Marissa Moses Russ '94
Written April 2009
Marissa Moses Russ ’94 will make you forget all those crass lawyer jokes. Compassion is what this family law attorney is all about. Marissa, who works for her mother’s Nashville firm, Moses and Townsend, PLLC, offers expert counsel and arbitration and mediation services in divorce and child custody cases. But her legal advice comes with a lot of kindness and comfort to her clients, who are of course going through a very difficult time. She admits that it can be exhausting to make that kind of emotional investment. “It is peoples lives. It’s a big deal, and it’s hard,” she says. “If I can feel like I’m making it a little less miserable for them and providing a support system—that’s what I find so rewarding.”
A certified Rule 31 mediator, Marissa was practically born into the law profession, having arrived in this world when her parents, both attorneys, were in their last year of law school. As a kid she played teacher, like a lot of kids do, but also lawyer. She says with a laugh, “I had my own files and that kind of thing.”
Marissa says the compassion aspect of her practice may have its roots in her Harding experiences. “There’s something really nurturing about Harding,” she notes. A volleyball, basketball, and softball player, Student Council member and class officer, Marissa received the Spirit Award as an eighth grader. “I loved Harding,” she says. “I still talk about it more than any other school I attended here in Nashville. My friends and I are still best friends. I started kindergarten with them and they were in my wedding.”
After Harding, Marissa attended Harpeth Hall before earning a double bachelor’s degree in management and marketing from Tulane University, and then her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. After gaining experience in civil law, she jumped at the chance in 2007 to work at her mother’s firm on family law. Getting to spend every day with her mother is a professional and personal blessing for Marissa, who greatly values her family.
Now that family has a new member. On March 20, Marissa and husband Ben welcomed their first child, a boy they named Eli.
A certified Rule 31 mediator, Marissa was practically born into the law profession, having arrived in this world when her parents, both attorneys, were in their last year of law school. As a kid she played teacher, like a lot of kids do, but also lawyer. She says with a laugh, “I had my own files and that kind of thing.”
Marissa says the compassion aspect of her practice may have its roots in her Harding experiences. “There’s something really nurturing about Harding,” she notes. A volleyball, basketball, and softball player, Student Council member and class officer, Marissa received the Spirit Award as an eighth grader. “I loved Harding,” she says. “I still talk about it more than any other school I attended here in Nashville. My friends and I are still best friends. I started kindergarten with them and they were in my wedding.”
After Harding, Marissa attended Harpeth Hall before earning a double bachelor’s degree in management and marketing from Tulane University, and then her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. After gaining experience in civil law, she jumped at the chance in 2007 to work at her mother’s firm on family law. Getting to spend every day with her mother is a professional and personal blessing for Marissa, who greatly values her family.
Now that family has a new member. On March 20, Marissa and husband Ben welcomed their first child, a boy they named Eli.
Inspiring The Mind • Nurturing The Spirit