The civil justice gap continues. According to a 2022 Legal Services Corporation study, 92% of low-income Americans did not receive any or enough legal help for their civil legal needs. Nearly 75% of low-income households had at least one civil legal problem in the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic widened the justice gap. In 2017, 86% of low-income Americans had unmet legal needs, and 17% of low-income households had a civil legal problem in the previous year. Tennessee lawyers and entities have “minded the gap” by generously supporting pro bono efforts. Legal Aid organizations, with limited funding and staff, do their best but cannot serve every low-income person.

From left: Jim Barry, Justice Jeff Bivins, Alison Drowota, Dr. Frank Drowota, Justice Janice Holder, Claire Drowota, Helen Drowota Close, Justice Sharon Lee, Buck Lewis and Doug Blaze

To help close the gap, advocates for access to justice established The Justice Frank F. Drowota Trust to provide supplemental funds to direct providers of legal services to Tennessee’s low-income citizens. With funding from this section 501(c) charitable trust, legal aid organizations will have more resources to serve more individuals with their unmet civil legal needs. The trust’s creation was announced at the August 2023 Tennessee Alliance for Legal Service (TALS) Equal Justice University. Since then, the trust has received substantial pledges and donations and continues to raise funds. The trust will begin distributing funds to legal aid providers this year.

This innovative trust is the first of its kind in the nation. Serving as trustees are former TBA President Buck Lewis, former Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee and Justice Drowota’s widow, Claire Drowota. Trust advisors and trustee successors are previous Access to Justice Commission chair and former University of Tennessee College of Law Dean Doug Blaze, retired TALS DirectortAnn Pruitt and TBA Immediate Past President Jim Barry.

The namesake of the Trust, Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank F. Drowota III, served for 25 years on the Tennessee Supreme Court, from 1980 to 2005. He was the second longest-serving justice in state history and previously served on the Chancery Court of Davidson County and the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Justice Drowota, who passed away in 2018, was the embodiment of fairness, thoughtfulness, and dedication. Justice Drowota’s commitment to justice was an enduring quality during his many years of judicial service.

The trust is seeking donations, lifetime gifts, bequests and a combination of gifts/bequests to expand its reach. If you share a commitment to justice for all and would like to join this effort to help low-income Tennesseans meet their critical legal needs, contributions may be made to The Justice Frank Drowota Trust, c/o Buck Lewis, Baker Donelson, 165 Madison Ave., Memphis, TN 38103. For more information, contact Lewis at blewis@bakerdonelson.com. |||

HON. SHARON G. LEE was a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 2008 to 2023, serving as chief justice from 2014 to 2016. From 2004-2008, she served on the Tennessee Court of Appeals. In 2023, Justice Lee received the TBA’s Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award, the TALS Lifetime Achievement Award and was Legal Aid of East Tennessee’s (LAET) inductee in the Donald Paine Memorial Pro Bono Hall of Fame. She was the 2014 recipient of the LAET’s Chief Justice William Barker Equal Access to Justice Award.

GEORGE T. (BUCK) LEWIS is a former law clerk to Justice Frank Drowota and has practiced law for nearly 45 years. As a shareholder with Baker Donelson, he focuses on appellate work, class actions and complex business litigation. Lewis has served the bench and bar in many capacities, including as president of the TBA, president of the Memphis Bar Foundation, chair of the ABA Pro Bono and Public Service Committee, and chair of the Tennessee Supreme Court ATJ Commission. He volunteers at legal aid clinics and has spearheaded numerous bono initiatives, including the highly successful Tennessee Free Legal Answers.