Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law (LMU Law) has promoted Vonda Laughlin to professor of law with tenure and John Rice to associate professor of law.
Laughlin, who also serves as associate dean for the Part-Time Hybrid Program, joined LMU Law as an adjunct professor in 2011 and became a full-time professor in 2017. She teaches several courses and has been instrumental in developing LMU Law’s part-time hybrid juris doctor program, the first of its kind in the Southeast. Courses that Laughlin instruct include contracts and sales, secured transactions, insurance law and bar preparation.
“Dean Laughlin is a gifted teacher and scholar, who is beloved by her colleagues and students alike,” said Dean Matt Lyon. “Her leadership has been essential to the success of LMU Law’s innovative part-time hybrid JD program. This award of tenure is richly deserved.”
Laughlin earned her J.D. degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law, graduating with highest honors and receiving multiple academic awards. She later earned a Master of Laws in insurance law from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she received the LL.M. Prize, the program’s highest honor. She previously served as a judicial clerk for U.S. District Judge Thomas G. Hull, practiced law with several firms including Milberg, Coleman, Bryson, Phillips and Grossman, and worked as in-house counsel for Permanent General Insurance Co.
Rice joined LMU Law in 2023 and teaches professional responsibility, civil procedure and business organizations. He received his J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where he later became an instructor. He also served as an instructor at the University of Massachusetts College of Law and the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne University.
“Professor Rice displays a commitment to excellence in everything he does,” Lyon said. “This includes his rigorous and supportive approach to teaching, his thoughtful and impactful work as a business law scholar, and his service to the law school and the legal academy more broadly. We are fortunate to have him as a colleague here at LMU Law.”
Rice has spoken nationally on topics including corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, legal ethics, and anti-discrimination law. His scholarship has been published in the Northeastern University Law Review and the FIU Law Review. Before entering academia, he served as a judicial clerk for the Tennessee Supreme Court and practiced civil litigation in Knoxville. He is a member of the Tennessee and South Carolina bars and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has also held leadership roles with the Association of American Law Schools, the American Bar Association, and state and local bar associations, and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
LMU Law is located in Knoxville’s Historic Old City Hall Building and prepares students to serve Appalachia and beyond through a values-based legal education.
