
Paul E. Tennison
Senior AssociateDownload VCard
Phone: (615) 490-6020
Fax: (615) 942-5914
1648 Westgate Cir
#301
Brentwood, Tennessee 37027


Paul Tennison has a diverse military, leadership, and legal background that affords him unique insight into many issues confronting CLG clients. Paul represents clients in a broad range of complex legal matters. He has vast knowledge and experience working in cases involving defamation, intellectual property, military law, healthcare law, wrongful death, contested divorces, business disputes, property law, HOA disputes, and personal injury cases.
Paul’s clients will benefit from his extensive military experience, including challenging training exercises overseas in Korea, Germany, and Poland. Succeeding in highly stressful training environments as a Field Artillery officer and providing accurate lethal fires on the battlefield are difficult missions that require precision, attention to detail, and problem solving skills. Paul brings these same capabilities and attributes which he honed in the Army to his work with clients. He continues to serve our country as an officer in the Tennessee Army National Guard and is currently in command of a Field Artillery Battery of 105 soldiers headquartered in Covington, Tennessee.
Paul takes great pride in mastering each challenging goal he sets for himself as evidenced by his successful completion of West Point, distinguished service in the US Army, success at Vanderbilt Law School, continuing to learn more about the world and how to serve his clients. Paul enjoys challenging physical activity and has completed a 100KM bike ride, Olympic distance triathlon, marathon, and is currently a bodybuilder and member of the 1,000 lb club. Paul brings the same tenacity to the court room in pursuit of vigorous representation of each of his clients.
Practice AreasDefamation, intellectual property, military law, healthcare law, wrongful death, cryptocurrency, employment discrimination, contested divorce, appeals, business disputes, zoning, property law, first amendment, second amendment, and personal injury cases.
Industry AreasBusiness Litigation, Press, Counseling & Strategic Advice, Healthcare, Employment, Intellectual Property and Technology, Property, Trademarks, Start Ups, Family Law
Non Legal ActivitiesPaul enjoys challenging physical activity including bodybuilding and endurance sports. He was a three sport athlete in high school playing football, basketball, and baseball. At West Point, Paul participated in intramural sports. As a freshman, Paul was a member of the B2 Sandhurst team. Sandhurst is an annual military obstacle course competition at West Point. Paul has completed multiple 100KM bike rides, an Olympic distance triathlon, a marathon, and is currently a bodybuilder and member of the 1,000 lb club. At Vanderbilt Law School Paul participated in the Law Students for Veterans Affairs Ragnar Trail run team. The team finished 5th overall out of over 120 teams at the Kentuckiana Ragnar Trail run in 2017. Paul continues to focus on his physical fitness by earning perfect scores on the U.S. Army's Physical Fitness Test.
When not in the office, Paul enjoys spending time with his seven-year-old son, Asher.
J.D., Vanderbilt Law
Honors and Activities: Moot Court Board, Branstetter Litigation & Dispute Resolution Program, Elected Class Representative on the Honor Council, Law Students for Veterans Affairs, Cork & Tap Society. Student member of the Nashville Bar Association and American Bar Association.
B.S., West Point (United States Military Academy)
Honors and Activities: Dean’s List, West Point Color Guard American Flag Bearer and Executive Officer, Intramural sports.
United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Nashville Bar Association
Member Since: 2016
American Bar Association
Member Since: 2016
- The State Action Requirement for First Amendment Claims - Paul Tennison - Cole Law Group Blog - May 04, 2018
- Employment Discrimination Claims in Tennessee - Paul Tennison - Cole Law Group Blog - March 20, 2018
- Affirmative Defense—Lack of Personal Jurisdiction - Paul Tennison - Cole Law Group Blog - September 08, 2017
- Roadmap of a Defamation Lawsuit - Paul Tennison - Cole Law Group Blog - July 20, 2017
- How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit? - Paul Tennison - Cole Law Group Blog - June 27, 2017
- U.S. Copyright Law Digital Takedown and Notice Procedures: Are They Effective and Fair? - Paul Tennison - Cole Law Group Blog - March 03, 2017
- Sleep and Resiliency in Soldiers - Paul Tennison, Jeremiah Jacobson, Lolita Burrell, Michael Matthews - Defense Technical Information Center - April 2011
- Service to School JD Applicant Mentor
I volunteer as a Mentor to veterans considering application to law schools.
Service to School (S2S) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that provides free application counseling to military veterans. Our goal is to help veterans win admission to the best universities possible and to help them maximize their education benefits. Through education benefits, the nation has proved its commitment to help veterans help themselves, but it is also an important investment in our country’s human capital, because veterans will grow our economy just as they did in the decades following World War II. As an organization and as a country, we can ensure that the education benefits provided to veterans today are as effective – indeed, as transformative – as they were for the Greatest Generation.
S2S provides application assistance, mentoring, and know-how to ensure that veterans can pursue higher education at quality schools, whether at the graduate or undergraduate level. To date, our efforts have assisted applicants in winning admission to schools that include Vanderbilt, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Northwestern, Penn, Columbia, Notre Dame, and many other highly selective U.S. institutions; built a mentor network of over 200 ambassadors; and built a website and social media platform to attract veteran applicants. In a short amount of time, we have become a recognized brand in the space. We have also created partnerships with multiple organizations (Tillman Foundation, IAVA, GMAC, Four Block, Warrior-Scholar Project, etc.), and written free guidebooks for veterans applying to college, business school, and law school.
- Legal Citizenship Coach with Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC)
Work as a trained volunteer, with immigration attorneys to assist immigrants in need to complete their citizenship application (N400), answer questions, and provide study materials for the citizenship examination. For more information about TIRRC, please visit their website.