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Denise Terry gave an inspirational speech at a Walters State Legal Society meet to students curious about law.

She shared what it’s like to live life as an attorney, the hard work and long hours it takes to be a good one, but also the love and community she and her family have found from it.

“If (clients) trust you and, you give them good advice and help them change their situation or their life in some way,” she said. “You never lose that bond.”

She detailed her story of getting into law and the love she has for her job.

Terry grew up surrounded by law, her father was a lawyer and she would go with him to work. Eventually she decided to go to school and started out at Morristowns very own Walters State Community College.

She detailed her struggle of living in Morristown full-time while attending at the Nashville School of Law 220 miles away.

“I wanted it so bad,” she said. “Looking back on it, I really don’t know how I did it, physically and mentally.”

She would work in Morristown to pay her mortgage and the 2-3 days a week Terry would need to be in class she would leave straight from work to Nashville and then right back to Morristown again.

The Terry Law Firm, in operation since 1960, prides itself on being a family small town firm with ‘big city know-how’.

Denise Terry said she never felt pressured into being an attorney, she simply saw her father’s love for the law and decided to follow in his footsteps. Along with her brothers and, eventually, her son.

“We truly are a family law firm and we love working together,” she said. “We always have.”