Lawyer wants paper to `entertain’ colleagues
Nashville Business Journal - March 3, 2000
by Judy Sarles
G. Kline Preston IV thinks Tennessee Lawyer, a bi-monthly newspaper for the state’s lawyers, should be entertaining as well as informative.
“Lawyers are people that need to be entertained as well,” says Preston, a Nashville attorney in sole practice. Preston is publisher and editor-at-large of Tennessee Lawyer, as well as the major investor in the publication.
With that in mind, Tennessee Lawyer’s 20-page first issue includes a travel feature on Parrot Cay Resort in the Turks and Caicos Islands among weightier stories on whether Gov. Don Sundquist’s income tax proposal is constitutional, health care fraud and entertainment law.
The paper is applying to receive news from The Associated Press wire service and will offer a Washington update with stories about the Supreme Court, along with legal news from around the country.
Preston plans to expand the paper’s lifestyle section in upcoming issues with a column on wines and spirits and investment and tax advice for attorneys. The section makes it different from similar publications in other states, such as Chicago Lawyer, the inspiration for Preston’s publication.
Tennessee Lawyer has challenged itself to print stories that publications connected with bar associations would be hesitant to touch. “Despite our objective for this to be commercially successful,” says Preston, “we also want to use it to push the envelope, so to speak, to be a forum and a voice for attorneys in the state.”
Preston says Tennessee Lawyer will not be competing with newsletters for Tennessee attorneys that are published by Brentwood’s M. Lee Smith Publishers. He says M. Lee Smith’s products primarily inform lawyers about the courts and changes in the law.
“I think this will just complement what M. Lee Smith does,” says Preston.
M. Lee Smith disagrees, although he had not seen a copy of Tennessee Lawyer at press time. “I think it has the potential to be competitive to both the Tennessee Journal and the Tennessee Attorneys Memo,” says Smith.
Lewis Laska, a Nashville attorney who publishes six legal newspapers, two of which are Tennessee oriented, says he has seen Tennessee Lawyer. “I think it’s great,” says Laska. “I think it’s long overdue.” He says there needs to be a freestanding newspaper covering statewide legal issues. “I just hope it gets bigger and better,” Laska says. “I just hope it works.”
The new newspaper will be sent free of charge to attorneys throughout Tennessee. The first issue was delivered to attorneys in Davidson County and contiguous counties. As the paper progresses, it will be mailed to attorneys in other cities in the state. Tennessee Lawyer is also available at the Davidson County Courthouse.
It has modeled itself commercially on the Nashville Scene and In Review, so its operating funds will come from the sale of advertising.
Tennessee Lawyer is initially being published every two weeks, but it’s expected to eventually be a monthly publication. Subscriptions cost $5 an issue for non-attorneys.
Preston started the new paper, he says, because he’s kind of entrepreneurial. “I like to do things other than practice law,” he says. Preston also dabbles in real estate and operates a business that imports vodka from the Ukraine. He says he thinks there’s a real need in the state for a publication such as Tennessee Lawyer and a market for it.
Although there are other investors in the newspaper, Preston wouldn’t name them. He says they are primarily attorneys. Preston owns all the stock in Tennessee Lawyer Inc., the publisher of Tennessee Lawyer.
Reach Sarles at jsarles@amcity.com or 615-248-2222, ext. 114.