About Professor Hillman

Professor Hillman came to the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in the summer of 2017. Prior to joining the faculty at Memphis Law, Professor Hillman taught Legal Process I & II as an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law from 2010-2017 and undergraduate and graduate level classes on Business Law & Ethics and Employment/Labor Law at Tusculum College from 2003-2017. In 2013, Professor Hillman was an organizing member of the Tennessee Marriage Equality Legal Team that challenged Tennessee's constitutional and statutory bans on recognition of valid out-of-state same sex marriages. In 2015, the case, Tanco v. Haslam/Obergefell v. Hodges, was successfully decided by the United States Supreme Court, culminating with nationwide marriage equality on June 26, 2015.

Professor Hillman received her J.D. summa cum laude from The University of Tennessee College of Law and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. During law school, she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Tennessee Law Review. She received her B.A. summa cum laude from The University of Memphis. Following law school, Professor Hillma worked as a litigation associate at Bass, Berry & Sims and at Hunton & Williams, focusing on commercial business and healthcare litigation, commercial contract disputes, environmental claims, and labor/employment issues.

Education

J.D., The University of Tennessee, summa cum laude; B.A., The University of Memphis, summa cum laude.

Professional Admissions

Tennessee; U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee; U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; United States Supreme Court

Experience

Adjunct Professor of Law, Legal Process, The University of Tennessee College of Law (2010-2017); Adjunct Professor of Law, Business Law & Ethics/Labor & Employment Law, Tusculum College (2003-2017); Tennessee Marriage Equality Team Member (2013-2015); Associate, Hunton & Williams (2003-2004); Associate, Bass, Berry & Sims, PLC (2001-2003); Research Assistant, Dean Richard Wirtz, The University of Tennessee College of Law (2000); Judicial Intern, Hon. James Jarvis, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee (1999).

Publications

Title VII Discrimination Protections: Bostock & the Business Side of Coming Out - the Steady March Toward Full Equality for LGBT Americans (in progress, 2021) (analyzes Supreme Court Title VII decision that sexual orientation/gender identity are protected under the statute along with the resulting broad application to federal discrimination laws and anticipated challenges).

Title VII Discrimination Protections & LGBT Employees: The Need for Consistency, Certainty & Equality Post-Obergefell, 6:2 Belm. L. Rev. 1 (2019).

Deviant to Dignified: From Campbell v. Sundquist to Tanco v. Haslam: The History & Progression of LGBT Rights & Marital Equality in Tennessee, 83:2 Tenn. L. Rev. 371 (2016).

Modern Legal History 2015: The Road to Obergefell, 3 Belm. L. Rev. 165 (2016).

Teaching Interest

Legal Methods; Professional Responsibility; Gender & the Law/LGBTQ+Rights; Advanced Legal Writing