JORDAN NEWPORT

This month’s “Hello, My Name Is…” q-and-a features Jordan T. Newport, Attorney at Hagood Moody Hodge PLC. Jordan practices primarily personal injury law, business law, and probate/estate planning. He is a 2019 graduate of the Lincoln Memorial Duncan School of Law and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee in Marketing and a minor in Retail and Consumer Sciences. Jordan is the perfect feature for this month’s wellness-focused issue of DICTA because he is the Co-Chair of the KBA Barristers Athletics Committee, which is responsible for the annual Barristers Golf Tournament. Jordan has shared that the Athletics Committee is also exploring other ideas for future active events such as “Bowl-able Hours,” axe-throwing, and social events centered around athletics, including UT baseball and March Madness basketball games.

What do you think is most important for lawyers early in their career to know about work-life balance?

Work-life balance is dynamic. As a lawyer, especially a young lawyer, not every week or day is going to look the same, and sometimes that requires planning (or being comfortable calling an audible) to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Therefore, I would suggest to be flexible with your time and with your thought process related to maintaining this worklife relationship. For example, don’t beat yourself up if you can’t make a social gathering because you have a deadline that you need to meet. On the other hand, don’t feel bad if you need to cut out from the office 15 or 30 minutes earlier than normal in order to get some much-needed socialization. The same goes for staying active; it’s okay to be 15 or 30 minutes late to your desk if you need to run that extra mile or lift that extra set to clear your head for the day. It’s okay to place your personal well-being over your work.

What do you do to prioritize work-life balance?

This is something that I am still learning every day. Generally, I have to consciously place an emphasis on the “life” part of the equation, or I will find my scale tipping too much towards work. On the fitness side, I’ve learned to be flexible with my workouts as to timing and the type/length of workout.

If I need to get in a quick workout, I might do a high-intensity interval training (“HIIT”) style of workout and complete it in half the time of a normal session. For socialization, my wife and I have tried to socialize in ways that we can plan ahead, such as weekly trivia nights with friends and play dates with our friends who have children around the same age as ours. Conversely, if we need to relax, we find a new Netflix series, binge-watch it on the couch, and we never feel bad about it!

What are your thoughts on self-care?

I think that I could write a book on this—or at least a well-developed blog. For everyone: it is okay to place emphasis on taking care of yourself! Taking care of yourself does not mean that you are being selfish; to the contrary, taking care of yourself means that you are giving others the best version of you! For men especially: it is 2023, it’s time to embrace “healthy masculinity,” rather than its toxic counterpart. Namely, it’s okay to care about how you look, it’s okay to talk about your feelings, and it’s okay to admit to not being okay! I could go on for pages on this, but, ultimately, it comes down to this: go get that massage, treat yourself to that pedicure, take time to mediate (or your religious equivalent), talk to somebody. In the long run, taking that extra step for taking care of you is going to pay dividends to everyone that you encounter!

What’s your favorite restaurant in Knoxville (or East Tennessee)? Sticky Rice Café, which is a locally owned Laotian restaurant located near West Town Mall. Not only is this a one-of-a-kind type of restaurant in Knoxville for this cuisine, but the food is excellent, and the staff make you feel like a regular every time you’re there.

What was the best concert you have ever attended?

This one is tough, but I would have to go with Ed Sheeran. Not only is the man an extremely talented singer, but he performs as essentially a “one man band.” He does this by using a loop pedal to record riffs and rhythm and plays it back, allowing additional ones to be added over the top, producing sounds that can sound like a whole band. The amount of talent that it takes to do all of that, while still putting on a great show for 20,000plus fans is just mind blowing to me.

By: Buddy Stockwell TLAP Executive Director