FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
CONTACT
Lindsay Kee, ACLU-TN Communications, 615-320-7142
NASHVILLE — The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee today announced the hire of Mandy Strickland Floyd as their newest staff attorney. Floyd will work in coordination with Thomas H. Castelli, the organization's legal director, to develop and litigate cases at the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts on a wide variety of civil rights and civil liberties issues.
"We're thrilled to welcome Mandy to our team," said Hedy Weinberg, ACLU-TN executive director. "Mandy's presence allows us to greatly expand our capacity to take on impact litigation to advance civil liberties and civil rights throughout Tennessee at this critical time. Her expertise, tenacity and passion for equality and justice will be a significant asset as we work in the courts to ensure that Tennesseans are treated fairly."
Floyd joins ACLU-TN from Nashville's Bone McAllester Norton PLLC, where she focused on litigation and dispute resolution, appellate practice, victims' rights, and employment law. There, Floyd practiced in state and federal court, presented oral arguments before the Tennessee Court of Appeals, represented clients in Title IX collegiate and administrative proceedings, and worked with district attorneys' offices in victims' rights cases. During her time as a civil litigation attorney for the firm, she also organized and led a public discussion about the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education and its impact on contemporary educational equity, and moderated a roundtable on the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department's use of police body cameras.
Floyd received her law degree from The University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, which she attended after graduating from Vanderbilt University with a degree in History and Economics. She began her law career as the senior judicial law clerk to the Honorable Richard H. Dinkins of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, assisting the judge in preparing for oral argument and drafting opinions on a wide variety of civil topics. As a law student, she worked as a legal intern on a special family law project for Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Janice Holder, as well as the Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit in the Shelby County District Attorney's Office.
"I am honored and excited for this opportunity to protect and promote civil liberties and civil rights in my home state," said Floyd. "I look forward to continuing the organization's rich history of advocating on behalf of Tennessee's most vulnerable members."
