Caroline is a native Tennessean and comes from a line of legal professionals. Her great-grandfather was a county judge and sheriff of White County, her great-uncle is an attorney in White County and still operates his law practice in Sparta, and her grandmother was White County Clerk & Master for 30+ years.
FOCUSED ON HELPING CLIENTS
In 2021, Caroline opened a law firm in her hometown, Sparta, Tennessee, and focuses her practice on personal injury matters in the Upper Cumberland region and across Tennessee. She has been representing clients in personal injury cases since she started her legal career in 2014.
PRIOR TO STARTING HER OWN LAW FIRM
Prior to starting her own firm, Caroline represented clients in personal injury matters at the Law Offices of John Day, P.C. from 2014 to 2020. In 2020, Caroline became the Managing Attorney of The Barnes Firm LLC's Tennessee office where she also focused on representing clients in catastrophic injury matters. In 2021, Caroline started her law firm and transitioned to owner and founder of the Law Office of Caroline E. Sapp.
HONORS & AWARDS
Caroline has served as a Managing Editor and Co-Chair of the Nashville Bar Journal where she was named “Contributor of the Year” in 2016 and 2022 for her work on the Journal and was a board member for the Lawyers Association for Women, Marion Griffin Chapter. She was selected as a Class Member of the Young Leaders Council, Nashville Class 76 in 2021, a Class Member for the Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law class in 2020, a member of the Nashville Bar Foundation Leadership Law class in 2019, and as a Mid-South Rising Star in Super Lawyers Magazine in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. She also has been published in law reviews and bar journals.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
She has volunteered at multiple Legal Aid Society clinics, including the Debt Collection Clinic, Tornado Victims Clinic, Essential Documents for Essential Workers, Joint Operations for Veterans (Legal Services Volunteer), and Putnam County Schools "Fairy Tales on Trial" Mock Trial Competition. She is the Past President of the Upper Cumberland Young Lawyers Association and has organized and planned local events, such as the local swearing-in ceremony for new attorneys and spearheaded an event to collect and donate backpacks, plus school supplies, for children living in foster care in the Upper Cumberland (in 2019, 289 backpacks, plus school supplies, were donated to DCS). Caroline also serves on the Foster Care Review Board, Sparta/White County Family YMCA Board, and is the Secretary for the Rotary Club of Sparta.
PERSONAL TIME
In her spare time, Attorney Caroline Sapp enjoys hiking, traveling, and spending time with her husband, daughter, friends, family, and golden retriever who loves to dig holes and collect rocks.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Attorney Caroline Sapp earned her J.D. at the University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. During law school, she served as a Research Assistant to Professor Jodi L. Wilson, interned for the Honorable Bernice B. Donald in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and worked as a Law Clerk for David Kustoff and Jim Strickland at Kustoff & Strickland, PLLC during her third year of law school.
WHILE IN LAW SCHOOL
While in law school, Caroline was selected as Editor-in-Chief of the Mental Health Law & Policy Journal, a Grading Committee Member on the Moot Court Board, selected as one of three oral advocates on the Wagner Labor and Employment Law Moot Court team where she traveled to New York to compete against other teams from all over the U.S. She also served as a Student Ambassador, Secretary of the International Law Society, and a Student Orientation Leader. Caroline was an Advanced Moot Court Participant, Public Action Law Society Member, and a blogger for the Law Launch Project Blogger for the Tennessee Bar Journal.
GRADUATE & UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES
Caroline graduated with a B.S. and M.A. from Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee. While earning her master's degree, she was selected as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the English Department and taught English 1010 and English 1020 to first-year writing students.
BAR SERVICE
Local Rules Advisory Committee, Thirteenth Judicial District
Tennessee Bar Association, Member, 2015–Present
Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Tournament, Volunteer
Nashville Bar Journal Committee, Co-Chair and Managing Editor, 2018–Present
Nashville Bar Association (NBA), Member, 2015–2022
NBA’s Mock Trial Tournament, Volunteer
NBA’s Defending Freedom in the Nashville Sit-in Trials, Volunteer Presenter
NBA’s Friday Fundamentals, Participant
Upper Cumberland Young Lawyers Association, President, 2019–2021
Upper Cumberland Young Lawyers Association (UCYLA), Member, 2015–Present
UCYLA’s Suffrage Project, 2020
UCYLA’s Packs for Pints, Spearheaded the Second Annual Event, 2020
UCYLA’s Packs for Pints, Spearheaded the Inaugural Event, 2019
Lawyers’ Association for Women (LAW), Newsletter Editor, Board Member, 2019–2021
LAW’s Publicity, Technology, and Social Media Committee, Chair, 2017–2019
LAW’s Judicial Appointments, Elections, and Awards Committee, Co-Chair, 2015–2017
Putnam County, Tennessee Schools’ “Fairy Tales on Trial” Mock Trial, Volunteer
Legal Aid Society Debt Collection Clinic, Attorney Volunteer
Legal Aid Society Tornado Victims Clinic, Attorney Volunteer
Lawyers for Littles Bowling Tournament, Volunteer
Joint Operation for Veterans, Legal Services Volunteer, Cookeville, Tennessee
Project Homeless Connect, Volunteer
Alternative Spring Break Volunteer, Family Law Track Participant
AWARDS
2023 Mid-South Rising Star List, Super Lawyers Magazine
2022 Nashville Bar Association’s “Contributor of the Year”
2022 Mid-South Rising Star List, Super Lawyers Magazine
2021 Mid-South Rising Star List, Super Lawyers Magazine
2021 Attorney for Justice, Designed by the Tennessee Supreme Court
2021 Young Leaders Council, Spring Nashville Class 76
2020-2021 Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law, Class Member
2020 Mid-South Rising Star List, Super Lawyers Magazine
2019 Nashville Bar Foundation Leadership Forum, Class Member
2019 Mid-South Rising Star List, Super Lawyers Magazine
2018 Mid-South Rising Star List, Super Lawyers Magazine
2016 Nashville Bar Association’s “Contributor of the Year”
2014 CALI Award Recipient, Elder Law Clinic
2013 CALI Award Recipient, Comparative Law Seminar
2013–2014 Leo Bearman Sr. American Inn of Court, Pupil
2014 Law Student for Justice
2012 Dean’s Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award Recipient
2011 Lora L. Printz Poetry Award Recipient
PRESENTATIONS
UCYLA’s Suffrage Project, 2020
Careers for English Majors, Panelist, Tennessee Technological University, 2019
Dog Parent Duties, Tennessee Paralegal Association, Presenter, 2018
Dogs Days of Summer: CLE and Yappy Hour, NBA, Panelist, 2018
Bones, Bumpers, and Bottom Lines, Sparta Rotary Club, Presenter, 2017
Jobs for English Majors, Panelist, Tennessee Technological University, 2017
PUBLICATIONS
A Pop Star, a Politician, and a Reality TV Star: Dog Parents and Incidents Involving their Beloved Pets, 21 Nashville Bar Journal 3 (June/July 2021) READ CAROLINE’S ARTICLE
Year 2020: Can There Be Any Silver Lining? 20 Nashville Bar Journal 6 (Dec./Jan. 2020-2021) READ CAROLINE’S ARTICLE
Dog Parent Duties: A Dog Owner’s Responsibilities in Tennessee, 18 Nashville Bar Journal 3 (June/July 2018) READ CAROLINE’S ARTICLE
Some Not So Minor Considerations for Settlements for Minors, Legal Summit (March 2018)
Syria and The Refugee Crisis, 17 Nashville Bar Journal 4 (Aug./Sept. 2017)
Revenge & Privacy Protection: Tennessee Takes a Stand Against Nonconsensual Distribution of Private Images, 16 Nashville Bar Journal 2 (Apr./May 2016) READ CAROLINE’S ARTICLE
Tennessee’s Waltz With Charter Schools: When Will The Music Stop, 16 Nashville Bar Journal 2 (2016) READ CAROLINE’S ARTICLE
John A. Day & Kelly J. Smits, Litigating Tort Cases, 31 Summary Judgment (Materially assisted with reviewing and updating Chapter 31, Summary Judgment) (2015)
Rehabilitate or Incarcerate? A Comparative Analysis of the United States’ Sentencing Laws on Low-Level Drug Offenders and Portugal’s Decriminalization of Low-Level Drug Offenses, 23 Cardozo Journal of International & Comparative Law 1 (2014)
Protecting the Victims of Cyberbullying: An IDEA, 23 Mental Health Law & Policy Journal 1 (2013)
