Staff

Catherine B. Clayton

Executive Director

Catherine (Cathy) graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law. She returned to WTLS in 2015 after over two decades of private practice as a civil litigator and Tennessee Supreme Court approved Rule 31 civil and family mediator. She is a Fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation and is a member of the Howell Edmunds Jackson American Inns of Court (Master and President), Lawyers Association for Women, the Tennessee Bar Association, and the Jackson-Madison County Bar Association. Cathy serves on the Tennessee Bar Association Access to Justice Committee, the Tennessee Supreme Court Advisory Commission on the Rules of Practice & Procedure (vice-chair), and the Tennessee Association of Legal Services (Board Executive Committee and former Chair).

Karen Laird

Chief Financial Officer

Karen graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin with a BS in Business Administration. She has been a Certified Public Accountant for the last 28 years, and worked in public accounting and industrial accounting for 26 years before joining the WTLS team. Karen came to West Tennessee Legal Services in 2016, and has been heading the Accounting Department as the Chief Financial Officer since then.

Ashley Holliday

General Counsel

Ashley graduated with a BA in Communications from the University of Tennessee at Martin and earned her J.D. from Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Prior to joining WTLS in 2009, Ashley worked in private practice handling consumer bankruptcy and family law matters. Ashley is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association and is a member of the executive committee for Southwest Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability. She was a member of the 2014 Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law class, was named one of the Top 40 Under 40 professionals by the Jackson Sun in 2015, and received the B. Riney Green award in 2017.