Biography
Sister Nicole M. Grida currently serves as the International Justice of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International. She was first elected to the International Executive Board (IEB) as the International Marshal on August 11, 2018 at the 62nd Biennial Convention and Leadership Conference held in Lexington, Kentucky. Sister Grida was re-elected to a second term on the IEB as the International Marshal at the 63rd Biennial Convention on August 7, 2020 before becoming the International Vice Justice on October 28, 2020. The International Chapter assembled at the 64th Biennial Convention and Leadership Conference elected her as the International Justice on August 6, 2022.
Prior to being elected International Marshal, Nicole served as the District Justice for District XV from 2010 to 2018 and as the Assistant District Justice for District XV from 2008 to 2010. In her role as District Justice for District XV, Sister Grida provided support and encouragement for law school and alumni chapters throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, and Southwestern Ohio. She planned, led, and attended District Conferences, Chapter Installations, Chapter Initiations, and Officer Transition Meetings for over a decade in her roles as a DJ and ADJ. During her time as a leader in District XV, Nicole also attended District Conferences in other Districts to learn different techniques to continue to develop future leaders within PAD and the legal profession as a whole. In 2018, Sister Grida was awarded the Stan Jones Outstanding District Justice Award.
She was initiated into McReynolds (now Sanford) Chapter at The University of Tennessee College of Law on March 18, 2004 during the spring semester of her 1L year. When Nicole first became a member of P.A.D. at UTLaw, there were only six active members and five were graduating. She helped grow the Chapter while serving as Marshal during her 2L year. By the time Sister Grida graduated in 2006, almost one quarter of the law students at UTLaw were members of Phi Alpha Delta.
A trial lawyer by trade, Nicole was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Memphis Area Legal Services, Inc. (MALS) on June 1, 2024. As CEO, she relies upon her leadership, collaboration, and legal skills to ensure MALS continues to provide excellence in legal advocacy for those in need while finding innovative ways to protect the legal rights of low-income citizens in the Western Tennessee counties of Shelby, Fayette, Tipton, and Lauderdale. Prior to joining MALS, she was a Partner at Bowman and Brooke, LLP where she focused her practice on product liability, toxic tort, and general civil litigation matters in state and federal court. From June 2017 through October 2021, Sister Grida worked at International Paper Company as Senior Counsel - Litigation and was responsible for handling personal injury and property damage claims made against the company that involved premises liability, automobile liability, products liability, and workers’ compensation matters. Nicole also handled a variety of general civil liability matters during her time at a regional insurance defense law firm and as staff/field counsel for two insurance companies. In these various insurance defense roles, she represented individuals, professionals, and businesses in premises liability, products liability, automobile negligence, medical malpractice, legal malpractice, workers’ compensation, and other general civil litigation matters throughout Tennessee. Sister Grida has extensive trial and litigation experience in state and federal court and has tried numerous premises liability, automobile liability, and workers’ compensation cases to verdict. She frequently presents CLEs and educational seminars on topics involving access to justice, leadership, litigation, in-house counsel, and health and wellness in the legal profession.
Since moving to Memphis, Nicole has been very active in various professional organizations including the Memphis Bar Association (MBA). She currently serves as the Chair of the MBA’s Publications Committee and is a member of the MBA’s Access to Justice, Bench Bar, and Diversity and Outreach Committees. She served on the MBA’s Board of Directors from 2015 until 2019. From 2010 until 2016, Sister Grida served on the Board of Directors for the MBA Young Lawyers’ Division, and was President of the Division in 2015.
Additionally, Nicole previously served as the Young Lawyers Delegate for West Tennessee to the House of Delegates for the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) from 2013 through 2018, the West Tennessee Governor for the TBA Young Lawyers Division (TBA-YLD) from 2015 through 2017, and CLE Chair for the TBA-YLD from 2014 to 2015. In 2018, she was recognized as a Fellow in the TBA Young Lawyer Division Fellows (TBA-YLD Fellows). From 2023 through 2024, she served as a Liaison between the TBA-YLD Board and the TBA-YLD Fellows. Sister Grida was recently elected to serve as the Treasurer of the TBA-YLD Fellows. She will become Secretary of the TBA-YLD Fellows in June 2025, Vice President of the TBA-YLD Fellows in June 2026, and will lead the TBA-YLD Fellows as President from 2027 through 2028.
Sister Grida has been a member of the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS), a non-profit devoted to strengthening the delivery of civil legal help to vulnerable Tennesseans, since 2019 and served as Vice Chair of TALS in 2021. From September 2023 through May 2024, she served on the Board of Directors for MALS and assisted the prior Executive Committee as the Board’s unofficial parliamentarian. She regularly volunteers at the Second Saturday Legal Clinic (2SLAC), a free legal clinic hosted by MALS and the MBA’s Access to Justice Committee. From 2018 through 2020, Nicole served as the Chair of the Corporate Committee for the Campaign for Equal Justice (CEJ), an annual campaign designed to raise money for MALS, and as Co-Chair of the Young Lawyers’ Committee of the CEJ in 2012 and 2013. Sister Grida also spends time answering questions on TN Free Legal Answers, an online portal where members of the public can seek free legal advice.
During her years of professional service, Nicole has received numerous awards including a President’s Award from the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association in 2022 for her work with the Elections Committee; the Sam A. Myar Award from the MBA in 2020 in recognition of outstanding personal service to the legal profession and the Memphis community; and a President’s Award from the MBA in 2019 for her work as the Bench Bar Committee Chair. She is also a graduate of the Memphis Bar Association Leadership Forum, Class of 2008–2009.
Nicole lives in Midtown Memphis with her 13-year old Chocolate Lab mix, Carmelo Thurston Grida. When she is not working or volunteering, she enjoys exploring the Bluff City, reading, watching reality television, traveling to new places, visiting major league sport stadiums and arenas, and spending time with her family, especially her five nephews and nieces – Vincent, Jasper, Vivian, Clayton, and Gianna.
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