Margaret Behm, The Future of Women’s Sports in Nashville

Bio: As a board member of the Nashville Sports Council, Margaret has been instrumental in promoting women’s sports in Nashville for years – see the Tennessean article from February last year, https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2022/02/17/nashville-effort-bring-citys-first-professional-womens-sports-team/6722645001/, which includes a fitting nod to her tireless work on women’s issues from every angle with a photo of her at the downtown library.

After beginning her legal career in 1976 at Legal Services of Middle Tennessee, Inc., Behm and Marietta Shipley in 1980 founded Shipley and Behm, the city’s first all-woman law firm. “Back then, women just weren’t taken seriously as business owners or lawyers,” Behm says. “I wanted to run my own business and demonstrate that women could not only run a law firm, but also be good lawyers.”

Today, Behm’s practice with Dodson, Parker, Behm and Caparella, concentrates on business law, employment, municipal law, estate planning, and commercial litigation.

Behm also serves as general counsel for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, for which she also serves as Board Secretary since 2003.

Behm currently teaches Sports Law at the Nashville School of Law. She has taught courses including Legal Writing, Trial Advocacy, Professionalism and Practice, and Clinic at Vanderbilt University Law School for more than thirty years.