Trail and Stearns Merge Law Firms and Announce Expansion
Sandra Y. Trail and Ashley D. Stearns announce the merger of their firms and the formation of Trail, Coleman & Stearns, PLLC, Attorneys at Law. The new firm, located in Murfreesboro, will be uniquely focused on all facets of estate planning, probate, business and real estate transactions, as well as related tax law. Trail and Stearns are joined by highly regarded attorney Jillian Mastroianni, formerly associated with the Nashville law firm of Dodson, Parker, Behm & Capparella, PC.
“As one of Tennessee’s leading estate planning law firms, we will continue to provide exemplary service to our clients throughout the Middle Tennessee area.” Trail said. “The new firm enables us to provide a greater array of comprehensive legal services.”
Together, the attorneys represent over 45 years of practice in the legal field.
Additional background regarding the attorneys:
Sandra Y. Trail (Member) – Trail holds the dual credentials of Doctor of Jurisprudence and Certified Public Accountant. Upon graduation from college, she worked in Nashville in both the audit and tax departments of Peat, Marwick & Mitchell, one of the then “Big 8” certified public accounting firms. She was later associated with Davis, White & Associates, a Murfreesboro CPA practice. Trail began her law practice in 1983 and later practiced law with her late husband, Larry G. Trail. Her practice concentrates on wills and estate planning, probate, tax, business transactions, including formations as well as mergers and acquisitions, real estate matters, including like-kind exchanges, and contracts. She is a Fellow of the Tennessee Bar Association and a Past President of the Rutherford/Cannon County Bar Association. Since 2000 Trail has held the highest available rating from Martindale-Hubbell, Inc. She holds degrees from Middle Tennessee State University and Nashville School of Law.
Trail currently serves on the Past Presidents’ Councils for the MTSU Foundation and the MTSU Alumni Association. She is a current board member for the Murfreesboro Water Resources Department, Secretary of the Middle Tennessee Lawyers’ Association for Women, Past President of the Murfreesboro Estate Planning Council, a Leadership Rutherford alumnus and an active member of World Outreach Church. Additionally, Trail has an extensive involvement in community service, serving as an officer or board member for many local non-profit entities as well as related service organizations. Trail was a former Vice President of Tourism for the Murfreesboro/Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. In addition, she served as Chairman of the Murfreesboro Board of Zoning Appeals and was a board member of the Murfreesboro Planning Commission.
Ashley D. Stearns (Member) – Prior to the merger, Stearns built a law practice that focuses on all aspects of estate planning ranging end-to-end from living trusts to complex wills to decedent estate administration. She is the current President of the Murfreesboro Estate Planning Council and is a member of the Middle Tennessee Estate Planning Council, Tennessee Bar Association, and the Rutherford/Cannon County Bar Association. In 2017, Stearns was named as a “Rising Star” in the area of Estate Planning for the Nashville Area by Super Lawyers. Stearns started her professional career while still in college as a legislative intern to Tennessee State Representative John Hood. Later, while attending law school, Stearns worked as a law clerk with the late Tennessee State Representative W. Kent Coleman in his estate planning law practice in Murfreesboro. Eventually, this working relationship blossomed into the law firm of Coleman & Stearns, which continued successfully after Mr. Coleman’s untimely death in 2016.
Outside of her profession, Stearns devotes her time to her family, and the Murfreesboro community through philanthropic service. She is a current member of both the Board of Trustees of Providence Christian Academy and the Board of Governors of Special Kids Real Estate, LLC. In the past, Stearns served on the first impression team at New Vision Baptist Church where her family attends.
Ashley D. Stearns is married to Matthew Stearns, the Chief Financial Officer at Murfreesboro Medical Clinic, and they have two children.
Jillian Mastroianni (Associate) – Mastroianni focuses her practice on estate planning, probate and related business and tax law. She is a regular speaker on these topics at the Murfreesboro Estate Planning Council and the Nashville Bar Association’s Friday Fundamentals Program. Additionally, Mastroianni has taught basic will drafting to Vanderbilt law students participating in the school’s veterans’ legal clinic for the past several years. Mastroianni also blogs frequently on these matters, providing timely updates on Tennessee and federal legislative changes and case law, which can be found at www.Mastroiannilegalblog.com.
Mastroianni began her undergraduate studies at Stanford University and then transferred to Dartmouth College where she was named a Rufus Choate Scholar. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. She received her law degree from Vanderbilt University and will receive an LLM in tax, an advanced law certification, from New York University in January 2019.
Jillian Mastroianni is married to Jeremy Wells. They have two rescue dogs, Oliver and Artie.
The firm of Trail, Coleman and Stearns, PLLC will serve their clients from their 107 North Maple Street office with a high standard of legal knowledge and client service. The three attorneys are supported by an experienced team of legal assistants.
For more information, please visit www.trailstearns.com and call 615-895-9890 or 615-848-0088.
