Janie Lindamood Child Advocate Fund
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Psalms 116:15
On August 13th, 2016, our Mother and Best Friend Attorney Janie Lindamood GAL won her final case and the Judgement was in her favor. Our hearts and world are shattered, but she suffers no more. Janie dedicated her life's work to being an advocate for children in the legal system as a Children’s Attorney/Guardian ad Litem (GAL). Our community has lost a one of a kind legal warrior for children and Heaven has gained a true Angel!
We've created the Janie Lindamood Esq. Child Advocate Fund in honor of her life’s work advocating for children in the legal system.
Contributions will go to provide financial assistance to children within the local court’s jurisdictions with expenses to include but not limited to medical, nourishment, clothing, school fees and supplies, athletics, academics, toys/gifts and camps.
Children in states custody often do not have the financial resources to afford the basics necessities and either do without or in many cases their Guardian ad Litem (Attorney) will provide the necessary items without reimbursement.
Contributions will also go to the Johnson City Coalition for Kids. No donation is too small. Afterall, the children are our future!
Her love of children spilled out of the courtroom and onto the sidewalks of downtown Johnson City right outside her office, when there was any type of public event there.
“Something she always loved to do at her office for the children was to do face painting and give away toys, coloring books, etc., at every downtown event,” Reece said, including Blue Plum and Christmas parades. “She would set up tables and chairs outside the front of her office on the sidewalk on Main Street,” for those events.
“She was the salt of the earth,” Reece said about his mother.
Her work as an attorney kept Lindamood in the shadows of the public’s view with her work in juvenile and family courts. She represented children in delinquency cases and was often appointed as a child’s guardian ad litem, which in Tennessee is a licensed attorney appointed to represent the best interests of a child during a divorce or custody hearing.
Colleagues say Lindamood was a “fierce advocate” and “warrior” for children she represented, never allowing one parent or the other to get in her way of pushing for what she felt was right for the child.
New attorneys often get their first appointed cases in juvenile court, and Lindamood never turned away any lawyer who needed help knowing what to do.
“She was always willing to invest in the next generation of attorneys,” said Rachel Ratliff, one of many young attorneys who benefited from Lindamood’s knowledge. “She spent hours and hours of time, outside of business hours, to help and teach younger attorneys.”
Ratliff said one of her first cases as an attorney involved severe child abuse and she had to immediately depose a physician.
“I didn't even know what happened at a deposition at the time. Everyone said, ‘Call Janie.’ I called, left a message, and really didn't expect much. She called me back that evening at 6 p.m. and spent an hour reviewing with me what to expect, what I should research and how I should prepare.”
It’s a story told over and over, she said. “I have been told the same thing by so many other attorneys, with stories of Janie spending and hour and a half, three hours, four hours... just to help the next generation of attorneys succeed. She was always ready to listen and always ready to help. In a profession that has a reputation for such cutthroat tactics and attitudes, Janie viewed practicing law as a craft to be taught and passed on.”
Another attorney with a similar experience is Donna Bolton.
“I had my first termination of parental rights in Kingsport,” Bolton said. “I didn’t have the first clue what to do. My husband (also an attorney) said, ‘Call Janie Lindamood and pick her brain.’” She did, and spent the next several hours with Lindamood.
“I got there at 4:30 p.m. and she sat there with me until 9 that night going over stuff,” Bolton said. “She’d been in court all day, and then sat there until 9. I won the case; The reason a lot of attorneys looked up to her is even if you got into a battle with her, she wouldn’t let you mess it up so bad you couldn’t fix it,” she said, saying that Lindamood was known to nudge opposing counsel if they hadn’t filed something properly.
“She stood on her own work, but she didn’t want you to mess up either, (and) I don’t know how many times judges would defer to her what the law was.”
Others who knew Lindamood also had good things to say, including:
• Diane Cupp, retired Johnson City Juvenile Court coordinator: “Janie Lindamood, Legal Lady as I called her, made me a better probation officer back when she first started. Because of her being such a great advocate for her clients you had to be prepared in the court room because she always went the extra mile when representing her clients. Whether appointed or retained her clients were blessed to have her as their attorney. Janie always had the best stories to share whether it be about her skydiving trip to her beautiful grandchildren. She will be so missed by so many, and I too was blessed to have known her.”
• Michelle Caggiano, a mentee of Lindamood’s, who worked for the attorney as a bookkeeper, then earning her bachelor’s degree from East Tennessee State University before going to law school: “After being around Janie and seeing what all she did, I felt like law school was my next step. She wrote a recommendation letter to help me get into law school. She remained my mentor. I started in Carter County … she would drag me along to (court) in Washington County ... we tag teamed a lot and that made me more comfortable.”
• Scotty Perrin moved to Johnson City in 2000 after leaving a job as a criminal prosecutor. She was no longer interested in that type of work, so she rented office space from Lindamood and began a private practice in family law. “She’s one of the most intelligent women I ever knew ... she was very generous with her time and her knowledge. She gave a lot of us our start. She nurtured us. A lot of people probably didn’t see her this way, but she was very tenderhearted and very generous. She loved her family and she loved her friends. I’ll miss talking to her. There was only one Janie Lindamood.
Johnson City Juvenile Court Judge Sharon Green said she knew Lindamood to be a hardworking advocate for children and saw it play out in her courtroom.
“She made such a significant impact on the lives of hundreds and hundreds of children and protected those children in court, protected the rights and advocated for their rights fearlessly,” Green said. “I think that the impact itself on the lives of these children,” made a significant difference in that child’s life.
“She dug out every detail,” Green said. “If a child was seeing a behavioral specialist, she contacted them, she dug out every detail about this child's life you just don’t get that without going out in the field and start digging around. She wasn’t content to sit in an office and have people come in and tell her things. She was at schools, at professionals’ offices who knew this child, talking to grandparents and neighbors.”
Green said Lindamood’s presence will be greatly missed in the courtroom.
“She mentored a lot of young attorneys,” the judge said. “A new attorney would hit the courtroom, she would introduce herself, she would take them under her wing. If they didn’t have office space, she’d offer them office space. She wasn’t content with just doing what she knew how to do. She wanted to teach people how to do what she knew how to do. Her not being here has left emptiness in the bar (of attorneys) that represents children.”
Bolton said one of the hardest things now is realizing she’s lost a friend, mentor and unequaled legal mind as a resource.
"The hardest part right now is not being able to call her. It’s a big empty resource that is gone. I always said Bob Jessee was the father law,” Bolton said, referring to the late Bob Jessee, who died unexpectedly two years ago. “Well, she was the mother, for sure; if you didn’t get to know her and get to be mentored by her, you’re at a huge deficit,” Bolton said. “She was one of the most powerful, caring, knowledgeable bulldogs I've known all my life.”
In addition to her children and husband, Lindamood is survived by stepdaughter Debbie Mullins; 14 grandchildren, Christina, Nicholas, Colt, Colin, Anderson, Katelyn, Carter, Charlie, Macie, Mackenzie, Josie, Justin, Travis and Heather; five great-grandchildren, Cody, Jackson, Averie, Brooklyn and Marcus; and sisters Judy Barnes, Janet Foster and Jilda Erwin.
Lindamood “dedicated her life’s work to being an advocate for children in the legal system,” Reece said. But she didn’t want much fanfare with her departure in that she didn’t want a funeral, didn’t want to be buried and didn’t want an obituary published in the newspaper. She did, however, want a celebration, so her family is planning a Celebration of Life next month for friends, colleagues and relatives.
Thank you in advance for your donation and for helping children.
