the magazine of the Memphis Bar Association | Vol. 38, Issue 3, Fall 2021
When Called to Serve, The Hon. Gadson William Perry Always Answers THIS ISSUE:
How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Courtroom Practice in the Western District of Tennessee Legal Legislation and Laws from the Last Session of the Tennessee Legislature
Witness and Respair
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Volume 38, Issue 3, Fall 2021
FEATURES 6
Interview with MBA President Peter Gee
19 Memphis Bar Association Memorial Service:
'Witness and Respair'
ADDRESSED BY THE HON. GADSON WILLIAM PERRY
BY MARY ANN UPCHURCH
8 Legal Legislation and Laws from the Last
Session of the Tennessee Legislature BY BERKLEY SCHWARZ
10 SLIP - 2021 Summer Law Internship Program 12 How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed
Courtroom Practice in the Western District of Tennessee BY THE HON. SHERYL H. LIPMAN THE HON. TU M. PHAM THE HON. JOHN W. CAMPBELL
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BY NICOLE M. GRIDA
BY MATT MAY
COLUMNS 15
MALS Corner
22
Bar Scene
BY THE BOBANGO FAMILY
24 Community Legal Center:
Changes at Community Legal Center
16 When Called to Serve, The Hon. Gadson
William Perry Always Answers
2021 Virtual MBA Bench Bar Conference
BY DIANA M. COMES, ESQ.
26
Circuit Court Report
28
People in the News
BY STEPHEN LEFFLER
2021 MBA Officers MEMPHIS LAWYER the magazine of the Memphis Bar Association
MBA Publications Committee Sean Antone Hunt, Chair Jacob Strawn, Vice Chair Peter Gee, Executive Committee Liaison Dean DeCandia Chasity Grice Nicole Grida Stephen Leffler Harrison McIver Jennie Silk
The Memphis Lawyer is a quarterly publication of the Memphis Bar Association, Inc. with a circulation of 2,000. If you are interested in submitting an article for publication or advertising in an upcoming issue, contact info@memphisbar.org. The MBA reserves the right to reject any advertisement or article submitted for publication.
Peter Gee President
Tannera Gibson Vice President
Lucie Brackin Past President
2021 Board of Directors Justin Bailey Dawn Campbell Lisa Gill Hon. M. Ruthie Hagan Hon. JoeDae Jenkins Adam Johnson Marlinee Iverson Andrea Malkin Bobby Martin Patrick Morris Steve Mulroy Jennifer Nichols
Hon. Gadson Will Perry Edd Peyton Hon. Shayla Purifoy Billy Ryan Lauran Stimac Laquita Stokes
ABA Delegate Lucian Pera AWA Representative April Bostick Law School Representative Donna Harkness
Section Representatives Taurus Bailey Anne Davis Thomas Henderson Nancy Rigell Danielle Woods
NBA Representative Quinton Thompson YLD President Quinton Thompson
MBA STAFF
Mary Ann Upchurch Executive Director
The Memphis Bar Association 145 Court Ave. Suite 301 Memphis, TN 38103 Phone: (901) 527-3573 www.memphisbar.org
Jennifer Sink
Secretary/Treasurer
Lauren Gooch Membership & CLE Director
Kelly Swan
Communications Director
TENNESSEE CHAPTER Memphis Area Members recognized for Excellence in the field of Mediation or Arbitration
Gayle ASHWORTH (615) 254-1877
Allen BLAIR (901) 581-4100
George BROWN (901) 523-2930
John CANNON (901) 328-8227
Fred COLLINS (731) 686-8355
Janice HOLDER (901) 527-3765
Trey JORDAN (901) 526-0606
Hayden LAIT (901) 527-1301
Minton MAYER (901) 312-1640
Jerry POTTER (901) 525-1455
Check preferred dates or schedule appointments online directly with the state’s top mediators & arbitrators. www.TennesseeMediators.org is entirely free, funded by our members
5
Interview with
MBA President Peter Gee
P
eter Gee is a native Memphian and the managing partner of Morgan and MorganMemphis where he has practiced since 2002. His practice is focused on civil litigation in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. In addition to his practice, Mr. Gee is the current President of the Memphis Bar Association. Mr. Gee co-chaired the Memphis Bar Association Summer Law Intern Program (“SLIP”) from 2013 to 2018, an ABA award winning program that places minority high school students in local law firms and businesses. In 2017 and in 2019, Mr. Gee was on the steering committee for the Unity in Diversity Scholarship Banquet, which has raised over $200,000 for scholarship money that helps promote diversity in the law.
What are you most proud of accomplishing during your tenure as MBA President? After the challenges of 2020, I was not certain how the year would go and how we would overcome the difficulties presented. In particular, the balance of remote v in-person programming as we attempted to “return to normal” was a big area of concern. I am pleased to say that we have endured and carried through with almost all of the programs through hard work, cooperation and sheer will to get things accomplished. We are trending towards a break even year at the MBA, the membership numbers have had an uptick, and the feedback from the programs has been very positive. I have been very proud to lead the organization in such a unique year, and believe we have set things up for a solid 2022. One particular thing that I am proud of is that my firm contributed equally to both the MBA and the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the NBA. I hope that is something that will catch on with other organizations. You are passionate about diversity in the law profession and providing opportunities to underrepresented groups in our community. What does it mean to you to be the first Asian American president of the MBA? It is something that I am proud of, and I am proud to have been given the opportunity to lead the organization 6
for this year. I think it is a milestone that I hope will be measured in a longer period of time. I am very excited for Tannera’s Gibson’s tenure and the milestone that will represent as well. I will say that I am very grateful to the people who helped me along the way that led to this place in time. When I was a younger lawyer, I often worried how I would be perceived in the community and whether someone who looked like me could be a successful trial attorney or a litigator in Memphis. I still believe that there is plenty of work to be done for future generations, and I’m proud to be a part of that progress. What or who made you want to become an attorney? I am asked this question fairly often and have been reluctant to talk much about it, because it is very personal. That said, I also think that it is important to share our experiences and the way they shape our lives. The reason I became an attorney is that my wife’s parents were killed in a robbery when we were in our 20s. Obviously that is the kind of event that changes the direction of your life in many ways, some obvious and others less so. In the months and years after their deaths, my wife and I had to interact with the legal system a great deal and the experience led me to pursue a career in law because I saw the ways that lawyers can impact their community. Going through that process as a non-lawyer, you could
not avoid a feeling of helplessness. It was a very deliberate decision to stay here and to help make a positive change. Who was your mentor(s) when you began your legal career? I have been very fortunate to have Judge George Brown be my mentor. Judge Childress was the President of the Inn of Court and the newer lawyers were asked if they wanted to be assigned a mentor. I put my name in and Judge Brown was assigned to me. It has been one of the best things that has happened to me in my career and life. I have also drawn a lot of inspiration from Judge Higgins. We worked together on SLIP and I have learned quite a bit watching her interact with everyone. She has a way of talking to groups and connecting with each individual on a personal level. It really is something to see. What advice do you have for young lawyers? (join the MBA J of course!) Join the MBA and be an active member. When you are an active member then it all starts to come together. Your network grows without you trying to actively grow it. It is not something that is wrought out or sought out. It just happens through getting to be around people and helping them. I do believe that the items that I would place on my legal highlight reel will mainly be work in our community outside of actual cases that I worked on. At the end of a case what do you hope for most? That I have been able to have a positive impact on the lives of my clients. People do not call my firm because they’ve had a good day. They generally call because they’ve had one of the worst days of their lives. They are hurt, scared and need someone to guide them through that uncertainty. I hope that when we conclude their case, whether by settlement or verdict, they feel that my involvement made that awful process more bearable.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned? The most important lesson is that people are not static. People grow and do not stay in the same place or position. One day they are a young lawyer and your opposing counsel and the next they are in a higher level position. You should treat people like the people they will become. If you weren’t an attorney, what job do you see yourself doing? It is hard for me to imagine not being at Morgan and Morgan. I have been here a long time. If I was not an attorney I think I would try to find an organization that needed my help that offered me a purpose and opportunity for something with substance. What do you like to do when you’re not working? I like to read. I run, bike and swim. I really like running on our local running trails. I enjoy spending time with my wife and daughter. What do you hope to see the MBA accomplish in the next 5 years? I am very excited for this next phase of leadership within the MBA. Our new Executive Director, Mary Ann Upchurch, is wonderful. She is bold and personable. I am very grateful to Maury Tower for her term as interim executive director. She really did work through a lot of difficult issues that has helped the MBA tremendously. I am very hopeful that what I am seeing is the beginning of a path that will lead to an endowment. I believe that is what is necessary for long term sustainability. I am also very hopeful that we can continue to work with the law school to keep people in membership throughout their entire careers. I think it is important to bring people into the legal community and to make sure they are supported.
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Legal Legislation and Laws from the Last Session of the Tennessee Legislature By BERKLEY SCHWARZ, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs, Tennessee Bar Association
T
he Tennessee General Assembly concluded the 2021 regular legislative session on May 5, 2021, after addressing several controversial legal issues in the very last hours of session.
Budget Before adjourning, lawmakers approved a $42.6 billion budget, a much more robust spending plan compared to last year’s “bare bones” budget of $39.45 billion. With regard to the professional privilege tax, while House and Senate leadership opted against the $100 partial reduction that was discussed earlier in session, there does appear to be a strong resolve among some in leadership to make a more robust reduction — and perhaps repeal the tax entirely — in 2022. Elimination of the professional privilege tax remains one of the Tennessee Bar Association’s (TBA) top legislative priorities, and the TBA has continued to work with both the legislative and executive branches over the summer and fall to ensure it remains a front-burner issue for the 2022 legislative session. Additionally, indigent representation reform received an extra $5 million which ensured that the Administrative Office of the Courts was able to continue compensating court-appointed counsel for the indigent for their time through the end of the fiscal year.
Judges The judiciary took on an unusually prominent role last session. The opening salvo — a House Resolution that sought the formation of a committee to consider the removal of Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle, in response to her election law rulings in the summer of 2020 — was strongly opposed by TBA. 8
While the resolution was defeated in subcommittee, several legislative initiatives spawned in the weeks that followed, largely seeking to modify the way in which cases concerning the state are handled, and particularly which judges would hear those cases at the trial court level. As various pieces of legislation moved through the committee system, it became clear that the two chambers differed on how to address the issue. Eventually, the Senate began to favor the approach of creating a statewide chancery court made up of a threejudge panel to hear cases involving the state, with judges initially appointed by the governor and subsequently subject to statewide, partisan elections. That concept, which was heavily pushed by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Mike Bell, R-Riceville, was based on the premise that Davidson County judges — and the voters that elect them — should not be permitted to be the sole trial court deciding constitutional matters affecting the entire state. Meanwhile, the House-passed version of the same bill instead created a Court of Special Appeals to handle these constitutional cases at the appellate court level. The new appellate court would be comprised of three judges, appointed by the governor, who would be subject to a statewide retention election, as is the case with other appellate judges. After considerable back-and-forth between the two chambers — and considerable feedback from groups such as the TBA and others — a compromise was struck in the final hours of session, brokered by a conference committee appointed by the respective speakers. The compromise provided that special, three-judge panels would be convened to try cases presenting constitutional challenges and declaratory/injunctive claims against the state, a department/agency of the state and/or one of its
officers. The three judges would include the original trial court judge and two other trial court judges, appointed by the Supreme Court and hailing from the other two grand divisions of the state. As to venue, the compromise provided that these causes of action are to be tried in the county where the plaintiff resides, or if there is more than one plaintiff, venue is a county where any plaintiff resides. If the plaintiff is not a resident of Tennessee, then the venue is in Sumner County. The compromise measure passed the House and the Senate minutes before adjournment and was signed by Governor Lee on May 26, 2021. The bill went into effect July 1, 2021. The TBA provided continuous feedback to the legislators working on these bills and expressed serious concerns throughout the legislative process, and we remain extremely concerned with the repercussions of enacting this new statute on the legal community. Not only did the legislature create an entirely new court to hear constitutional challenges of statues the legislature passed, but the TBA is concerned that the statute creating the three-judge panel is written in a way that may inadvertently draw in many more cases than legislators intended. Additionally, parties could add constitutional claims to a case in order to forum shop, thus undermining the integrity of the judicial system. The TBA offered an amendment that would clarify that the three-judge panels should only hear cases that are solely against the state or one of its agencies, departments or officials, and no other persons or entities. This amendment was added to several of the other bills addressing this topic but was not ultimately added to the bill that became law. We will work to introduce a bill in 2022 that will add this important amendment to this new statute. In June, the Supreme Court adopted Rule 54, the Interim Rule for Special Three-Judge Panels, which helps shed some light on how this new proceeding should work. Additionally, the lawsuit challenging whether Tennessee
adequately funds public schools will be the first trial to be heard by a three-judge-panel. The Tennessee Supreme Court selected the three judges who will serve on the threejudge panel after Nashville Chancellor Ellen Lyle recused herself from the case in March 2021. The presiding judge in this case is Senior Judge Don Ash of Murfreesboro, and he is joined by Doborah Stevens, a circuit court judge in Knoxville, and William Cole, a chancellor who hears cases in five counties in West Tennessee. The three-week trial is scheduled to begin in February 2022 and will take place in Murfreesboro. Another judicial bill that passed right before the General Assembly adjourned for the year was HB1072/ SB915, sponsored by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, and Rep. Michael Curcio, R-Dickson. As originally drafted, the bill would have banned local governments from filing lawsuits to challenge the constitutionality of state laws, but it was amended by Sen. Kelsey to allow the state to appeal as of right an interlocutory order issued by a circuit or chancery court that grants, continues or modifies an injunction, or if the order denies a motion to dissolve or modify an injunction. This provision only would apply to lawsuits brought against the state, department, agency or official that challenge the constitutionality of a state statute. It was signed by the governor and went into effect on July 1, 2021. To learn more about other bills the TBA worked on throughout the entire 2021 legislative session, go to the TBA CLE website where you can watch the TBA Legislative Update given by TBA Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorney and TBA lobbyist Brad Lampley during the 2021 TBA Convention. Additionally beginning in February each year, Berkley and Brad publish a weekly Legislative Updates podcast, which can be found anywhere you listen to podcasts through the TBA Podcast Network, and a Facebook Live video, which can be found on the TBA Facebook page. 9
2021 Summer Law Internship Program
C
ongratulations to all the graduates of our 2021 Summer Law Internship Program (SLIP). The Summer Law Intern Program provides diverse high school students the opportunity to experience the daily legal workplace of private law firms, corporate law divisions or governmental agencies in a virtual setting. Interns receive a stipend and are required to work a total of 45 hours during the summer program. This year’s program took place July 7 - July 28, 2021. Our program would not be possible without the sponsors, committee members, speakers and event organizers. Interns were recognized for their hard work during the Closing Ceremony at the Judge D’Army Bailey Courthouse.
Program Closing Ceremony SLIP Interns
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How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Courtroom Practice in the Western District of Tennessee Federal court
W
By The HON. SHERYL H. LIPMAN, U.S. District Judge The HON. TU M. PHAM, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge
ho remembers life before mid-March 2020? We do not, because the COVID-19 pandemic changed all of our lives, both personally and professionally. The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee has remained open throughout the pandemic, but changes were made with three primary goals in The HON. SHERYL H. LIPMAN, mind: 1) protecting the rights U.S. District Judge of those charged with crimes; 2) keeping the “doors” of the courthouse open to the public; and 3) safeguarding the health and safety of all those who come before the court. In the beginning of the pandemic, under the leadership of Chief Judge S. Thomas Anderson, and through the tireless work of the Clerk’s Office staff and all members of the court family, the court was able to quickly transition to a virtual courtroom environment, with initial efforts focused primarily on conducting court proceedings in cases involving custodial defendants. Due in large part to the passage of the CARES Act, the magistrate judges first jumped into action to preside over initial appearances, appointments of counsel, detention hearings, and arraignments by videoconferencing, all to ensure the rights of those detained. As these virtual proceedings took hold, and under the authority of the CARES Act, the district judges were also able to conduct criminal proceedings by videoconferencing, including, with the defendant’s consent, felony change of plea proceedings and sentencings as well as probation and supervised release violation hearings. Both district and magistrate judges gradually added hearings in civil
matters to their virtual court docket, conducting scheduling conferences, motions hearings and other matters through the same platform. Throughout this challenging period, the court was able to ensure that the public had real-time access to court proceedings through video and teleconferencing. If anyone wanted to participate in a court proceeding, they were allowed to do so through a court-provided video link.
The HON. TU M. PHAM, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge
The court instituted another change to ensure that the public had access during the pandemic. Some lawyers will remember back in the days before electronic filing a person had to actually come to the Clerk’s Office to file a document or, if filing after hours, could file documents using the court’s drop box. Because the court was concerned about protecting the health of its employees and the public, we moved to a virtual work setting and reinstituted the drop box, primarily for the benefit of pro se litigants who lack access to electronic filing. This allowed them to file documents with the court even though the Clerk’s Office remained physically closed. We also utilized authorization under the federal rules to remotely review and issue search warrants, criminal complaints, and other investigative applications submitted by law enforcement agencies. By June of 2020, the court began to conduct limited in-court proceedings, with all participants strictly adhering to social distancing protocols and wearing masks, and with courtrooms being cleaned between proceedings and equipped with plexiglass barriers. By the Fall of 2020, 11
we began having trials again, taking advantage of our large courtrooms to allow spacing between people and requiring safety measures to provide as much protection as possible. From March 2020 through December 2020, the district judges conducted 11 trials, 7 of which were criminal jury trials. When the infection rates began increasing right before the Thanksgiving holiday in 2020, the court again suspended trials and increased virtual proceedings, which continued until the infection rates came back down in early March, 2021. Despite these setbacks, thus far in 2021, the district judges have conducted 11 criminal jury trials and 9 civil jury trials, with several more trials scheduled on the calendar for the remainder of 2021. During these trials, the seating for members of the public has been limited to allow safe distances between observers, but trials of interest have been livestreamed to an overflow room in the federal building to allow members of the press and the public to observe the proceedings. The Western District’s commitment to the administration of justice during this pandemic has not gone unnoticed. According to a study using data from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, in fiscal year 2020, the Western District of Tennessee ranked 6th in the nation among all district courts in “Productivity” and 1st in the nation in the number of hours the district judges spent on the bench. These results
compare favorably to the court’s productivity rankings for fiscal year 2019, where the court ranked 5th in the nation in Productivity and 1st in the nation for judges’ hours on the bench. While it is difficult to predict what court procedures will look like post-pandemic, it is expected that the judges will continue to rely on videoconferencing. Many of the district judges may use video to conduct scheduling conferences, status conferences, and other pretrial hearings in civil cases, as well as report dates in criminal cases. The judges believe that the continued, robust use of videoconferencing will result in significant cost savings for litigants and improved judicial efficiency. The magistrate judges will continue reviewing and issuing search warrants and criminal complaints electronically, and using video to conduct preliminary criminal proceedings and civil motion hearings, although it is likely detention hearings will be conducted in person after the national emergency period expires under the CARES Act. However, there are some matters that need to come back to court. While each judge makes his or her own determination as to how to proceed, all recognize that there are some proceedings that are better done in person, whether for efficiency or to promote personalized interactions among us all. After all, the judges have missed you all during the pandemic!
State court
B
By The HON. JOHN W. CAMPBELL, Criminal Court Judge
eginning in March 2020, the Tennessee Supreme Court issued orders to the courts of Tennessee mandating certain procedures to keep the courts open and safe during the COVID 19 pandemic. This was unprecedented. The Tennessee Supreme Court has never taken such direct control of the entire justice system before. This severe The HON. JOHN W. CAMPBELL, limitation lasted for several Criminal Court Judge months until the Court felt that the health crisis had been reduced enough to begin allowing in-person court proceedings. To get approval for 12
in-person court proceedings each judicial district had to submit an action plan setting out how they would ensure the safe conduct of business in their respective courts. In July the Supreme Court approved these plans and court business proceeded again in a mostly normal fashion. The Civil and Criminal Courts followed the plan for in-person court appearances until April of 2021 when the Supreme Court entered a new order giving the individual judges the responsibility to establish protocols to conduct business in a safe manner. Even though judges were given this responsibility, the Supreme Court did stress certain tools that should be used going forward. In addition to a 3 feet social distance requirement the Court suggested that remote hearing be used whenever possible. The
following provisions, created during the pandemic, are being continued and will be for the foreseeable future.
Court Provisions 1. Using remote methods for hearings and witness testimony is strongly encouraged. Each judge was given a government Zoom account and shown how to conduct Zoom hearings. This includes hearings where the defendant is at the Tennessee Department of Correction. Many civil judges have used this method to great effect. 2. Limit the number of people in court at any one time to insure social distancing of 3 feet between persons. The courtroom deputies will control access to the courtroom and only allow those persons whose cases are being handled at any particular time admittance. The deputies will monitor social distancing in the courtroom. Face coverings are determined by the County Health Department or by the judge. If the judge wants face coverings worn he must have a sign posted outside the courtroom so the public will be on notice. In the criminal courts the Sheriff wants face coverings to protect jail inmates and this is being mandated in the Justice Center. 3. Out- of- custody defendants set for arraignment do not have to appear if they have retained counsel and counsel waives the defendant’s appearance. The attorney is responsible to give the report date to his or her client. It is encouraged that counsel conduct this type of arraignment remotely with prior notice to the court. 4. Out- of- custody defendants set for report whose cases need to be reset do not have to appear if the resetting is by consent of all parties, in advance of the court date, and counsel waives his client’s
appearance. The attorney will have the responsibility of communicating the new date to his or her client. 5. It is encouraged for Defendants in-custody set for arraignment to appear by video and the court will determine if the defendant needs appointed counsel or if counsel has been retained. Arraignments for criminal informations for in-custody defendants will be done in court, individually, when the case is ready for disposition. 6. Since space is limited due to social distancing, weekly jury pools are limited to about 180 persons. Each week the judges meet to establish what cases are set to be tried the following week and what the priority will be for jurors. In custody criminal cases will get priority and the unused jurors will be made available for out-of-custody criminal defendants and for civil cases. 7. Though the Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk does not have the ability at this time to e-file motions, a portal has been created to allow remote filing of motions and other documents. Attorneys who wish to remote file documents should send the document as an email attachment in portable document format (.pdf ) to Criminalcourt.filing@ shelbycountytn.gov. The Clerk will print and file the document in the appropriate court file. 8. Each night the court rooms and halls will be disinfected. Even with all the restrictions, the trial courts in Shelby County never shut down. Business was conducted on a regular basis and caseloads did not become overwhelming. Even suspension of jury trials for over a year, and the suspension of the grand jury for several months, did not result in a huge backlog. Hopefully the worst is over and we can continue with business as usual.
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Offices Nashville & Memphis
MALS CORNER JOHN AND LISA BOBANGO MARY LAUREN BOBANGO STEWART Chairs 2021 CAMPAIGN FOR EQUAL JUSTICE OCTOBER 2021
A
s a society, we strive for “equal justice” – the fair, equal and impartial treatment of all people. However, as we know, not everyone has access to justice.
T.V. shows about lawyers from Perry Mason to Bluff City Law provide the viewer the impression that access would find each person. In reality we do not all have access to legal representation and advice. Perhaps, as lawyers, we tend to take for granted access to a lawyer or to the judicial process. Because we have lawyers in our circles, we believe there are lawyers everywhere who are available to everyone. Unfortunately, not all of us have the same access to a lawyer and to equal justice. Memphis Area Legal Services (MALS) steps in to fill the void and to provide the missing access to equal justice for our community. MALS is the primary provider of civil legal representation for low-income individuals and families in Shelby, Fayette, Lauderdale and Tipton Counties in western Tennessee. The Campaign for Equal Justice is the primary source of unrestricted revenue for MALS, and this annual campaign is the vehicle through which individuals, law firms and other contributors donate to MALS. MALS officially opened in 1970 when thirty members of the legal profession had the vision to establish an organization to provide free legal services for the low-income population. MALS has well-trained,
dedicated and capable staff as well as local attorneys volunteering to provide extra support. In addition to traditional client services provided each and every day, MALS operates approximately thirteen programs that are critical and beneficial to the individuals served by MALS. Among those are programs providing extended orders of protection, divorces, child support and child custody for victims of domestic violence. Another program, Elder Trust, which had provided funding to address elder abuse, including financial abuse, has recently ended with no clear replacement funding available. Donations to the Campaign for Equal Justice will directly support that work. Without the contributions and support provided by the legal community, MALS would not be able to serve the thousands of individuals that annually approach MALS. The COVID pandemic continues to create a number of challenges, for all of us but especially those with lower incomes. The pandemic has created additional opportunities to serve residents that are in need of access to equal justice. We appreciate so many of you who consistently step up and continue to support MALS. We would like to thank the attorneys for their steadfast support of time and financial resources to equip MALS to serve our community. MALS is deserving of your support each year. 15
When Called to Serve, The Hon. Gadson William Perry Always Answers By NICOLE M. GRIDA
I
f you are fortunate enough to know Chancellor Gadson William “Will” Perry personally, it should come as no surprise that he answered the call to serve as Shelby County’s newest chancellor because service is part of what makes him who he is.
When I first met Chancellor Perry, I was a young associate practicing here in Memphis and he was a law student at The University of Tennessee, College of Law. Not only do we share an alma mater, we both represented UTLaw on its National Moot Court Team, I remember being impressed by Will’s appellate advocacy skills after watching him complete in, and win, the Regional Competition hosted by The University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. (He was also named Best Oral Advocate.) Upon learning he planned to return to Memphis after graduation, I looked forward to the impact he would have on the Bluff City, and specifically the impact he would make within our legal community. Since graduating from UTLaw in 2011, he has certainly made his name known in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. A quick glance at Chancellor Perry’s resume provides you with an overview of all that he has accomplished in his legal career. The short version is he started a decadelong career at Butler Snow LLP after graduating from UT Law. After two years there, Chancellor Perry left to clerk for Judge Bernice Bouie Donald on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, returning to the firm in 2014 and making partner in 2019. He was a member of Butler Snow's Commercial and Appellate Litigation practice groups where he gained extensive litigation, arbitration, trial, and appellate experience, 16
having handled cases, as first and second chair, in state and federal courts across the country. He also served as head of recruiting for Butler Snow's Memphis office. Chancellor Perry has been named "Best of the Bar," "Top 40 under 40," and a "Mid-South Rising Star" in business litigation. Never one to toot his own horn, he credits his parents, his students, and many mentors and friends who have provided him with guidance throughout his legal career. In addition to serving as an Adjunct Professor at The University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, the Chancellor has also served a moot court and mock trial coach, helped coordinate the Summer Law Intern Program (“SLIP”) for the Memphis Bar Association, served as a mentor to countless law students and young lawyers over the years. He has also served on the board of directors and numerous committees for many local, state, and national bar associations. He is one of those people who you can always ask for help and who will always try to help you find a path forward. After candidly explaining he had not planned to apply for the vacancy created by the retirement of Chancellor Walter Evans after over two decades on the bench, Chancellor Perry stated he was prepared to do the work because he has been working to prepare himself to do the work. He explained that a number of mentors and friends
who encouraged him to apply, spent time reviewing his application, conducted mock interviews before he met with the Governor, and otherwise supported him after he applied. When asked what advice he would give a law student or young lawyer with judicial aspirations, the Chancellor emphatically stated “put your head down and work hard,” advice that he stated he received from Bruce McMullen early in his career. Citing the latin phrase “Esse Quam Videri,” which means “To be, rather than to seem,” he also cautioned young lawyers and law students not to focus too much on what other people think about them in what he described as a “post social media age,” and instead to focus on being the best they can be. During our interview, Chancellor Perry also spoke fondly of the three years he spent as a Language Arts and Reading teacher at Sherwood Middle School, a Title 1 School in Orange Mound, after earning a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Masters in Education from Wake Forest University. After noting he always thought about becoming a lawyer one day, he recalled feeling that “it [was] more important to be a young teacher in terms of relating to students than it is to be a 25-year old
lawyer.” The Chancellor also believed “being a young teacher [gave him] a very special opportunity to relate to students when you look like them.” The fact that two of his students from 15 years ago attended his Investiture Ceremony in August is a testament to the impact he made, and continues to make, on these young people’s lives. Not to mention, Chancellor Perry described how his teaching career helps him navigate family law cases that often involve issues affecting children such as reading IEP plans to determine what school is best for a student. I, for one, was not surprised to see Governor Bill Lee appoint Chancellor Perry to the bench in June of this year. Not only did his teaching career and legal career prepare him to serve Shelby County in this role, he remained calm during our interview even when I asked him to tell me one thing about him that most people do not know. Chancellor Will Perry is the definition of a servant leader. I know he will continue to do great things for Memphis in his new role as the Chancellor in Shelby County Chancery Court, Part I. And I, for one, am honored to call him my friend.
* To learn more about Shelby County’s newest Chancellor, how his career experiences have prepared him for the bench, and to find out that one thing most people do not know about him, click here to watch the full interview.
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Memphis Bar Association Memorial Service September 24, 2021
'Witness and Respair' Addressed by The HON. GADSON WILLIAM PERRY
I was torn today about what to title this address. Like most of you gathered here, I am a Southerner and a lawyer—which means, among other things, that I am every day steeped in a rich history of words as well as a rich history of conflict. I was looking for words today that would capture what we are here to do—honor lost loved ones who were, among other things, Southerners and lawyers. I started with Aeschylus, the ancient Greek writer known as the Father of Tragedy. He once said that “[t]here is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.” I thought those words apt for a collection of lawyers: Law, alone among the professions, is conflicted about time. Well-worn doctrines like stare decisis and res judicata remind us that lawyers look backwards to go forward. We resolve the conflicts of the present by recourse to the past. So what Aeschylus said about past joy, present grief, and the pain of their union speaks directly to this moment. But his words are not the title for today. They may capture how we feel, but they do not describe what we are here to do. We can, and do, feel pain on our own. We have come together today to do something more. In the 17th century play, “Macbeth,” Shakespeare said that we must “Give sorrow words.” “The grief that does not speak,” he went on, “whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break.” That quote, too, is apt for lawyers. We are ever wont to speak. But it also is not the title for today. Shakespeare moves us from the pain that Aeschylus described to potential release. We release our grief by speaking. But what do we say? Celebrated poet, civil rights activist, and professor Maya Angelou, under whom I had the pleasure of studying in college, spoke, like Shakespeare, of grief as whispers: When great souls die [she said], after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses,
restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed." That quote gets us closer to today’s purpose, I think. Surely what this service is meant to do is say of our lost loved ones, “We can be better, for they existed.” But I did not come here today to whisper, and neither did any of you. So Dr. Angelou also does not supply the title for today’s address. A contemporary and close friend of Dr. Angelou next came to mind: In his seminal 1963 text, The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin said the following: Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have. As we solemnize the loss of loved ones today, we face the reality of death head on. But we are not here to dwell on death. Instead, we celebrate life, which Baldwin later described, in that same text, as “the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we shall return.” Whenever I need words for something, I generally consult one of Dr. Angelou’s other contemporaries, Toni Morrison. When she received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, Ms. Morrison said, “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” We are here today to “do language”—to speak. But we speak, at this service, not of our own lives or to lengthen our respective measures, but to honor the lives of others. I wanted words that spoke directly to that task. So I kept looking for today’s title. === 19
Ultimately, I borrowed the title of an article published in Vanity Fair last year. The article chronicled the loss of the author’s husband to what likely was COVID-19. She ended on this passage: When my Beloved died, a doctor told me: The last sense to go is hearing. When someone is dying, they lose sight and smell and taste and touch. They even forget who they are. But in the end, they hear you. I hear you. I hear you. You say: I love you.
View the Memorial Service
We love you. We ain’t going nowhere. I hear you say: We here. The title of that article is “On Witness and Respair.” The author is Tulane University English professor Jesmyn Ward. She is the first woman and the first African American to win the National Book Award for fiction twice. She is from right down the road, in DeLisle, Mississippi. I confess that upon first view, I misread the title of Ward’s article. I read “respair”—r-e-s-p-a-i-r—as “despair”—d-e-s-p-a-i-r. Then I thought it was a typo; I never had encountered the word “respair.” But I looked it up. It is both noun and verb. As a noun, it means, “the return of hope after a period of despair.” As a verb, it means, “to have hope again.” View Memorial Program
I can think of no better description of what we have assembled here today to do than Witness and Respair. We “do language,” as Morrison said, to honor our lost loved ones. We celebrate their lives, as Baldwin championed, rather than deny their deaths. “We can be better,” as Angelou urged, “for they existed.” We speak, as Shakespeare cautioned, so that our “o'er-fraught hearts” don’t break. We remember joy, in our present grief, as Aeschylus remarked, and endure the resulting pain. We hope again. And we say to our lost loved ones, to their families, and to each other: I love you. We love you. We ain’t going nowhere.
View Memorial Booklet
Memorialize an attorney or judge by making a tax-deductible gift in their honor to the Memphis Bar Foundation. Click Here 20
to make a donation and have an acknowledgement sent to the family.
2021 Virtual MBA Bench Bar Conference By MATT MAY, Bench Bar Conference 2021 Chair
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lthough it was another virtual conference, the 46th annual MBA Bench Bar Conference was a success. The CLE topics were fresh and exciting, and the speakers were all engaging and relevant. The conference featured our keynote speakers Dr. Cornell West and Dr. Robert George in a discussion moderated by Magistrate Judge Charmiane Claxton on Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Thought and Cooperation Across Ideological Lines. If you missed it live, you should find it in the MBA’s on demand library and watch it. We enjoyed hearing from many members of our local bench and bar. A special thanks to all the judges who attended and
participated in so many ways including our successful virtual judicial dine around events. Several attendees also enjoyed a virtual chocolate and wine tasting with Phillip Ashley of Phillip Ashley Chocolates! Thanks to this year’s Bench Bar Committee chaired by Matt May and co-chairs Judge Rhynette Hurd and Judge Charmiane Claxton along with Amber Floyd, Nicole Grida, Patrick Hillard, Dawn Campbell, Lucie Brackin and Lisa Gill. The Conference would not have happened without the work of Lauren Gooch who handled so many details.
Thanks again to all of our Bench Bar sponsors and especially our Keynote Sponsors, The Cochran Firm, Brice Timmons, and Rosenblum & Reisman. Hopefully, we can see you all in person at the 2022 Bench Bar Conference!
Thank You to our 2021 bench bar sponsors
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Bar Scene
3-L Orientation
Bar Scene
YLD Golf Tournament
Bar Scene
YLD Mixer at Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz
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CHANGES AT COMMUNITY LEGAL CENTER By DIANA M. COMES, ESQ.
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s I write this, it's 8:00 in the morning and quiet in the Community Legal Center's office on Adams Ave. Soon, our space will be filled with attorneys, clients, and other staff. Phones will be ringing, clients will be consulting with attorneys and paralegals, and attorneys will be attending court over Zoom. The office will come alive with the busy work of helping our community solve their legal problems. But for now, it's quiet, and I have some time to reflect. Today marks 100 days since I joined the Community Legal Center as its Executive Director, having left my position as a partner with Butler Snow LLP in June 2021. Things look very different for the CLC than they did back in the spring of 2009, when I was a law student volunteer answering phones and handling intake. We've moved out of a corner of the MIFA building into our own beautiful, light-filled space Downtown, we've more than doubled our staff, and we've entered into formed dozens of successful new partnerships and programs. The credit for this incredible transformation goes to our previous Executive Director, Anne Mathes, who led this organization for 6 six years, followed by the capable leadership of Interim Executive Director Jerri Green. I'm indebted to all of their work. When friends and colleagues ask me how my new gig is going, I tell them I love it. My days are full of meetings with community partners and stakeholders, brainstorming with our staff on new initiatives, and seeking and reporting on grants to keep our office humming. I get to support an incredible group of people, all of whom care deeply about the work we do for working families and individuals in Memphis. Every day is a privilege. 24
Like other law firms, we have overcome our share of obstacles during the global pandemic. We now consult with clients remotely, conduct necessary in-person meetings in masks, and Zoom into some courts while waiting for them to re-open in person. But our staff have never wavered in their commitment to delivering access to justice for all. As of this writing, in 2021 alone, we have fielded 3,680 calls for help and assisted helped 1,346 individuals. Our Civil and Pro Se attorneys have helped 59 clients obtain divorces in that time and are also kept busy with clients who face eviction, landlord disputes, and housing scams. Our Elder Law attorney has accepted 18 referrals from the Coordinated Response to Elder Abuse coalition, helping those families protect and remove their loved ones from abusive situations. Our Immigrant Justice Program has seen a dramatic uptick in need, as refugees (including some coming from Afghanistan that we expect to arrive soon) seek our assistance and sponsors of unaccompanied minors are fingerprinted. In fact, the demand for fingerprinting sponsors is so great that we recently added a staffer to provide this service on nights and weekends. I'm also very lucky to have an incredible board of directors and leadership team. In July, we added four
new board members: Liz McKee, Director of Internal Communications for Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz; Mary Morris, professor of legal writing at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law; Van Turner, attorney and Shelby County Commissioner; and Danielle Woods, attorney with Bourland Heflin Alvarez Minor & Matthews. These four impressive and accomplished individuals join our board from different sectors and bring new perspectives and energy to our work. Rounding out the CLC's new leadership team is our Associate Executive Director, Gortria Banks, who served for more than 30 years with the Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk's Office, and our Director of Development and Communication, Jonathan Ealy, who served for over a decade in development with Opera Memphis. All of us are looking forward to advancing the CLC's mission and expanding its reach. Although this is a challenging time for the legal profession and our clients, it is an exciting time for the CLC. We are working on new ways to serve our clients safely as the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus continues to spread in our community. We are exploring new partnerships to reach more clients who need our
help. We are connecting with our donors to show them the tremendous impact that their financial support makes. And we are working on innovative fundraising ideas in the absence of large in-person gatherings. We cannot do this alone. We are profoundly grateful for all of the help from the legal community that we receive, be it attending our virtual events, volunteering with us in-office, providing pro bono legal assistance, or making a donation. If you are interested in getting involved in any of these ways, please contact us at 901543-3395. As I write this, COVID-19 case counts are slowly decreasing from late-summer highs. And drugmaker Pfizer has announced that its vaccine appears to work well in children ages 5-11. We are not out of the woods yet, but I remain hopeful that we will eventually emerge from the depths of the pandemic. The CLC has not gone anywhere, and we continue to serve those who are essential workers and never stopped serving our community. We remain steadfast in our mission to provide quality legal care for the thousands of people in Shelby County who would otherwise go unrepresented. I invite you to join in our mission.
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Circuit Court Report by STEPHEN LEFFLER
DIV. 1: FELICIA CORBIN-JOHNSON 1. CT-3474-20: 11-2-20, Millington Airport Authority v. Tulsair Beechcraft / Memphis, Inc., Breach of Contract), Non-Jury, Michael R. Marshall and Regan S. Sherwood for Plaintiff, John J. Heflin for Defendant. Plaintiff verdict: $177,341.12. 2. CT-4332-20: 11-25-20, Harpeth Financial Services v. Brittney Nash, Breach of Contract (Commercial Loan), Non-Jury, John R. Cheadle, Jr. for Plaintiff, Defendant Pro Se. Plaintiff verdict: $6,676.20. 3. CT-004846-18: 3-25-21, Signpros, Inc. v. Menga Ma d/b/a Area 51 Sports Bar and Vape, Breach of Contract, Non-Jury, Kevin Snider for Plaintiff, John Candy for Defendant. Plaintiff verdict: $3,250.00. 4. CT-000338-18: 9-3-21, Kemetria Yarborough v. Darryl Mitchell, Breach of Contract (Personal Loan), Non-Jury (Video-Conference), Terita M. Hewlett for Plaintiff, Marcus Ward for Defendant. Plaintiff verdict: $11,850.00.
Peter D. H. Baskind for Plaintiff, Sean P. O’Brien and Kevin A. Snider for Defendant. Plaintiff verdict: Permanent Injunction Requiring Re-painting of House. 2. CT-2712-19: 7-19-21, Margarita LeBlanc. v. Haley Sterling, Auto Accident, Jury, Ashley Schuerman Bennett for Plaintiff, Sam Marney for Defendant. Plaintiff verdict: $11,672.96 (Past Medical Expenses - $6,297.96; Past Pain and Suffering: $750.00; Loss of Enjoyment of Life: $0.00; Lost Wages: $4,625.00). 3. CT-003081-17: 9-1-21, John Lynn v. Penske Truck Leasing Co. LP, Auto Accident, Jury, R. Sadler Bailey for Plaintiff, Harry W. Lebair for Defendant. Plaintiff verdict: $1,300,351.00.
DIV. 5: RHYNETTE HURD No verdicts on contested cases this reporting period. DIV. 6: JERRY STOKES
DIV. 2: JAMES F. RUSSELL 1. CT-2683-21: 9-27-21, 3201 Thomas, LLC v. Harvard Stephens, Breach of Contract (Sale of Real Property), Non-Jury, Allen M. Gressett and Stephen W. Schwed for Plaintiff, Defendant Pro Se. Plaintiff verdict: $41,137.44.
DIV. 3: VALERIE L. SMITH No verdicts on contested cases this reporting period. DIV. 4: GINA C. HIGGINS 1. CT-003832-18: 4-21-21, Villages of Cool Springs v. William Goetz, Breach of Contract (Violation of Homeowners Association Agreement), Non-Jury (Case decided on competing motions for summary judgment), 26
1. CT-2671-19: 11-16-20, Saint Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company v. Florida Beauty Flora, Inc., Breach of Contract (Landlord/Tenant), Non-Jury, Don L. Hearn, Jr. and Danielle N. Rassoul for Plaintiff, James Stephen King for Defendant. Plaintiff verdict: $265,804.68. 2. CT-3823-19: 2-2-21, Renita Tate v. Andrew Terry, Breach of Contract (FED), Non-Jury, Robin Eugene Warren, Jr. for Plaintiff, Defendant, Pro Se. Plaintiff verdict: $2,600.00. 3. CT-1883-19: 2-8-21, Francisco Sanchez v. Arthur Perry III, Breach of Contract (Construction on Real Property), Non-Jury, John A. Field for Plaintiff, Defendant, Pro Se. Plaintiff verdict: $8,725.00. 4. CT-0980-20: 5-25-21, Absolute Recovery Services, LLC v. Kenneth Brandon, Appeal of Traffic Ticket, NonJury, Derek E. Whitlock for Plaintiff, Defendant, Pro Se. Plaintiff verdict: $3,350.50.
5. CT-1707-21: 7-7-21, City of Collierville v. Kevelle McGee, Breach of Contract, Non-Jury, Mark S. McDaniel, Sr. for Plaintiff, Defendant, Pro Se. Plaintiff verdict: $10.00 fine.
DIV. 7: MARY L. WAGNER 1. CT-0016-20: 4-27-21, Vakea Bond v. Gregory Rosser, Breach of Contract (Landlord/Tenant, Unlawful Ouster, Trespass), Non-Jury (Video-Conference), Terita M. Hewlett for Plaintiff, Marti L. Kaufman for Defendant. Plaintiff Verdict for $4,090.00. 2. CT-3104-19: 6-30-21, Mock, Inc. v. Larry Ward, Jr., Breach of Contract, Non-Jury, John and Jack Heflin for Plaintiff, Catherine Walsh for Defendant. Plaintiff Verdict: $60,001.27.
2. CT-3995-20: 3-26-21, Affordable Management v. Carolyn Boswell, Breach of Contract (FED), Non-Jury, Lawrence E. Baer for Plaintiff, Defendant Pro Se. Plaintiff Verdict: $20,632.40. 3. CT-004712-16: 7-19-21, Anne Stewart. v. Daniel Whitson, Auto Accident, Jury, Edward J. McKenney, Jr. for Plaintiff, Andrew H. Owens for Defendant, Plaintiff Verdict: $386,661.00 (Past Medical Expenses – $71,661.74; Loss of Earning Capacity – $165,000.00; Past Pain and Suffering - $37,500.00; Future Pain and Suffering - $37,500.00; Permanent Injury - $37,500.00; Loss of Future Enjoyment of Life - $37,500.00) 4. CT-1148-20: 7-27-21, Albert Gooch v. Vanessa Marshall, Breach of Contract (Sale of Real Estate), NonJury, Both parties pro se. Plaintiff Verdict: $250.00.
DIV. 9: YOLANDA R. KIGHT DIV. 8: ROBERT S. WEISS 1. CT-0837-19: 1-25-21, Brian Saulsberry v. Allstate Insurance Company, Breach of Contract, Non-Jury, Kathy Kirk Johnson for Plaintiff, Alex Elder for Defendant. Plaintiff Verdict: $4,500.00.
No verdicts on contested cases this reporting period.
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JUDGE BERNICE DONALD The National Bar Association presented U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Bernice Donald with its Lifetime Achievement Award during its annual Wiley Branton Symposium on October 14.
JUSTICE CORNELIA “CONNIE” CLARK Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Cornelia “Connie” Clark became the first active member of the judiciary to lie in state at the Tennessee State Capitol. Clark is only the second woman to lie in state, following the late Sen. Thelma Harper, who died in April. Only three Tennesseans have been provided with the honor in the past 88 years. Clark, a member of the judicial branch for more than 30 years, died Sept. 24 after a short battle with cancer.
BRIAN S. FAUGHNAN Brian S. Faughnan, shareholder in the Memphis office of Lewis Thomason, was recently elected the President of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers. His term will run from August 2021 to August 2022. He served as Treasurer from August 2018-2019, Secretary from August 2019-2020, and President-Elect from August 2020-2021. Faughnan serves as Lewis Thomason's Associate General Counsel and works in conjunction with the firm's president in all ethics and professional responsibility matters within the firm. Faughnan’s practice is focused on commercial litigation, appellate litigation, and media law. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association, and Memphis Bar Association, and is a Fellow of the American Bar, Tennessee Bar, and Memphis Bar
Foundations. Faughnan earned his J.D. at the University of Memphis, magna cum laude. He holds a B.A. from Rhodes College
JUDGE JULIA SMITH GIBBONS Judge Julia Smith Gibbons of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, is the 39th annual Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award recipient. Nearly 40 years ago, the Devitt Award was created to honor the unsung heroes of the American judiciary. It has risen to become our nation's most esteemed recognition for members on the federal bench. In selecting Judge Gibbons for this honor, Justice Gorsuch said, "Judge Julia Gibbons is a trailblazer and role model in the legal profession. In her home state of Tennessee, she was the first woman to serve as a state trial judge and, later, the first woman to be appointed a federal judge. In addition to discharging her judicial duties, for nearly 30 years Judge Gibbons has also played a vital role in the governance and administration of the federal judiciary nationwide, chairing in turn both the United States Judicial Conference's Budget Committee and its Judicial Resources Committee." Julia Smith Gibbons grew up in the rural Tennessee town of Pulaski. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in 1972 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law three years later. "I am honored to receive the 2021 Devitt Award,'' said Judge Gibbons. "I am humbled that the selection committee and others believed me worthy of this recognition." She continued, "Serving with federal judicial colleagues and staff for the past 38 years, as we have conducted trials, decided cases, and done the work
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If you are an MBA member in good standing and you’ve moved, been promoted, hired an associate, taken on a partner, or received an award, we’d like to hear from you. We will not print notices of honors determined by other publications (e.g., Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers). Notices are limited to 100 words; they are printed at no cost to members and are subject to editing. E-mail your notice and hi-resolution photo (300 dpi) to kswan@memphisbar.org. 28
of judiciary governance, has given me great faith in the federal courts as an institution. Given this context, being the representative of the Third Branch to receive the Award this year is deeply meaningful."
CHANCELLOR JIM KYLE On September 1, Chancellor Jim Kyle began his one-year term as Presiding Judge for the 30th Judicial District. Kyle was a Democratic member of the Tennessee State Senate, representing District 30 from 1982 to August 29, 2014. Prior to being elected judge, Kyle was a partner at the firm of Domico Kyle PLLC in Memphis. The firm focused on civil defense in the areas of health care, product liability, railway law, commercial litigation and general liability claims. He is a graduate of the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and a member of the Memphis Bar Association. Kyle has been named Legislator of the Year numerous times and was the 1985 recipient of the Henry Toll Fellowship of the Council of State Government.
Judge Bernice Donald
Justice Cornelia “Connie” Clark
Brian S. Faughnan
Judge Julia Smith Gibbons
Chancellor Jim Kyle
Gadson William “Will” Perry
INVESTITURE OF GADSON WILLIAM “WILL” PERRY Perry was sworn in as Chancellor, Part 1, in the 30th Judicial District of Tennessee on August 25. Chancellor Jim Kyle and the Hon. Bernice Donald presided over the event, which featured remarks from several judicial, legislative and executive branch officials, and bar assocation leaders. Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins administered the oath of office.
LUCIAN PERA RUNNING FOR ABA PRESIDENT-ELECT Former TBA president Lucian Pera, a partner at Adams and Reese, is one of two candidates running for American Bar Association (ABA) president-elect. Pera and Mary Smith of Illinois appeared before the ABA House of Delegates Nominating Committee Sunday during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago to make their case why they are the best candidate for the job. Both have served as ABA officers. Pera has served seven years on the ABA Board of Governors, including three as treasurer. Smith also served on the board for seven years and as secretary for three. The 69-member nominating committee will make its recommendation to the full House of Delegates for a final selection at the 2022 ABA Midyear Meeting, scheduled for next February in Seattle.
DARYL SMITH, CHAPTER 13 TRUSTEE MAKES ABI TOP 40 UNDER 40 Congratulations to Chapter 13 Trustee Daryl Smith for being named a member of the American Bankruptcy Institutes “40 Under 40” initiative. The honorees will be recognized at a special ceremony to be held on Dec. 10 at ABI’s 2021 Winter Leadership Conference at Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
Daryl Smith 29
