Lending a Hand

Volunteer work keeps alum connected to his community

By Cassandra J. Sproles

The Volunteer spirit is strong in Chris Raybeck (LAW ’03), in more ways than one. He received his undergraduate and law degrees at UT Knoxville, but that isn’t the only thing that makes him a Volunteer.

Since joining the Nashville firm of Bone, McAllester, and Norton in 2005, Raybeck has devoted a great deal of his time to pro bono cases with Legal Aid of Middle Tennessee. He also helps staff the firm’s Legal Aid after-hours clinics.

“A number of his clinic visits have turned into post-clinic assistance involving general sessions and circuit court hearings and trials,” says firm chairman Charles Bone (LAW ’70).

Combatting stereotypes

Raybeck credits UT Law’s legal clinics and business professors for teaching him that pro bono work and his other interests as a lawyer could go hand in hand.

He recalls, along with a partner, helping a local community theater with basic company organization and operational issues.

“It felt good to help, especially on a level that only our profession could,” says Raybeck. “We lawyers have a skill set that is especially helpful to community organizations, nonprofits, and public groups. Our knowledge of ‘the system’—legislative, regulatory backdrop, roles of government agencies, etcetera—is extremely helpful to those providing services every day.”

Raybeck says it can be tough to regularly give time and energy, but it can have a lasting payoff for members of the community and for lawyers in particular.

“It’s a great way to battle some of the problematic stereotypes about lawyers,” he says.

An example for the legal community

Raybeck has been active with the Nashville and Tennessee bar associations, and he just completed the Tennessee Bar Association’s Leadership Law Program in 2011 and Nashville’s Young Leaders Program in 2009.

Upon graduation, he founded his sports agency in Knoxville and proceeded to secure record contracts for his clients—including the largest guaranteed contract in the history of the NFL.

These experiences led Raybeck to join the board of the Nashville Zoo, where he eventually took on the mantle of directorship. He also has been selected for his church’s board of trustees and served as a board committee member for Nashville Habitat for Humanity and Senior Citizens Inc.

“Whether he is intentional about it or not, I know that he is fulfilling the community outreach that we should expect of all lawyers, not just young lawyers,” says Bone.

In his professional life, Raybeck helps banks with loans and regulatory matters; buyers, developers, and sellers with regulatory deals; small-to-medium-sized businesses with formation, governance, and capital raising; and manufacturers and retailers, restaurants, hotels, and other venues with alcoholic beverage licensing issues.

“He is an example of what we hope UT law grads will be—active and caring professionals, sensitive to both clients’ needs and the needs of our local and state community,” says Bone.