Bass, Berry & Sims celebrates and supports our LGBTQ+ colleagues, clients, and communities, during Pride Month and throughout the year.

In honor of Pride Month 2026, we interviewed labor & employment associate Tori Kline. Her perspective underscores the ongoing importance of visibility, connection, and creating space for people to bring their full selves to our community.

You recently moved to Nashville, what do you like most about being in Nashville?

Nashville residents value and excel at building community. I moved into Germantown, and there are more run clubs, recreational sports leagues, and trivia nights than I can keep track of. My neighbors check in on me to see how I’m adjusting to my new city, and I think I can name almost every dog in my apartment building. I felt at home so quickly here.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

This summer I’m taking one of the City’s art classes—a weekly Thursday night beginner’s gouache painting course, which is apparently a variety of matte watercolor. I also love walking the greenway, trying new restaurants (I have yet to eat somewhere that tops Iggy’s), and hanging out with my little cousins in Franklin.

In which area of law do you practice?

I practice in labor and employment. Most of my professional experience has been on the litigation and counseling side, but I came to Bass, Berry & Sims to explore the transactional realm. Before landing in L&E, I worked in environmental law and criminal defense.

If you could no longer practice law, what other career would you consider?

I’m fascinated by where we get our food! I spent a summer working in the alternative oyster aquaculture industry and always had a restaurant gig growing up. If I couldn’t practice law, I’d want to work on making agricultural supply chains less wasteful and more ethical for all living beings involved.

What do you enjoy most about Pride Month?

I really appreciate the surge of information about queer history that gets shared during June. LGBTQ+ history is often not taught in school, so learning it ends up being a personal initiative. Nearly all my knowledge about important queer events—the AIDS epidemic, the Lavender Scare, the Stonewall Inn Uprising—has come from people in our community taking the time to learn this history and share it freely through social media, conferences, speaking engagements, and conversations in queer spaces.