Chancellor, Chancery Court

Chancellor, Chancery Court

The 95 counties in Tennessee are divided into 31 judicial districts; Davidson County Chancery Court is District 20. Chancellors, or judges, who preside over the chancery court, hear constitutional issues, contract disputes, employment lawsuits, construction, real property and commercial litigation, applications for receivership and liquidation of insurance companies, state tax disputes, workers compensation, local governmental actions, including appeals from a variety of local boards and commissions, applications for injunctions, writs of certiorari, emancipation of minors, and name changes.

The Davidson County Chancery Court is also the court of appeals for several administrative agencies, such as the Tennessee Department of TennCare, Tennessee Department of Labor, and the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, among many others.

Chancellors are elected for eight-year terms and must be authorized to practice law in the courts of Tennessee. In addition, they must be at least 30 years of age and a state resident for five years, and of the district for one year.

PATRICIA HEAD MOSKAL, Chancery Court Part I

Patricia Head Moskal is the incumbent judge running unopposed. Moskal holds a B.A. from Indiana University-Bloomington. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she graduated with highest honors and was a John W. Green Scholar.

Before attending law school, Moskal was a special needs teacher in Chattanooga. She went on to become a longtime employee and partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, where she litigated business and commercial cases, as well as tax law. Moskal served as Vice President and Board Member of the Nashville Bar Association, is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Nashville Bar Foundation, and serves as a Character and Fitness Interviewer for the Board of Law Examiners.

In 2018, Moskal received the Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey Award from The Lawyers’ Association for Women. In 2019, Moksal was appointed as Davidson County Chancellor, Part I, to replace retiring Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman.

ANNE C. MARTIN, Chancery Court Part II

The incumbent Anne C. Martin first took office in 2018. In 2019, the Tennessee Supreme Court appointed her judge of Nashville’s Business Court Docket. Martin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College and a Juris Doctor degree from Vanderbilt University.

Before becoming a judge, she worked for Nashville law firms Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella and Bone McAllester Norton PLLC, where she specialized in commercial litigation and employment law. She describes herself as a “natural networker” who is passionate about “using the special gifts she has developed as a lawyer to help others who cannot help themselves.”

Outside of court, Chancellor Martin is passionate about the numerous charities she works with, especially those benefiting children. The Chancellor sits on the board of special needs education and childcare center First Steps, Inc. and is also involved with the Interfaith Dental Clinic, which provides dental services for low-income and uninsured individuals. She was an Adjunct Professor at the Belmont University College of Law and now teaches at the Nashville School of Law.

I’ASHEA L. MYLES, Chancery Court Part III

I’Ashea L. Myles is running for Chancellor of Chancery Court, Part III. Myles received both her bachelor’s and law degrees from Belmont University and is now an attorney at Spencer Fane Bone McAllester PLLC, where she practices construction, real estate, employment, and commercial business law.

The Nashville Business Journal recently named Myles one of 2021’s Women of Influence and honored her with the Trailblazer Award. She led the first-ever expungement clinic for Rutherford County. Myles was named an Attorney for Justice by the Tennessee Supreme Court for her pro bono service and currently serves as the President of the Napier Looby Bar Association and was a former member on the Board of Directors for the Lawyers’ Association for Women and United Way. She was endorsed by Davidson County Democratic Women.

According to her website, Myles plans to bring a diverse and inclusive perspective to Chancery Court and plans to interpret and apply the law impartially and equally for everyone in this County.

RUSSELL T. PERKINS, Chancery Court Part IV

Russell T. Perkins is the incumbent running for reelection in Tennessee’s 20th Judicial District Chancery Court. Perkins obtained an undergraduate degree from Tennessee State University and a Juris degree from Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law.

Perkins served as an assistant attorney general in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office before joining the Nashville law firm of Williams and Dinkins in Nashville in 1982, where he practiced law for 12 years. From 1994 to 2008, he served in the Tennessee Attorney’s General Office, notably as lead counsel for Tennessee’s historic tobacco settlement. He was appointed to his current position in 2008 and won reelection in 2014.

Russell T. Perkins is the founding pastor of Bread of Heaven Church. In 2000, Perkins received the William M. Leech, Jr. Award. Perkins is a member of the Nashville Bar Association and Harry Phillips Inns of Court.