For over ten years, Lindsay Forlines represented the defendants in medical negligence and wrongful death cases. Over time, this Elle Woods lookalike felt the pull to switch and specialize in the representation of individuals harmed by the negligence of others. So she started her own practice, Forlines Law, LLC on Jan 1, 2020, and never looked back.
It’s not unusual for Lindsay Forlines to be the only female in a room. “You have to know how to politely command respect and do your best to be kind, but firm,” she says. However, she doesn’t tone down her femininity. Lindsay Forlines never tries to look or sound like one of the boys. “I have a collection of pink blazers that would make Shelby from Steel Magnolias proud!” she adds.
Here, this Southern lawyer reveals why she’s as Two-Sided Southern as they come…
What are some misconceptions you’ve encountered about people from the south?
That we are dumb, shallow, or insincere. Especially Southern women. I like to have my hair fixed and my nails done and be dressed right (maybe even a little fancy) for the occasion. Better to be overdressed. But that doesn’t make me superficial. I just believe the message I’m selling—whether personally, professionally, what have you—is easier received when I look and feel my best. I like the quote, and I am paraphrasing: “Southerners can stand a naked body. But a naked face? That’s another story.”
Favorite Southern quote:
“Southerners are like other people, only more so.”
Where did you grow up?
Avondale Estates, Georgia.
Where do you live now?
Avondale Estates, Georgia
What do you do for a living?
I am a trial attorney specializing in medical and professional negligence. My passion for litigation is built on my long-time dedication to both oral and written communication. Before law school at UGA (I’m a proud Double Dawg!), I graduated from UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a broadcast journalism degree. I was beyond proud to anchor Georgia Gameday, UGA’s Bulldog-centered collegiate television show before my legal education began.
Do you have to use your Southern charm at work?
My heavens, YES!!! Litigation is so inherently confrontational. At times, a little Southern charm is just what that situation needs. It may be during a particularly difficult deposition, or a tense conversation with opposing counsel, but Southern charm—backed with sincerity—goes a long way. So people in the South can sniff out a phony a mile away.
When you were younger, what did you want to be?
A Broadway actress.
What makes you Two-Sided Southern?
I am a lawyer, and as such, I have learned to feel comfortable rubbing elbows with well-heeled, well-educated, well-credentialed and well-connected folks. But I am sometimes more comfortable with the down home, regular folks of the South.
For instance, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother growing up, and her sweet and colorful friends: Butch and Henry (Butch was the wife, Henry the husband) and my beloved Viola and her husband Herschel. They wore old-timey country dresses and had beautiful quilts on the beds. (I have a collection of quilts myself). We snapped beans, watched The Price is Right and their ‘programs’ (the CBS soaps), and spent a good bit of time making runs to the grocery store (Big Star, Winn Dixie, and of course the A & P). We listened to Ludlow Porch on the radio. They called me Tootie.
I am who I am because of them and all the wonderful people like them to whom I have been so blessed to be exposed. For example, many of my clients are those kind of people—the heart and soul, true backbone of America. So precious and priceless, each and every one. I love people and hearing their stories.
What are some things you consider down home Southern that you adore?
I learned to drive on my dad’s Ford pickup.
My dad is the most precious, kindest, most thoughtful—yet toughest—Southern man, Billy, and my son William is named after him.
The Georgia red clay.
I like old terms for things like beauty shop, fillin’ station and lightning bugs.
Small towns. I like simple.
I LOOOOOOVVVEEE Scott’s Antique Market and high-end antique shops, but I like little second-hand thrift stores and estate sales even better.
How about Southern plants? Amazing, right?
So I like magnolia trees and crepe myrtles and dogwoods.
And our pines!
But I also love the Southern “weed tree,” the mimosa, and sweet gums too. As a kid, I became enchanted with mimosa’s pink flowers and they have a sweet old-timey smell. Back then, I called them powder-puff trees and I would play with the blossoms like they were a makeup brush.
And what Southern kid didn’t play with sweet gum balls? (Dang, they hurt though when you step on them barefooted).
Do you monogram things?
Gosh yes! Like Reese Witherspoon said, “if it’s not moving, monogram it!”
Items I have monogrammed, for me and for others:
Napkins (paper and linen), towels, pillows, tote bags, ballcaps, scarves, shirts, keychains, pens, notepads, stationary, jewelry, Christmas stockings, Christmas ornaments, door hangings, cosmetic bags (at least 5 of my own, multiple as gifts for others), a silver compact mirror, all sorts and manner of cups (high-end, plastic, coffee cups, glassware, tailgate throwaways), silver (vintage cocktail shaker is a fave), drink stirrers, coasters, glass decanters, placemats, napkin rings, other barware and serving pieces, baby cups for heirlooms, all sorts of baby items including onesies and bloomers, paperweights…
But my favorite? My business logo. So the back of my business cards has my gold foil monogram on the palest pink background you can imagine.
Favorite high-end, hoity toity dish:
Above all, caviar from Kimball House in Decatur. Hands down. Fun, fancy, high-end, delicious.
Favorite southern dish:
Oh Lord, how do I pick? Grits, grits and more grits; biscuits and gravy; fried green tomatoes; fried okra; pickled okra; fried chicken; tomato sandwiches; pimento cheese; a good summer, home-grown tomato.
Favorite high-end, hoity toity dessert/sweet:
Bourbon chocolate pecan pie. Incredible. Use Sunnyland pecans (from long-time family-owned business in Albany, Ga.), and do yourself a favor.
Favorite low-brow dessert/sweet:
Entenmann’s cinnamon swirl rolls. Run and get some!
Favorite high-brow restaurant:
The Pink House in Savannah. But my local favorite is Parker’s on Ponce in downtown Decatur. My boyfriend Randy and I love sitting at the bar and enjoying a cozy dinner and listening to their amazing piano player.
Favorite low-brow restaurant:
So any meat-and-three I can find off the beaten path. My job allows for traveling all over the back roads of our state. I loooooove a Southern veggie plate. We went to Piccadilly a lot after church on Sundays.
Southern dish you always serve at dinner parties:
Cheese straws, and any party with a buffet gets deviled eggs. Period.
High-brow dish you always serve at dinner parties:
I served multi-colored, special-order macarons at a Champagne and dessert Christmas party. So pretty and delicious. But a Southern trait I am carrying full force is owning a strong silver collection. I love mine, and I will never part with it. On the other hand, I have even learned to love polishing it.
Something only Southerners would know:
We may talk slower, say good-bye longer, exaggerate somewhat more than others, say funny things like “I am fixin’ to do that” and hopefully, regale easily, but if you write us off as stupid or shallow…. well, I guess I would just say bless your heart.
Do you believe in thank you notes as a rule?
Yes, I do. And my beyond classy, poised, sweet and elegant late mother Sandy taught me that. Although I never expect to receive one or feel slighted if I don’t. Life is fast paced these days, and sometimes we all need grace when things like that may slip. An oral thank you is sometimes just fine! But for the big things, a written thank you on a monogrammed card is just divine. I recommend Calliespondence.
Favorite sports teams:
Above all, the Georgia Bulldogs and the Atlanta Braves.
Favorite drink at a tailgate:
Depends the time of year! I love bourbon for the fall and for football tailgates. With Coca-Cola or with hot cider when it’s cold. Or with ice, a tiny bit of water and an orange peel curl. If it’s really hot, I will drink a Coors Light.
Favorite high-brow entertainment:
Theatre, especially musical theatre. So I adore Phantom of the Opera and have seen it in the Fabulous Fox and on Broadway. Oklahoma is a personal favorite. Our Town. Anything Goes. Anything by Neil Simon, especially Rumors. Godspell. South Pacific… Oh, I just love it.
Favorite low-brow entertainment:
I’d have to say, a good fair or festival. The Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain is a personal favorite.
Most eccentric southern person you know:
There are a few but my Nanny went to the beauty shop to get her hair set once a week. She had a friend Viola who used snuff but spit it into a little brass spittoon. Of course, there are people I don’t know personally, but who have influenced me anyway, especially growing up here. Lewis Grizzard. I can picture his column back when there was The Atlanta Constitution in the morning and The Atlanta Journal in the afternoon…. the tagline was “Covers Dixie Like the Dew.”
Random Southern things I love:
Steel Magnolias
Gone with The Wind
Dolly Parton
Designing Women, especially Delta Burke and Dixie Carter (both on the show and in real life).
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
St. Simon’s Island. Savannah. Charleston.
Comfy, homey, beautiful Southern interior design
Family
Lake Hartwell
Church (“Oh honey, God don’t care where you go, long as you show up.”)
Old houses, my boyfriend and I are almost done renovating a 1918 farmhouse on Rockbridge Road in Avondale Estates.
Low country boils.
