Wende Rutherford
Senior Attorney
Wende was born in Florence, South Carolina, and lived in Europe and Ohio before moving to Tennessee in 1970 at the age of 7. She grew up in the suburbs outside Nashville with her parents, two younger sisters, and a menagerie of pets including horses, a dog, cat, goat, ducks, and various hamsters and guinea pigs. As a kid, Wende was a competitive swimmer and an avid horseback rider. She met her husband, Paul, when she was 15 and a Junior in High School. Paul was a Senior at the same High School, and they became friends immediately. They began dating after she graduated from High School in 1980 and would go on to attend college together. After graduation from college, both went to work for an adolescent psychiatric hospital and then for the State of Tennessee Department of Human Services as social workers. In 1986, they married, and Paul began Law School later that Fall. Wende would follow him and start Law School the following year. They attended school together at night while working together during the day for the State of Tennessee in Child Protective Services and Foster Care. Paul graduated and passed the Bar in Tennessee in 1990 and Wende in 1991. In August of 1991, they became Foster parents for a 10-year-old boy who would later become their oldest son, Thomas. They would go on to have three more children, Samuel, born in 1996, Noah born in 1999, and Lucy born in 2002.
Before joining Brighter Day Law, Wende and Paul practiced family law together in Tennessee, with several of Paul’s relatives, for over thirty years. During that time, Wende also served as the chair of the Adoption section of the Davidson County Foster Care Review Board, worked as a trainer with the Court Improvement Program of the Administrative Offices of the Court, and provided services to several non-profit organizations that work with children. Child welfare and adoption are her passion.
When she is not working, you can usually find Wende traveling across the country to watch her youngest, a D-1 athlete at Western Kentucky University, run cross country or track. She also enjoys cooking, fine dining, entertaining friends, and spending time with her family. She is excited and looking forward to becoming licensed to practice law in Colorado and being a part of the Brighter Day team.
