Laura McClendon, MA, CEAP, Certified QPR Instructor
Executive Director
Laura is the Executive Director of the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program. She has worked with TLAP for thirteen years and has over twenty years experience in the alcohol and drug field as a counselor, trainer, and educator. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Alcohol and Drug Council of Middle Tennessee, United Way, and Nashville Prevention Partnership. She was chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Lawyer’s Assistance Programs Conference in 2010. She has authored numerous articles in the field of substance abuse, stress, mood disorders, lawyer assistance programs, treatment, and more. She regularly speaks at conferences throughout the United States.
Email: laura.mcclendon@tncourts.gov
Theodore A. Rice, M.Ed., LPC-MHSP, CEAP, Certified QPR instructor
Deputy Director
Ted Rice joined the Tennessee Lawyer’s Assistance Program as the Deputy Director in October 2006. Before TLAP, Ted served as a clinical counselor for the Work/Life Connections-EAP at Vanderbilt University from 2004-2006. Ted received a B.A. in Psychology from Marshall University in 1994 and a Master's in Education degree in Human Developmental Counseling in 1997 from Vanderbilt University. Ted Rice is a National Certified, Employee Assistance Professional, a National Board Certified Counselor, and a Licensed Professional Counselor, Mental Health Service Provider Status designation, in the state of Tennessee.
Email: ted.rice@tncourts.gov
Emily Lacey
Program Manager
Emily Lacey was hired as the full-time Program Coordinator in January 2006. She is responsible for conference planning, expenses and reimbursements, random urine drug screening, and compliance management of TLAP Monitoring Agreements. She also manages repayments for the Cain Fund and is on call after hours to answer TLAP crisis calls. She was promoted to Program Manager in 2016.
Email: emily.lacey@tncourts.gov
Kim Holliday Williams
Outreach Coordinator
Kim Williams is a Nashville native and studied education and mass communications at Austin Peay State University. She was hired part-time for TLAP in April 2015 and proved she is a great communicator and self-motivated team player,which led her to a full time position in July 2016. She is an experienced professional responsible for cultivating strategic outreach activities. She is a certified mental health first aid provider and a QPR suicide prevention gatekeeper. She also interfaces regularly with the clients and the leadership of the Commissioners of TLAP.
Email: kim.holliday@tncourts.gov
Ashley L. French, LPC/MHSP
Clinical Case Manager
Ashley French joined TLAP in January of 2017 as our Clinical Case Manager. In 2006, she earned a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Community Counseling, and an Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) degree from James Madison University. For 12 years, she has served in various roles as a mental health and substance use counselor and educator. Working in hospitals, agencies and educational institutions, she has reached diverse populations in the public and private sectors. Following educational travel to Sri Lanka and India, Ashley joined a growing number of practitioners who unite Eastern healing practices with Western psychotherapy. Meditation, breathwork, and mindfulness are commonplace in her therapeutic approach, which is aimed at helping clients reduce, master and tolerate a variety of life stressors with constructive coping skills. With a commitment to respect the latest research in counseling, she aims to provide clients with valuable support. Ashley is a firm believer that there is reason to hope when facing hard times, knowing that recovering the fullness of one’s life is not only possible, but probable. She is honored and eager to serve the judges, lawyers and law students of Tennessee.
Email: ashley.french@tncourts.gov