Judicial Profile

JUDICIAL PROFILE By: Carol Anne Long

Associate Director, UT College of Law Career Center

MEET JUDGE TOM GREENHOLTZ

In March of this year, Governor Bill Lee appointed, and the Tennessee General Assembly later unanimously confirmed, Judge Tom Greenholtz to the Eastern Section of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. Judge Greenholtz officially took office on September 1, following the retirement of Judge Norma McGee Ogle.

Born in Albany, Georgia, Judge Greenholtz knew “from day one” that he wanted to be a lawyer. As the son of an attorney, Judge Greenholtz grew up hearing the stories of his father’s law practice, and the words of his father had quite an impact. With respect to the practice of law, his father imparted that “people seek out lawyers when they have nowhere else to go and no one else to turn to.” Judge Greenholtz was struck by this concept and the realization of what a service-oriented profession the law is. His father also instructed his young son that “the law touches everything – something no other profession really does.” This, too, was quite appealing to Judge Greenholtz: knowing that he could be a part of a profession that involves everything from labor to medicine to crime to intellectual property and beyond. From a very young age, his path was set.

After graduating from Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia, Judge Greenholtz enrolled at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. It was there that he briefly considered a different career: becoming an Economics Professor and one day working for the Federal Reserve. Fortunately for our profession, he changed his mind and stayed the course toward law. In 1996, he graduated from UTC, magna cum

laude, with a degree in Political Science and a double minor in American History and Economics. It was also at UTC where Judge Greenholtz met his future bride, Kathy.

The next stop after UTC was the University of Tennessee College of Law, an experience which Judge Greenholtz thoroughly enjoyed. He recalled with great affection his professors and chuckled at the memory of being “schooled” by Professor Dwight Aarons near the beginning of his first semester as a 1L – to which a great many readers of this article can no doubt relate! Some of Judge Greenholtz’s fondest memories of law school revolve around his time as Executive Editor of the Tennessee Law Review and the opportunity to work with the late, legendary Micki Fox.

1999 was a banner year for the Judge: he graduated from UT Law as a member of the Order of the Coif, he and Kathy were married, and he began “the best job he ever had,” a three-year judicial clerkship with Justice William M. Barker on the Tennessee Supreme Court. Following his clerkship, Judge Greenholtz spent the next thirteen years in private practice in Chattanooga, first with Summers & Wyatt, then with Shumacker Witt Gaither & Whitaker, and he then joined Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel in 2006. Judge Greenholtz practiced in a variety of areas over the years, including municipal and governmental law, criminal defense, civil and criminal appeals, and labor and employment compliance.

In addition to practicing law, Judge Greenholtz spent 20 years as an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at UTC, and he served – and continues to serve – his community through a number of organizations, including United Way, Rotary Club of Chattanooga, the Chambliss Center for Children. Orange Grove Center, and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, just to name a few.

In 2015, Judge Greenholtz applied for an opening on the Hamilton County Criminal Court, and he was selected by then-Governor Haslam to fill the position. Judge Greenholtz was drawn to the position of Criminal Court Judge in large part due to the opportunity to preside over the Hamilton County Drug Recovery Court, where he had the chance to assist individuals struggling with addiction and substance abuse issues. His work with those who passed through that court was deeply meaningful and rewarding to Judge Greenholtz, and it was this experience that he misses the most about his time on the trial court bench.

Judge Greenholtz thoroughly enjoyed serving on the Criminal Court, so the decision to apply for the opening on the Court of Criminal Appeals was not an easy one; he believed that he was making a good impact on his community, particularly through his work on the Drug Recovery Court. After much reflection and discussion with his family, Judge Greenholtz considered the impact that service on the appellate court could have to the state as a whole, and at the last minute, he decided to apply. At the time of this writing, Judge Greenholtz has officially been on the job for just over a month and is settling into his new role very well, aided by three outstanding judicial clerks.

Judge Greenholtz and his wife of 23 years, Kathy, are the proud parents of two teenagers: Caroline, a senior, and Michael, a sophomore. Vacations are often spent visiting historical sites, and the family loves spending time in the mountains. Judge Greenholtz and Caroline have a particular affinity for jigsaw puzzles. And the family is made complete with their two felines, Cromwell and Lannister.1

When Judge Greenholtz was only 15 years old, his father and role model lost his battle with cancer. Although his father did not live to see it, his influence and impact on the life of Judge Greenholtz and all those lives he has thus been able to impact through his service to the bar, the community, and the judiciary is vast. The teachings of his father – that the expanse of the law is boundless and offers the opportunity to help the most vulnerable – have shaped the life and career of Judge Greenholtz, and our state and our profession are both the better for it.

1 This fellow Episcopalian and Game of Thrones fan approves of these exceptional pet names.