Spotlight On: Brian Masterson, Nashville Partner‑in‑Charge, Frost Brown Todd
July 2025 — AI, a competitive legal talent pool, and policy issues continue to change the legal sector. In an interview with Invest:, Brian Masterson, Nashville partner‑in‑charge at Frost Brown Todd highlighted the firm’s efforts to help with affordable housing and discussed Nashville’s legal talent pool and how AI continues to drive change in the industry. “AI is something that will change law firms. It can be exciting and will change how firms hire in the future,” Masterson said.
What have been some key highlights for Frost Brown Todd’s Nashville operations in the past 12 months?
From a legal services perspective, we are very involved in trying to find affordable housing solutions. The way we would articulate affordable housing is not to just provide more housing supply, although that is part of the solution. We are particularly interested in helping first responders live in the communities that they serve, for example. We also have a very large, robust low-income housing and tax credit practice, and we look forward to doing more of this type of work in Middle Tennessee.
It has become clear that when the state’s economic development team is trying to attract a new large employer outside of Middle Tennessee, affordable housing continues to be a key issue. It is an issue impacting all types of communities.
Another area of focus for us is foreign direct investment in the United States. The tariffs have put a bit of a pause on this, and we hope that it does not become a full stop. Foreign suppliers, for example, who are looking to set up shop closer to manufacturing plants, in turn, look to us for guidance on negotiating the best possible deals with the state. When the tariffs stabilize, we are optimistic that foreign direct activity in the United States will resume.
What major policy changes have you been following closely?
As a tax lawyer and one who advises clients across the country on issues related to “qualified small business stock”, I’ve been following The One Big Beautiful Bill and the potential changes to Section 1202. We’re also monitoring the proposed legislative changes to renewable energy tax credits and opportunity zones. At a state level, we are advising clients regarding Tennessee’s new hemp law, effective January 1, 2026, which imposes strict licensing, bans direct-to-consumer shipping, introduces a wholesale tax, and shifts oversight to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission — requiring businesses to prepare now for alcohol-style regulation of hemp-derived cannabinoid products.
What other challenges is the legal sector facing?
A key one is competing for legal talent in Nashville. This is a very competitive legal market. It is a smaller legal market from a headcount perspective for a city of our size. With the larger players moving in, it will become even more competitive. From my perspective, this makes it a little more fun to compete, but this will remain a key issue for Nashville’s legal sector.
The second issue is AI. It is being utilized to help with all kinds of legal work across the litigation, transactional, and regulatory lanes. It helps with things as mundane as email. AI is something that will change law firms, and we are proud of the advanced AI policies and use cases that have been developed and deployed at FBT. It can be exciting and will likely change how firms hire in the future. It will also be interesting to see what future law graduates will look like in terms of their early adoption and exposure to AI and other continually advancing tools.
What is the firm’s approach to attracting and developing talent?
We are intentional about our recruiting pipeline. The recruiting season has accelerated. We are currently recruiting for next summer. That is not the way it used to be. Recruiting has accelerated from a timeline and a competitive perspective. Many students are working hard to get on our radar. They are reaching out to us proactively because they want to introduce themselves to the firm. For first-year recruiting, we are very intentional and aware of the accelerated recruitment timeline.
In terms of developing our team, we have robust and intentional training programs for associates where we cover technical issues and business skills. We aim to give our junior associates real-life training from a technical perspective and overlay that with things that we see in practice so they can get a feel of how to do things. From a technical training perspective, we offer training so that our lawyers have practical skills foundations as they develop. We also have a mentorship component, which is key in our firm. We try to create a culture where team members feel supported by partners and senior associates. We are intentional in all these aspects. I may be biased, but I also think it’s a fun place to work.
What is your outlook for the firm in the next year?
We have approximately 650 attorneys at FBT. We are not done growing. We continue to look in all directions as a part of our strategic growth plan, including Nashville, where we will be a bit more aggressive. We are a big firm relative to other home-grown firms. Growth is a big point of emphasis for us as a part of our long-term commitment to this market.
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