Background Check

BACKGROUND CHECK Commissioner James Haltom | Bart Pickett

If anyone has had an eventful and positive year, it has been Commissioner James Haltom. In the last year, he turned 40, had his first child, and took the bench as a trial judge on the Tennessee Claims Commission.

James grew up in Rockingham, North Carolina, the oldest of five kids. He attended University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he studied political science. When 9/11 happened at the start of his junior year, it forever changed his trajectory. He immediately enrolled in ROTC and simultaneously enlisted in the Army National Guard.

Out of college, James first moved to rural Mississippi as part of the Teach for America program. He taught second grade—which he describes as the hardest job he has ever had—and coached high school football. While in his first year of teaching, the Iraq War started, and his National Guard unit was put on alert and then deployed.

James spent the next two and half years on active duty, either training or in combat. He commanded a 20-soldier unit and spent almost every calendar day of 2005 in Iraq. In August 2006, he completed his active military duty service.

Eleven days after coming off active duty, James enrolled at Ole Miss Law School. While there, he served on the moot court board, law review, and as the student body president. Going to law school after fighting in war made him appreciative; he treated law school like a job. While in law school, he also commanded two units in the National Guard—one an hour away and the other two hours away. However, his biggest accomplishment by far at Ole Miss was landing his wife, Claire. He graduated from Ole Miss in 2009.

Claire went to high school and college in Nashville, so James found himself following her to Music City. He clerked for Burr Forman during law school, which led to a job where he practiced for five years in a commercial litigation practice with an emphasis on creditors’ rights and business litigation.

When Nelson Mullins established their Nashville office, they tapped James to help expand its litigation practice. He became a partner at the firm and remained there for another five years before his current judicial position became open.

Most claims against the State of Tennessee are heard by judges known as claims commissioners in each of the three grand divisions of the state. When the Middle Tennessee seat opened in 2019, James applied and was ultimately appointed by the governor in August of that year to serve an 8-year term. He serves as the sole judge for the 42 counties in Middle Tennessee for lawsuits against the state.

James’ courtroom is housed in the Polk Building above TPAC. In his brief tenure, he has already had a dozen multi-day trials. Thus far, he has really enjoyed his new role. He now spends a lot of his time reviewing law and distinguishing facts rather than advocating as he previously did.

Aside from taking the bench about six months before the pandemic, James and Clair added James “Houston” Haltom to their household back in March. Claire works as an equity partner at Baker Donelson, and they live in the Hillsboro/West End neighborhood.

James is about to start his 20th year of reserve military service in the Army National Guard. His current rank is Lieutenant Colonel, and he is the executive officer of the 30th Troop Command which has about 1,500 soldiers.

In addition to his busy professional life, James remains active in his hobbies. He considers himself a serious runner and cyclist. He is also a licensed pilot. During private practice, he would fly to hearings and meetings about three times a month. Now he does not have as much of a need to fly, although he recently flew his wife and son to have dinner with the family in North Carolina.

As Nashville grows, James has been grateful that the collegiality he has experienced within the bar has continued. He is thankful for the friendships he has made through the NBA, which have been so important to his career, and encourages every “casual” member to take on an active role. n

BART PICKETT is an attorney at the Law Offices of Julie Bhattacharya Peak where he represents Liberty Mutual Group, Inc.’s insureds and customers of its affiliated groups in litigation throughout Middle Tennessee. Prior to practicing, Pickett worked as a law clerk for the Honorable Judge Thomas W. Brothers of the Sixth Circuit Court of Davidson County and the Honorable Joseph P. Binkley, Jr. of the Fifth Circuit Court of Davidson County.

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Original Thinking. Unique Protection.® My name was not called, even as an alternate, for that panel. He then started naming the second panel’s members. I made it all the way to Grand Juror Number 19 before hearing my name. I was about to spend one-tenth of my next work year in grand jury duty.

Each panel has a foreperson, a deputy foreperson, and an alternate deputy foreperson. The judge selected me as the alternate deputy foreperson for my panel.

We were informed that our panel would meet every other Thursday and that we should finish each day by 4:30pm. With the instruction to always call in after 5:00pm the night before grand jury duty to find out when to report, I left the building exhausted.

Two weeks later, I reported for my first official day of grand jury duty. My concern, upon learning of my year of service, was about prior commitments like jury trials that conflicted. Any absences had to be approved by the jury coordinator. Unlike a petit jury, a grand jury does not require a unanimous decision and does not require all 23 jurors to conduct business. A majority—or 16 people—must be present to hear evidence. To indict, 12 persons must vote in favor with a standard of probable cause. As it turned out, any time I did need to miss, it was approved.

So how does the process work? We had our very own grand jury room reminiscent of a small college lecture room. There was a table up front for the AUSA, one for the foreperson and deputy, a small witness stand and an off-shoot for the court-reporter. The day typically started with an AUSA giving us an overview of what they planned on presenting and what charges, if any, they would present. Sometimes evidence or testimony was presented without an indictment as the investigation continued or we needed additional testimony. The AUSA would bring in whatever witnesses they had which typically was a federal agent and oftentimes fact witnesses. The fact witnesses having been subpoenaed to be there were advised about their Fifth Amendment right and told they could have an attorney outside of the room to consult with. While the witness was not bound to secrecy, the AUSA always requested that they not talk about it. As grand jurors, however, we are bound to secrecy forever short of a court order allowing otherwise.

I found my year of service to be informative and interesting. People always ask how often we indicted a person. While I cannot give specifics, I can say that the vast majority of the time we did indict, but that went more to the proof and presentation than to a “lower bar” for indictments.

True to the prediction, I saw several people wanting to sign up to serve again on that last day. They had jobs that went on with or without them unlike an attorney who goes home to a full inbox waiting on responses. While I will treasure my service, I will not be jumping in line to sign up again anytime soon. n

BART PICKETT is an attorney at the Law Offices of Julie Bhattacharya Peak where he represents Liberty Mutual Group, Inc.’s insureds and customers of its affiliated groups in litigation throughout Middle Tennessee. Prior to practicing, Pickett worked as a law clerk for the Honorable Judge Thomas W. Brothers of the Sixth Circuit Court of Davidson County and the Honorable Joseph P. Binkley, Jr. of the Fifth Circuit Court of Davidson County.