Meet the Staff

Bettye B. Lewis Career Center

The College of Law Career Center works with students and the greater legal community to add value in your professional journey.

Bettye B. Lewis Career Center

The College of Law Career Center works with students and the greater legal community to add value in your professional journey.

Career Center Staff

Brad Morgan

Director

E-mail: rmorgan2@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-2492

Having personally experienced the incalculable consequences of identifying a driving purpose in his life, Brad Morgan cherishes the opportunities in both his professional and personal life to assist others in identifying their values and goals, recognizing their strengths, and moving forward with intentionality. Currently it is his good fortune to have such conversations with students at the University of Tennessee College of Law where he serves as Director of Career Services. A frequent speaker and occasional author, he looks for moments of shared dialogue and learning, believing that every interaction affords the occasion to walk away a better person than before. Having grown up in New Mexico, he believes that the correct answer to the question “red or green chile?” is almost always green.

Joe Christian

Assistant Director

E-mail: christian@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-4349

Joe Christian serves as the office’s primary employer liaison, developing and maintaining relationships with employers nationwide and coordinating all student and employer functions related to formal interview opportunities organized by the Career Center. He also coordinates outreach strategies and provides advising assistance to current students and alumni.

Kay Brown

Career Advisor

E-mail: kaybrown@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-4751

Kay Brown counsels students and alumni on a variety of career development issues, such as assessing skills and interests, preparing application materials, and creating job search strategies. She also manages student participation in off-campus job fairs, tracks employment statistics, and supports our mentoring, judicial clerkship, and public-interest advising programs.

Christie Laird

Employer Relations Manager – Nashville

E-mail: christielaird@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-9995

Christie Laird is based in Nashville and focuses on establishing and maintaining relationships between the College of Law and the middle Tennessee legal community. She works directly with legal practitioners to facilitate opportunities for students and alumni such as summer placements, permanent position openings, mentoring sessions, and networking events. She has practiced law for more than 20 years, most recently as the vice president and senior litigation counsel for a global payment solutions company. Previously, she served as a judicial clerk and a law firm associate. Christie is an alumna of the College of Law.
About Our Namesake

The Career Center is named in honor of Bettye B. Lewis, who served as the first president of the Tennessee Bar Auxiliary and as president of the Memphis Bar Auxiliary. She cared about her city of Memphis, her state, her country, and especially UT, the College of Law, and its students.

Lewis was the matriarch of a family devoted to enhancing the legal profession. On a personal level, she epitomized many of the values the Career Center seeks to develop in its students. Lewis was savvy, smart, trusted, and always genuine. While she met four US presidents and had personal friendships with numerous governmental leaders, she treated each individual she met with the same level of respect and vitality, no matter their station in life.