Sophia Surrett | Daily Memphian
Instead of bedtime stories, Lauran Stimac would request her dad, Memphis-based lawyer Richard Glassman, to tell her about his cases.
“I had that great example from childhood of someone who really loved his job, and that job was being a lawyer,” Stimac said. “It made it seem attractive to me from the start.”
That example paid dividends for Stimac who is now a lawyer with nearly two decades of trial-attorney experience, including more than a decade at her dad’s firm.
Since late 2024, Stimac has been a shareholder and chair of the litigation practice group at the full-service law firm Evans Petree.
On Thursday, Feb. 5, Stimac will receive the 2026 Marion Griffin-Frances Loring Award from the Association for Women Attorneys at its 44th annual banquet.
The award honors individuals who exhibit outstanding achievement in the legal profession and is named after the first woman to practice law in Tennessee, in 1907, and its first recipient, in 1989.
Stimac, who has attended the annual banquet for more than a decade, said she was “completely shocked” when she learned she had been selected.
“I am incredibly honored to be recognized among the past recipients of the award,” she said.
Stimac said the AWA is an “organization that supports women lawyers through recognition, like this award” and has programs to help them succeed.
One of the AWA’s programs is a mentorship program for students at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, which Stimac has been part of since she moved back because mentorship has played a large part in her career.
“It’s really great to be able to help shape a lawyer’s future when they are not a lawyer yet,” she said. “Having strong mentors has been invaluable to me, and that’s a big reason it’s very important for me to be a strong mentor to others as well.”
One of Stimac’s first mentors was her dad, who has been a senior trial attorney at Glassman Wyatt Tuttle & Cox, a law firm specializing in civil trial litigation, for more than 50 years.
“The difference between a good lawyer and a great lawyer is preparation,” he said, a sign that has hung in his office for years. “Lauran is excellent at (overpreparing).”
Stimac said since she was 2 years old she has made trips to his Downtown firm on Second Street across from Court Square. Little did she know that she would end up working there.
Stimac is the second oldest of Richard and Susan Glassman’s four daughters. Both parents are University of Memphis alumni.
Susan Glassman said Stimac was a typical teenager, arguing with her parents, but she often brought “facts and logical suppositions” to try to change her mind.
Her dad said she was the “mouthpiece” for her younger sisters and would try to negotiate on their behalf.
“I guess those were her first clients,” he said, joking the “pay wasn’t very good.”
Stimac said she and her siblings developed “good negotiating skills early,” but aside from her older sister who went to law school, Stimac was the only one to pursue a career in law.
She applied to several schools in the Southeast, but she said her college counselor at St. Mary’s Episcopal School recommended she consider the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia.
“When I walked on that campus, I fell in love with it,” she said. “It just felt like the place I wanted to be.”
So Stimac moved to Richmond for school and continued her education there after receiving an offer to study for law school.
While a student, she worked as a clerk to a local judge and at a local health care law firm, where she ultimately spent five years after being hired full-time.
She was hired full-time at the firm and spent five years there before she and her husband, whom she met in her first year of college, decided to move back to Memphis in 2012.
“I really liked Richmond, and the opportunities were great. So I just kept on going there until I felt the strong tug on the heartstrings to come back to Memphis,” she said.
Richard Glassman said Stimac “hit the ground running” when she came to work for him, trying lawsuits in court just as she returned. He said there were many times there “wasn’t a stone she didn’t turn.”
While working with her dad, the two had an unexpected opportunity to serve as consultants on “Bluff City Law” while the NBC show was being filmed in Memphis.
“Some people thought that the TV show was written about Lauran and (me),” Richard Glassman said. “It was written completely before they walked into my office door totally by accident one day.”
He said once they realized the show was also about a father-daughter duo, they tweaked some things to reflect what the two did, calling it “an honor.”
“We were not seeking it out or expecting it, and it was an incredible experience that we will both always cherish,” she said.
Stimac said after all these years of practicing, what keeps her going is seeing the people she works with.
“I am incredibly fortunate to work with a really dynamic and friendly group of lawyers and staff here at Evans Petree,” she said, noting her two associate attorneys are at the top of that list. “They are so smart, driven and energized about learning and helping our clients.”
The two associate attorneys are Blue Acree and Caroline Fisher who both were recently licensed and graduated from the University of Memphis.
Acree said Stimac’s preparation, analysis and judgment are the character traits she admires.
“Since I’ve started working with her, I completely approach every task differently,” Acree said. “I cannot begin to describe how much her preparation for things has completely changed my perspective in all aspects of life, not just work.”
Fisher said Stimac teaches her the “things that you don’t learn in school,” including how to be strategic, confident and stay calm in high-pressure situations.
“She is the kind of leader that makes everyone around her better,” Fisher said. “She’s genuinely invested in the people that she works with, which is something you feel right away.”
Acree said when she doesn’t know what to do, she finds herself thinking, “What would Lauran do?”
“She leads in a way that values everyone’s perspective while still providing clear direction,” she said. “She can influence and empower everyone around her, which makes her such an exceptional attorney and an exceptional mentor.”
Since returning to Memphis, Stimac has held several leadership positions throughout the city and state, including serving as the new board chair of the Downtown Memphis Commission and as the past president of the Memphis Bar Association, where she relaunched the Leadership Forum.
She also spends a lot of her time volunteering and being involved in her community, which she said stems from her mom’s posture of service. Some of the programs include the Memphis Area Legal Services Campaign for Equal Justice, the Memphis Child Advocacy Center and Porter Leath.
But Stimac said she does have free time, which she fills with walking the dog with her husband, tennis and needlepoint.
Acree said Stimac has “the most demanding” schedule and often wonders how she does it all.
Stimac said she has a great support system at home and at work, and she also lives by the advice of a mentor she had in Richmond to balance her work, life and leadership: “Enjoy it all.”
“Recognizing that sometimes you’re going to have to fit things that you want to do in among the things that you need to do in creative ways, but if you find the balance that works for you, then you’ll be able to really not only enjoy it all but do it all well,” Stimac said.
