefs, interacting with opposing counsel and the court, taking depositions, preparing witnesses for depositions, and (when I have one) preparing for trial.

I recently tried a case and obtained a $22.2 million jury verdict for a very deserving client. Along with that, I recently was elected as President-Elect of the Nashville Bar Association.

Maryville College taught me to analyze and evaluate problems in order to reach solutions. It taught me to write in a compelling manner. It taught me that being able to simply get along with people is an important skill. It taught me to treat others with respect if I expect them to treat me in that manner.

I love to travel. My husband and I have been to several countries and are excited for when our daughter is a little older so that we can take her to some amazing places. I run for stress relief and so that I can eat things like Doritos. Lately, I’ve enjoyed listening to true-crime podcasts when I run, which pass the time but also make me a little paranoid. When I have the time, I love to read — both fiction and non-fiction. And, I’ve got some obsessive-compulsive tendencies, so I continually clean and organize my office and my house.

There are so many wonderful memories that I associate with Maryville College — riding the bus back from a soccer game in the middle of the night, hotly debating funding with the student government folks, hearing my best friend, Holly, sing at local bars and restaurants, teaching a high-school girl about literature so that she could get her GED through Maryville College Families, taking naps when I was supposed to be working in the Advancement Office while the employees didn’t say a word because they knew that I needed the sleep, and smoking cigars on the Wednesday of finals with my five girlfriends (a tradition that we kept every semester).