Upon leaving the Tennessee General Assembly, Joy started her legal career focusing primarily on creditors rights and collection matters working at a small Memphis law firm and trying hundreds of cases all throughout the state of Tennessee. While she enjoyed representing businesses and creditors on collection matters, Joy’s strong desire to broaden her legal skillset and her passion for working more closely with individuals and small businesses on more personal matters led her to Douglass & Runger, PLLC in May 2019.

Joy works tirelessly and is a fierce advocate for her clients both inside and outside of the courtroom, but perhaps her greatest attribute is that she approaches her clients’ cases with compassion. Joy listens to her clients, determines their goals, walks them through the legal process necessary to accomplish her clients’ goals and works towards resolutions to achieve her clients’ objectives. Although she is a skilled and tenacious litigator, Joy views her responsibility to her clients as encompassing more than just her ethical and advocacy duties, and she makes a sincere effort to provide her clients with empathetic, non-judgmental support in order to lessen the stress and difficulties that they are currently facing.

This compassion, coupled with her extensive litigation experience and zealous advocacy, is the reason why Joy is able to effectively represent individuals who are dealing with the emotional distress of divorce or the loss of a loved one in a probate matter, but also fiercely advocate for individuals who are injured due to the negligence of a third party or fight for small business owners who are wronged when business transactions go south. A skilled and persuasive negotiator, Joy routinely obtains favorable results for her clients outside of the courtroom; however, when a favorable outcome can not be reached outside of Court, Joy relishes the opportunity to take matters to trial where she thrives inside the courtroom.

In her free time, Joy enjoys spending time with her close group of long-time friends and deepening her appreciation of Memphis culture and food. She is an animal lover and mother to her dog, Rosie, and two cats, Harpo and Jasper. Joy is passionate about quality food and fitness, and she uses both to ensure that she is clear headed and ready to represent her clients with balanced energy and enthusiasm.