The firm known today as Johnson McGinnis Elder Care Law & Estate Planning was launched as Family Law Practice of Timothy L. Takacs on September 1, 1992, in rented office space at 130 Walton Ferry Road. After attending a National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys program in the spring of 1993, founding partner Tim Takacs made the decision to refocus his practice on elder law. In 1995, he purchased a building at 201 Walton Ferry Road and moved the firm there. Takacs’ interest in elder law was further fueled by a chance encounter with a client whose wife had just been admitted to a nursing home. Though he wasn’t sure how to help this man, he promised to find out. 

As his caseload grew, Takacs began exploring enhancements to the traditional asset-focused practice of elder law. In 1998, Tim published Elder Law in Tennessee, hired the firm’s first care coordinator, and stopped accepting non-elder law cases. That same year, after the Tennessee Supreme Court allowed Tennessee to certify legal specialty areas, Takacs became one of the first attorneys in Tennessee to receive certification as an elder law attorney. By the early 2000’s, Takacs had documented his new approach to elder law and began teaching other attorneys how to implement the Life Care Planning practice model in their own firms. 
 

In 2011, Barbara Boone McGinnis, a geriatric nurse practitioner with extensive experience as an executive in long-term care facilities, joined the firm as an associate attorney. She became a partner in 2016 and the firm rebranded as Takacs McGinnis Elder Care Law in early 2017. In 2020, Chris Johnson, a Marine Corps veteran with over two decades of military and legal experience, was added as the firm’s third partner.
 

Over the last three decades, the team at Johnson McGinnis Elder Care Law & Estate Planning has worked to make life better for thousands of clients who have sought their aid. The firm’s innovations have comforted many families, inspired hundreds of attorneys nationwide, and transformed the practice of elder law in the United States. Today, Johnson McGinnis Elder Care Law & Estate Planning includes a staff of two attorneys, two elder care coordinators, two public benefits specialists, and other professionals who work together to serve clients throughout Middle Tennessee.