Meet the Team
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Irwin Kuhn takes a caring approach to helping guide people through family law matters efficiently and without adding unnecessary conflict. Divorce can be one of the most stressful life events so how people get divorced matters. The choice can have long-lasting effects on themselves and their families. Irwin approaches divorce more as a set of problems to be resolved not as a battle to be won. He works on family law matters both as an advocate for individual clients and as a mediator for divorcing couples.
Irwin Kuhn helps counsel and guide his clients- ranging from those with modest means to very high net worth entertainers and business executives- through divorce with an eye on achieving an equitable settlement in a respectful and efficient process. Irwin recognizes that divorce should be more of a business transaction than a war. A peaceful approach to divorce does not mean that a lawyer cannot be a strong advocate for his or her client. It does mean spending enough time with clients focused on discovering their interests and goals for their life ahead and helping them achieve them.
Irwin is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards. Martindale-Hubbell is the most prestigious legal rating organization, which bases its rating on the anonymous opinions of other attorneys and judges. Irwin brings over 30 years of wide-ranging legal and mediation experience to McCracken Kuhn in Nashville. While his primary focus now is on handling family law cases, including divorce and pre-marriage and post-divorce matters. His past experience handling small business litigation is helpful in understanding financial issues often at the core of family law matters.
Irwin is a leader in national, state, and local collaborative organizations. He appeared before the Tennessee Supreme Court to successfully advocate for the adoption of the court’s Collaborative Family Law rules. He currently serves as co-chair of the American Bar Association Collaborative Law Committee. He is a founding member and past president of the Middle Tennessee Collaborative Alliance. Irwin has taught continuing legal education courses for the Tennessee and Nashville Bar Associations and presented at collaborative law trainings.
Irwin is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and serves on the Access to Collaboration Committee that focuses on new and streamlined approaches to collaborative practice. Irwin has spoken about collaborative practice to groups of lawyers, financial professionals and mental health professionals in Nashville and Memphis. His articles on collaborative family law have appeared in the Nashville Bar Journal and the Nashville Tennessean.
Mediation is another important focus for Irwin’s practice. He was first certified as a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 mediator in January of 1998 in general civil cases. In 1999, he received additional certification in family law cases. In 2018, Irwin presented to the spring meeting of the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association on Choosing Dispute Resolution to Fit Your Client’s Needs.
Irwin also helps people with prenuptial agreements before their marriages, and reconciliation and postnuptial agreements after their marriages. He has led multiple continuing legal education courses on those topics for the Nashville Bar Association.
Irwin Kuhn received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University in political science and history. Irwin received his law degree from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in New York and was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 1984. Irwin worked as a legislative assistant and speechwriter for Senator Jim Sasser in Washington, D.C. where he focused on legal matters before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Shortly after returning to Tennessee, Irwin served as a law clerk to Justice William J. Harbison on the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Irwin is a Founding Member of the Tennessee Association of Professional Mediators and is a member of the American, Tennessee, and Nashville Bar Associations. He is a recent member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Nashville Bar and served as First Vice-President. Irwin is a Fellow of the honorary Nashville Bar Foundation. He is a member of several sections of the three bar associations, including the family law and alternative dispute resolution sections of each.
Irwin is past President of PEACE, an organization combating domestic violence. He is also a former President of the Nashville Ballet, and Vice Chairman of the Metropolitan Human Relations Commission. Irwin is a former member of the Board of Trustees and the Executives Committees of University School of Nashville and the Temple Congregation Ohabai Sholom.
Irwin served on the transition team for Nashville’s Mayor Karl Dean.
Irwin and his wife Diane have three adult children.
