Siew-Ling Shea


Attorney Siew-Ling Shea has been working in family law since May 2001 — first as a paralegal and then as an attorney at Rogers, Shea & Spanos. She attended high school in Singapore and came to the United States for her undergraduate studies at Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, as a scholarship student; and graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a double major in Communication and Sociology. Shea attended an accelerated paralegal program at Southeastern Paralegal Institute in Nashville, Tennessee (ABA approved), graduating with honors. Shea earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Nashville School of Law and is a member of Cooper’s Inn, an honorable society reserved for the top 10% of the graduating class.

Shea is licensed to practice law in the State of Tennessee and in the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee. She is a Rule 31 Listed Civil Mediator and a trained collaborative divorce lawyer. Shea is also a Rule 21 Tennessee Supreme Court Approved Mentor Attorney for new lawyers.

Shea was the former Chair (June 2020 – May 2021) of the Tennessee Bar Association Family Law Executive Council, a statewide council of lawyers and judges involved in the formulation, improvement, and education, of family law; current Chair of the Alimony Bench Book committee of the Tennessee Bar Association, and organizes the authorship of an annual bench book for Judges on new statutory and caselaw developments to improve consistency in legal decision and to challenge legal precedents; Member, former Board Member and Director of Training for Middle Tennessee Collaborative Alliance (now Collaborative Divorce Nashville), and is committed to seeking a different way to resolve family disputes by preserving relationships; Professional memberships include: John Marshall American Inns of Court, Tennessee Association of Professional Mediators, Collaborative Divorce Nashville, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, Tennessee Bar Association, Nashville Bar Association, Williamson County Bar Association, and Lawyers Association for Women.

Articles Authored

  • Co-Authored chapter on The Deductibility of Alimony: Implications of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017; Alimony Bench Book, Tennessee Bar Association, 17th and 18th Editions
  • “When a Child’s Best Interests Are At Issue: Privacy of Mental Health Records in Divorce and Custody Proceedings” Tennessee Bar Journal, July 2013
  • “New Statutory Parental Rights: Play Nice and Fair or Be Punished for Misconduct Toward The Other Parent” Tennessee Bar Journal, November 2014

Appellate Work

  • Julie C. W. v. Frank Mitchell W. Jr., M2019-01243-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 30, 2021)
  • Sullivan v. Sullivan, M2018-01776-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. 2019)
  • Gant v. Gant, M2015-02161-COA-R3-CV(Tenn. Ct. App. 2017)
  • Wills v. Wills, 2016 WL 2937358 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016)
  • Boren v. Rousos, 2015 WL 7182141 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015)
  • Boren v. Rousos, 2014 WL 4217415 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2014)
  • Dodd v. Dodd, 2012 WL 3193339 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012)
  • Wester v. McDow, 2009 WL 1034758 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009)

Speaking Engagements

  • Something to Talk About: Client Communication and Trial Preparation, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, Franklin, Tennessee, April 28, 2022
  • Parenting Plan Best Practices, Family law Conference for Tennessee Attorneys, M. Lee Smith Publishers, Tennessee Attorneys Memo, Nashville, Tennessee, October 11, 2019
  • Substitute speaker on “High Conflict Divorce Cases”; Tennessee Bar Association Family Law Forum, Nashville, Tennessee, May 15, 2019
  • Deductibility of Alimony, at the John Marshall American Inns of Court, Franklin, Tennessee, April 9, 2019
  • Alimony Bench Book CLE, Tennessee Bar Association, Nashville, Tennessee, March 27, 2019.
  • Settlement Negotiation, Trial Strategies and Drafting Final Orders, Tennessee Attorneys Memo, M. Lee Smith Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, October 10, 2018.
  • Guest on podcast, Movers & Thinkers: “What is Love?” by Emily Siner, WPLN Nashville Public Radio, April 18, 2018.
  • Discovery Issues in Family Law, Tennessee Bar Association, Nashville, Tennessee, April 5, 2018.
  • Family Law from Start to Finish: Settlement Negotiation, Trial Strategies and Drafting Final Orders, National Business Institute, Nashville, Tennessee, May 9, 2017.
  • Discovery Guidelines, Your Role During Settlement and Trial, Institute for Paralegal Education, Nashville, Tennessee, April 18, 2017.
  • UCCJEA/UIFSA Considerations When Modifying and Enforcing Custody and Child Support Orders, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, January 13, 2017.
  • Complex Child Custody & Support Issues in Divorce: Modifying and Enforcing Child Support Decrees, National Business Institute, Nashville, Tennessee, November 17, 2016.
  • Subpoenas and Mental Health Records, Tennessee Association for Justice, April 2013.

Mentoring Engagements

  • Nashville Bar Foundation, 2021-2022 NBF Leadership Forum
  • Nashville School of Law Rigorous Writing Exercise Program, Oct 2017 – Nov 2021
  • Nashville School of Law Juvenile Clinic, March to May 2016
  • Tennessee Bar Association, March 2016 to 2019

Other Items of Interest

  • Acting performance in a mediation video contest sponsored by the American Bar Association: Pigs, Pistols, and a Hanging: Mediation Meets the Hatfields and the McCoys; Second Prize Winner, 2011.
  • Alumni Profile interview feature in The Torch, Nashville School of Law Newsletter, Spring 2016.

Honors and Awards

  • Tennessee Bar Association
    • Tennessee Bar Association Family Law Executive Council
      • Legislative Liaison, June 2021-present
      • Chair, June 2020-June 2021.
      • Member 2016-present
    • Alimony Bench Book, Tennessee Bar Association,
      • Chair, 2022
  • Fellow, Nashville Bar Foundation, 2020
  • Training Chair, Board of Directors, Middle Tennessee Collaborative Alliance, 2016 and 2017
  • Member of the Tennessee John Marshall American Inn of Court 2014-April 2022
  • Member of the Honorable Society of Cooper’s Inn of Nashville School of Law, May 2006
  • Helen S. Rogers Scholarship Fund, Nashville School of Law, 2001-2006
  • Award of Excellence, Access Health Systems, Inc., 1995
  • Institutional Award for Excellence, Meharry Medical College, 1993
  • Virginia Carter Smith and Newcomer Scholarships, Council for the Advancement and Support for Education (CASE), 1991 and 1992
  • President’s Award for Extraordinary Service, Wayne State University, 1991
  • Leadership Award, Wayne State University, 1990
  • Midwest Regional Forum Scholarship, Michigan Council for the Arts, 1987
  • Scholarship Student, Bryn Mawr College, 1983 and 1984