TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jan 27, 2025

Retired University of Tennessee (UT) law professor Fred Le Clercq died Jan. 12 at age 88. Le Clercq earned a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and received his law degree from Duke University School of Law. He was briefly employed by his father-in-law, Ben Scott Whaley, at the Barnwell Whaley Law Firm in Charleston, South Carolina. Le Clercq was hired by the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1970. He began at the UT Legal Clinic and soon became a law professor, a position he held until 1996, educating an entire generation of Tennessee lawyers. His favorite courses were constitutional law and civil procedure and he was known as an outspoken supporter of the civil rights movement. A memorial service was held Saturday at St. Philip's Cathedral in Charleston.