TBA to recognize Deborah Yeomans at luncheon ceremony Saturday

NASHVILLE, Jan. 16, 2014 — Johnson City lawyer Deborah Yeomans will be honored as the state’s top public service attorney at a luncheon ceremony Saturday in Nashville.

The award will be presented by the Tennessee Bar Association at its 2014 Public Service Luncheon at the War Memorial Auditorium. Held each year as part of the association’s Leadership Conference, the luncheon features honorees in several categories and will include an address by Clarksville Mayor and former Tennessee House Majority Leader Kim McMillan. TBA President Cindy Wyrick also will deliver remarks at the luncheon.  

Yeomans will will receive the Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year Award for her career-long commitment to providing legal representation to the less fortunate as an employee at Legal Aid of East Tennessee. Yeomans has been with agency for 24 years and currently serves as managing attorney for the Johnson City office.

In nominating Yeomans for the award, LAET Associate Director Debra House touted her work on behalf of domestic violence survivors saying thousands of individual clients have benefitted from her assistance, while many other advocates in the state have benefitted from the knowledge she shares. Because of that collaborative approach, the Statewide Domestic Violence Coordinating Council named Yeomans its Advocate of the Year last year. Yeomans also has used her expertise in the courts to ensure that domestic violence victims do not have to pay for orders of protection sought for their own safety. House praised that development, saying Yeomans’ work will “impact countless victims across the state who seek protection through the court system.” Finally, House noted that Yeomans is relied upon by local judges and court clerks for her expertise in the area of domestic violence.

Yeomans earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1988.

The Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year Award is given annually to an attorney who has committed to a career in public service, and over the course of that career, has gone above and beyond the call of duty in representing indigent clients. The award is named for Ashley Wiltshire, the former executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, who served the agency in various roles for 37 years. Wiltshire will be on hand for the ceremony to present the award to Dooley along with Alexandra MacKay, chair of the TBA’s Access to Justice Committee and member in the Nashville office of Stites & Harbison.