Lora Hortert serves as Legal Support Manager at Gardner Skelton, where she oversees the firm’s legal support team and helps ensure attorneys, staff, and clients receive consistent, high-quality support across practice areas. With more than 17 years of paralegal experience and almost a decade in leadership and operational management, Lora brings a unique blend of legal knowledge, strategic planning, and people-focused leadership to the firm.
Before joining Gardner Skelton, Lora founded and led Tennessee Paralegals, LLC, a multi-state paralegal services company that supported attorneys and law firms nationwide. Under her leadership, the company developed scalable systems for onboarding, workflow management, quality control, and legal support operations, helping firms improve efficiency while maintaining high service standards. She also served as a part-time instructor in the University of Tennessee Paralegal Program, where she mentored emerging legal professionals in ethics, legal research, communication, and practical paralegal skills.
Known for her ability to see both the big picture and the operational details that support it, Lora is passionate about building strong teams, developing effective systems, and creating workplace environments where people can thrive. She approaches legal support with transparency, accountability, and a commitment to excellence, believing that trust is built through clear communication, consistency, and follow-through.
Before joining Gardner Skelton, Lora founded and led Tennessee Paralegals, LLC, a multi-state paralegal services company that supported attorneys and law firms nationwide. Under her leadership, the company developed scalable systems for onboarding, workflow management, quality control, and legal support operations, helping firms improve efficiency while maintaining high service standards. She also served as a part-time instructor in the University of Tennessee Paralegal Program, where she mentored emerging legal professionals in ethics, legal research, communication, and practical paralegal skills.
Known for her ability to see both the big picture and the operational details that support it, Lora is passionate about building strong teams, developing effective systems, and creating workplace environments where people can thrive. She approaches legal support with transparency, accountability, and a commitment to excellence, believing that trust is built through clear communication, consistency, and follow-through.
