People in the News

COMMUNITY LEGAL CENTER WELCOMES NEW LEADERSHIP

The Community Legal Center (CLC) has named Memphis attorney Diana M. Comes as its Executive Director. Comes assumes the role following the retirement in March 2021 of the previous director Anne Mathes, who had led the nonprofit legal agency since August 2015. “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to welcome Diana as the new Executive Director of the Community Legal Center,” says Matthew S. Mulqueen, Board President. “Diana brings a unique combination of professionalism, leadership, and character that aligns perfectly with the organization and mission of the CLC. The Board is excited to work with Diana to reach new heights in serving the members of our community in need of critical legal services.” “I am thrilled to join this amazing team and to support the critical work that the Community Legal Center does in our neighborhoods. I look forward to building on the strong foundation laid by Anne and Interim Executive Director Jerri Green,” said Comes. Previously, Comes was a partner with Butler Snow LLP, where she focused her practice on commercial and appellate litigation. Prior to joining Butler Snow, she served as a law clerk for the Hon. Ronald Gilman, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and for the Hon. Jon P. McCalla, United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. She earned her law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Rhodes College. In addition to the newly named Executive Director Diana Comes, the CLC has named Gortria Banks as its new associate executive director and Jonathan Ealy as its new director of development and communications. Banks is a 31-year veteran of the Shelby County/Memphis court systems. She retired in December 2020 after having served as the finance administrator for both general sessions civil and criminal courts. Ealy previously was with Opera Memphis and the Clark Opera Memphis Center for over a decade. He also served as interim executive director of OUTMemphis: The LGBTQIA Center for the Mid-South.

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On Friday, May 14, 2021, Judge Bernice Donald notified President Joseph R. Biden of her intent to “take senior status upon the confirmation of [her] successor.” Donald was appointed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in September 2011 by President Barack Obama. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals is comprised of the states of Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Donald began her career as a General Sessions Judge in 1982, becoming the first African American woman to serve as a judge in Tennessee’s history. After serving six years of her 8-year term, Donald was selected by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to serve as a judge on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Western District Tennessee. In 1988, Donald became the first African American woman in U.S. history to serve as a bankruptcy judge. In 1995, on the recommendation of Congressman Harold Ford, Sr., President Bill Clinton appointed Donald to replace Judge Odell Horton on the U.S. District Court for the Western District.

MAJOR GENERAL ALBERT HARVEY

Major General Albert Harvey received the Judge Pamela L. Reeves Tennessee Professionalism Award from the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) and Tennessee’s American Inns of Court. The award was recently renamed in honor of the late Judge Reeves, who was also the first recipient of the award in 2020. The Judge Pamela L. Reeves Tennessee Professionalism Award is awarded each year to a lawyer or judge whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the rule of law and the highest standards of the legal profession in Tennessee. The award is presented to a lawyer or judge residing in the Grand Division of Tennessee where the TBA’s Annual Convention is held. Harvey was chosen for his decades of leadership and service to the legal profession. He is a past president of both the Tennessee and Memphis Bar Associations and is the immediate past chair of the American Bar Association’s Senior Lawyers Division. Prior to his legal career Harvey was active duty in the United States Marines. He recently retired from the United States Marine Corps Reserve with the rank of Major General. He serves on the adjunct faculty of the University of Memphis Law School teaching National Security Law, and previously served on the adjunct faculty of University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences. He is respected by his peers at the local, state and national levels and unquestionably displays the character and integrity required for this award.

GEORGE T. "BUCK" LEWIS

George T. "Buck" Lewis of Baker Donelson has been appointed as a special advisor to the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service. A shareholder in the Memphis office of Baker Donelson and leader of the Firm's Appellate Practice Group, Mr. Lewis served as chair of the ABA Pro Bono and Public Service Committee from 2016 to 2019. He has also served as president of the Tennessee Bar Association and the Memphis Bar Foundation, and he has chaired the Tennessee Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission. He has twice received ABA Presidential Citations, most recently in 2019 for his work on access to justice issues. Mr. Lewis is also a recipient of the Frances Perkins Public Service Award from the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, the William Reece Smith Jr. Pro Bono Award from the National Association of Pro Bono Professionals, and the Justice Janice Holder Award for Access to Justice from the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services.

Ryan Saharovich will be chairing the firm’s mass torts practice group working on legal cases involving dangerous pharmaceutical products and defective products. Mr. Saharovich obtained his undergraduate degree from University of Texas in Austin and then graduated with honors from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta. At Emory, Mr. Saharovich received the Dean’s award in Legal Writing and Research, and the Custer Tuggle Award in Family Law. He also served as a Notes and Comments editor of The Bankruptcy Developments Journal. His article was published by the Journal and he also won the Keith J. Shapiro Award for Excellence in Consumer Bankruptcy writing for his law review article. While in law school, he served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Jon McCalla. After law school, Mr. Saharovich worked as a litigation associate at Burch, Porter and Johnson for four years.

ROD C. WATSON

Hall Booth Smith, P.C is pleased to welcome Associate Rodrequez “Rod” C. Watson as the Memphis office adds new talent to meet client needs. Rod has extensive litigation experience and has overseen numerous commercial litigation and criminal defense matters from the initial Complaint through dispositive motion practice, alternative dispute resolution, and trial. He also has experience representing various business entities and professional clients in pre-suit investigations. Prior to joining HBS, Rod served as an Assistant Public Defender and worked as an Associate Attorney at a regional insurance defense firm. Rod earned a J.D. from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Mental Health Law & Policy Journal and served as law clerk to the Honorable Jerry Stokes in the Circuit Court of Shelby County, Tennessee. He also served as a legal extern for the United States Attorney’s Office and City of Memphis Attorney’s Office. In addition, Rod was a legal intern for Justice Janice Holder of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Rod also holds a B.S., cum laude, in Political Science, with a minor in Philosophy from Middle Tennessee State University. “We are happy to have Rod join our team in Memphis. He brings great experience and will help us to serve our clients well,” said Jennifer Harrison, a Partner who oversees the HBS Memphis office.

MOSKOVITZ, MCGHEE, BROWN, COHEN & MOORE

The law firm previously known as Shea Moskovitz & McGhee has officially updated its name to Moskovitz, McGhee, Brown, Cohen & Moore, effective July 1. Founded in 1989, the firm focused exclusively on family law for more than 25 years before expanding its practice areas to include criminal defense, asset forfeiture, federal criminal law, personal injury, wrongful death, insurance disputes, commercial litigation, probate and estate planning. The firm’s name change is timely, according to attorney and firm co-founder, Mitch Moskovitz. “The attorneys we added to the firm name are those who have the longest tenure with our practice and they are each deserving of this recognition,” says Moskovitz. New additions to the firm name include attorneys Aubrey Brown, Adam Cohen and Zachary Moore. Attorneys Mitch Moskovitz and Charles McGhee were already included in the previous iteration of the firm’s name. Co-founding partner, attorney Wanda Shea, retired in recent years and is no longer involved in the firm. “We remain grateful to Wanda for her partnership and entrepreneurship that helped us build the thriving practice we have today,” says Moskovitz.

Brown Cohen Moore