George D. Spanos

George D. Spanos was raised in Memphis, TN, graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with honors, and has lived in Nashville since obtaining his undergraduate degree. He worked in business acquisitions for Dell, Inc. for four years, when he began attending the Nashville School of Law. Shortly after beginning law school, Mr. Spanos began working at this firm as a paralegal, where he was able to bolster his legal education with practical experience. Mr. Spanos has been married for over fifteen years and is the father of two children.

Having worked for Ms. Rogers and the firm while he attended law school, Mr. Spanos gained valuable insight and significant experience to the practice of law prior to his graduation and subsequent admission to the Bar. Since being licensed as an attorney, Mr. Spanos continues to hone his legal knowledge and trial skills.

He has focused his career on practicing all aspects of family law, including divorce and legal separation, martial contracts, allocation of parental responsibility (custody) actions, child support and spousal support modifications, post decree parenting time disputes, and appeals, as well as probate matters. Mr. Spanos specializes in complex litigation issues, including high asset divorces and high conflict child custody or parenting time disputes.

Additionally, he took part in the Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute which is sponsored by the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association (ABA) and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA). This annual program is an intensive 8-day trial advocacy and education course where participating attorneys receive hands on training from leading family law trial lawyers and judges across the nation.

Mr. Spanos has received Board Certification by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a Family Trial Law Advocate. He has also written several scholarly articles on family law matters and has presented on different family law subjects to other practicing attorneys.

Also, Ms. Spanos sits on the Executive Board of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association and has also chaired the Association’s Domestic Legislation Committee since 2018, where he helps review proposed changes to family law statutes and meets with legislators to ensure laws are fair to all Tennesseans. Additionally, he is the co-chair of the Tennessee Trial Lawyer’s Domestic Law Seminar, which provides continuing legal education for attorneys across Middle Tennessee.

In January 2023, Mr. Spanos has also been elected to join the Tennessee Bar Association’s Family Law Executive Council, which helps review family law related legislation statewide rules changes, and promoting legal education for family law practitioners.

It was his honor to be selected, from a large number of attorney applicants, as one of the select members of the Nashville Bar Foundation’s Leadership Forum’s 2017-2018 class. He has been named a Rising Star by SuperLawyers each year since 2018 and has also been named as a top 10 attorney under the age of 40 by the National Academy of Family Law Attorneys.  In 2023, Mr. Spanos was honored to become an adjunct professor at the University of Memphis in their College of Professional and Liberal Studies. Mr. Spanos chaired the Williamson County Mock Trial competition from 2016-2022.

Mr. Spanos is a passionate advocate and is committed to reaching amicable resolutions for his clients. Going through a divorce or child custody proceeding is one of the most difficult times in anyone’s life, and he works with his clients to tailor his representation to each client’s unique situation and set of facts. He is also a trained Rule 31 Family Law Mediator, who not only settles many of his own cases but mediates for other attorneys and helps them to resolve their client’s family law matters as well. He prefers to help clients reach favorable agreements without the need for expensive, emotionally taxing court battles; however, Mr. Spanos has successfully tried multiple contested trials when settlement was not possible.

Areas of Practice

  • Divorce
  • Post-Divorce
  • Child Custody and Child Support
  • Juvenile
  • Probate
  • Wills and Estates

Specialty Certification and Training

  • Rule 31 Family Law Mediator
  • Certified Family Trial Law Advocate through the National Board of Trial Advocacy
  • Family Law Trial Advocacy training through the American Bar Association and National Institute of Trial Advocacy

Published Works

  • “Maximizing Wrongful Death Judgments with Absentee Parents”, Tennessee Trial Lawyer Magazine, Winter 2022 Issue
  • “Joint Custody- The Unintended Results”, Tennessee Trial Lawyer Magazine, Winter 2021 Issue
  • “Attorney Fees & Marital Debt: Legal Fiction”, Tennessee Trial Lawyer Magazine, Summer 2021 Issue
  • “More Contracts Between Married People”, The Tennessee Trial Lawyer Magazine, Spring, 2017
  • “Contracts Between Spouses”, The Tennessee Trial Lawyer Magazine, Fall, 2016
  • “Tax Update: What Everyone Needs to Know”
  • “Six Months or Six Days: When Can You File for Divorce in Tennessee?”, Tennessee Bar Association

Classes/Seminars

  • Domestic Law Forum Co-Chair – 2018-Present
  • New Orleans Seminar Co-Chair, TTLA- January 2023
  • TBA: Family Law 2023 CLE- Chair
  • CLE Presenter-TN Alliance for Legal Services Domestic Violence Trial College “Closing Arguments”- May 2024
  • TTLA 2024 Paralegal Seminar- “Oh No! We’re Going to Trial. What now?”
  • CLE Presenter- “LLCs and Trusts in Divorce Settlements”- April 2024
  • TTLA 2023 Paralegal Seminar- Family Law Presentation
  • CLE Presenter: “Current Family Law Legislation & How to Become More Involved” – October 2021
  • CLE Presenter: Ethics in Family Law – December 2020
  • Presenter – 5th Annual Paralegal Seminar: Domestic Breakout Session – October 2020
  • CLE Presenter – “Confidentiality Agreements in Family Law Settings” – February 2019
  • CLE Presenter- ” But I Saw in the Movies” – April 2018
  • Co-Presenter – “Management or Negligence” Trust Presentation – April 2018

Honors and Awards

  • Super Lawyers: Mid South Super Lawyer 2024
  • Super Lawyers Rising Start 2018-2023
  • NAFLA Top Ten Under the Age of 40

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Tennessee Trial Association
    • Board of Directors,
      • Vice-President 2024-Present
      • Secretary June 2023-2024
      • Parliamentarian 2020-2022
      • Domestic Legislation Committee Chair
  • Tennessee Bar Association
    • Family Law Executive Council- January 2023-Present
      • Vice Chair- August 2023
  • Nashville Bar Foundation
    • Fellow (2023)
    • Leadership Forum 2017-18
  • American Bar Foundation
    • Fellow, 2022
  • American Bar Association
  • Nashville Bar Association, Member
  • Williamson County Bar Association
    • Member 2013- Present
    • Mock Trial Chair, 2016-2022
  • Belmont University College of Law American Inn of Court
    • Member 2014-2019
    • Program Chair – Executive Committee 2017-18
    • Secretary – Executive Committee 2018-19

Past Employment Positions

  • University of Memphis, Adjunct Professor 2023-Present
  • Rogers, Kamm & Shea, Law Clerk, 2009-2013
  • Dell, Inc, Senior Account Manager, 2005-2009