Joy Buck Gothard, Attorney

Joy PicJoy has practiced law in Cookeville for over thirty-five years.  For the past twenty years, she has focused on estate planning, probate, and trusts. She also handles conservatorship work, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, succession planning, and adoptions.

Martindale-Hubbell rates Joy AV, the highest rating available for legal ability and ethical standards. She is a member of the Probate and Tax Section of the Tennessee Bar Association and the Putnam County Bar Association.  Joy is a past President of the Upper Cumberland Lawyers Association for Women.

Upon graduation from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1985, Joy was awarded membership in the Order of the Coif, an honor reserved for those in the top ten percent of their law school class. She won the American Jurisprudence awards (awarded for the highest grade in the class) in real property, torts, and creditor’s rights. Joy holds a B.S. Degree from Tennessee Tech University in Business Administration.  She served as a law clerk to Federal Judge L. Clure Morton from 1985 to 1987.

Joy serves as City Judge for the City of Cookeville, the first female to serve in this position.

She is a Master Beef Producer, certified by the UT Extension Office in Putnam County.

Joy has one son, Adam, who is married to Taylor Beth Gothard.  Taylor joined the firm in 2021 as a paralegal and will graduate from the Nashville School of Law in 2024.  She has plans to practice with Joy.  Adam and Taylor have one child, Riley Claire Gothard, born in 2022.

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