Contact the General Counsel
Main Office – Knoxville
Mailing address for all Knoxville Counsel
University of Tennessee – Office of the General Counsel
505 Summer Place – UT Tower #1155
Knoxville, TN 37902
Telephone: 865-974-3245
Physical address for all Knoxville Counsel
University of Tennessee – Office of the General Counsel
400 West Summit Hill Drive – UT Tower Suite 1155
Knoxville, TN 37902
UT Tower is managed by the Public Building Authority (PBA) of Knox County and owned and operated by the federal government. All visitors must provide a valid state ID to enter the building and will be required to undergo screening and obtain a visitor badge upon each entry into the premises. Visitors will enter through the lobby of UT Tower, and after screening, call our one of our support staff to come downstairs to escort you to our Offices on the 11th floor.
Visitors may park in Summer Place Garage, located at 505 Summer Place. There is a fully accessible route to UT Tower when parking in the ADA spaces on the 3rd floor of the Summer Place parking garage.
Counsel
Catherine Villars Lane
Deputy General Counsel, Business/Transactional Law and Research
katielane@tennessee.edu
Phone: 865-974-3096
Rachel K. Powell
Deputy General Counsel, Litigation and Employment
rpowell@tennessee.edu
Phone: 865-974-0525
Michael D. Fitzgerald
Associate General Counsel
mike.fitzgerald@tennessee.edu
Phone: 865-974-9321
Support Staff
Joan Roberson, CAP
Legal Administrator
roberson@tennessee.edu
Direct Dial: 865-974-2543
Joan serves as office manager with responsibilities over all four locations (Knoxville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Martin). Joan also is assigned to support Deputy General Counsel Rachel Powell, with her duties related to overseeing the University’s litigation. Joan started working in the legal field in 1987 in the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office in Florida and moved to Tennessee in 1993. She worked at Lewis-Thomason (then Lewis, King, Krieg & Waldrop) for three years in the construction law group before joining the UT Office of General Counsel in 1997.
Denise Warwick
Litigation Paralegal
denisewarwick@tennessee.edu
Direct Dial: 865-974-3633
Denise primarily provides support to Lela Young, Associate General Counsel, with her work on faculty matters and research compliance issues, and Aziz Ahmad, Associate General Counsel with his broad business and transactional practice concerning sponsored research, research compliance, policy, and intellectual property matters. Denise has more than 30 years of legal support experience.
Tina Caiazza
Litigation Paralegal, CAP
tina.caiazza@tennessee.edu
Direct Dial: 865-974-8300
Tina is a UTK graduate (’02), and has been working as a paralegal, primarily in litigation, for more than 25 years. She provides litigation support to Rachel Powell, Deputy General Counsel, Mike Fitzgerald, Associate General Counsel, and Esther Henry, Associate General Counsel. In addition to litigation, Tina provides support on a broad spectrum of matters, including employment, student affairs and faculty immigration.
Diana Garner
Litigation Paralegal, CAP
dgarner2@tennessee.edu
Direct Dial: 865-974-6583
Diana is primarily assigned to support Josh Walker, Associate General Counsel, with his litigation before the Tennessee Claims Commission, and Harold Pinkley, Associate General Counsel, in his litigation in federal and state court and before the Tennessee Claims Commission. She also assists in preparing credentialing letters for current and former resident physicians from the Graduate Medical Education Program located at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, and the Chattanooga and Erlanger Health System, as well as other faculty MD’s and nurse practitioners employed by the State who have staff privileges at those entities. Credentialing requests for employees at the entities listed here should be faxed to Diana at (865) 974-0100.(See information under Latasha Franklin’s bio in the Memphis Office for credentialing requests for employees at the entitles not listed here.) Diana has more than 30 years of legal support experience.
Tina Loflin
Litigation & Transaction Paralegal, CAP
tloflin@tennessee.edu
Direct Dial: 865-974-8399
Tina is primarily assigned to support Ryan Stinnett, General Counsel, Katie Lane, Deputy General Counsel, Frank Lancaster, Associate General Counsel, and Caitlyn Elam, Associate General Counsel. These attorneys primarily handle transactional work, though Caitlyn also handles litigation. Tina also works in the General Counsel’s Policy Office and maintains the University’s policy website as well as the tracking of new and updated policies in the University’s policy software. Tina has more than 30 years of legal support experience.
Memphis Office
Mailing address
66 North Pauline Street, Suite 428,
Memphis, TN 38163
Phone: 901-448-5615
Counsel
Heather Colturi
Associate General Counsel
heather-colturi@tennessee.edu
Phone: 901-448-4914
Rebecca Pearson Tuttle
Associate General Counsel
rtuttle@tennessee.edu
Phone: 901-448-6965
Support Staff
Credentialing requests for current and former resident physicians from the Graduate Medical Education Program at UTHSC, and other UTHSC faculty and staff should be faxed to (901) 448-8031, and one of our paralegals will respond as soon as possible. (See information under Diana Garner’s bio in the Knoxville Office for credentialing requests for employees at the entitles not listed here.)
(Vacancy 6/1/23)
Litigation Paralegal
Direct Dial: 901-448-4261
This litigation paralegal is assigned to support Rebecca Tuttle, Associate General Counsel, with her litigation before the Tennessee Claims Commission, and Walt Schuler, Associate General Counsel, with his work in healthcare compliance, regulation & contracting, faculty practices and business ventures related to healthcare, and healthcare regulatory matters. This paralegal and Latasha Franklin share responsibility for preparing credentialing letters for current and former resident physicians from the Graduate Medical Education Program at UTHSC, and other UTHSC faculty and staff.
Latasha Franklin
Litigation Paralegal
lbaker41@tennessee.edu
Direct Dial: 901-448-7043
Latasha is primarily assigned to support Associate General Counsel Heather Colturi, with litigation before the Tennessee Claims Commission, and Melisa Moore, Associate General Counsel, with her work FERPA issues, student discipline and accommodations, Title IX, and other employment, academic, and student affairs matters. Latasha also prepares credentialing letters for current and former resident physicians from the Graduate Medical Education Program at UTHSC, and other UTHSC faculty and staff.
Chattanooga Office
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, Tennessee 37403
Phone: 423-425-5703
Counsel
Support Staff
Holly Bentley
Paralegal
Holly-Bentley@utc.edu
Direct Dial: 423-425-5705
Holly is assigned to support to Yousef Hamadeh, Assistant General Counsel, who provides counsel to the UTC campus on a broad range of legal matters, including student conduct, faculty and staff employment, policy and contract/transactional issues.
Martin Office
The University of Tennessee at Martin
323 Johnson EPS Building
20 Mt. Pelia Road
Martin, TN 38238
Phone: 731-881-7565
Fax: 731-881-7019
Counsel
Nashville Office
Tennessee Tower, 26th Floor
312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue
Nashville, TN 37243
Phone: 615-667-6687
Counsel
Shauna Jennings
Director of Privacy/Associate General Counsel
Shauna.Jennings@tennessee.edu
Direct Dial: 615-667-6687
Shauna Jennings joined the Office of General Counsel in 2023. In her role as the Director of Privacy, she is responsible for managing a systemwide organizational privacy program and advising on topics including privacy and security, data use, FERPA and student privacy, GDPR, and HIPAA. Shauna also works on transactional matters and rulemaking under the Tennessee Administrative Procedures Act.
Jennings earned her B.A. from Vanderbilt University and her J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she served on the editorial board for the Tennessee Law Review. Before joining the Office of General Counsel, she served as Deputy General Counsel for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission providing counsel and support to Tennessee’s higher education coordinating board. Prior to her work at the Commission, Jennings served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Tennessee Attorney General in the Office of Civil Rights and Claims, where she represented state employees and departments in a variety of civil rights and tort litigation cases before the Tennessee Claims Commission, state, federal, and appellate courts. After law school, she served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Don R. Ash, before practicing with Bouldin & Bouldin, PLC in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.