NASHVILLE, May 12, 2023 — Chattanooga lawyer Russell Fowler will receive the prestigious Justice Joseph W. Henry Award for Outstanding Legal Writing on June 16 during the Tennessee Bar Association’s (TBA) Annual Convention in Knoxville. The award, which will be presented at the Lawyers Luncheon, was established nearly 40 years ago and is given each year to the lawyer who writes the most outstanding article published in the Tennessee Bar Journal for the preceding year. 

Fowler is being recognized for his article "Tennessee Lawyers Impact America: A History of Advancing the Right to Vote" and companion piece "Dunn v. Blumstein: A Young Tennessee Lawyer Wins Expansion of the Right to Vote, which appeared in the March/April 2022 issue of the Journal. Download a pdf of the articles.

The award is named for the former chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, who was known for his forthright and clear writing. The purpose of the award is to encourage practicing Tennessee lawyers to write scholarly yet practical articles that will be of maximum benefit to the members of the bar. The award is chosen by a committee made up of the chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court or his designee, deans of some of the state’s law schools or their designees — on a rotating basis — and the president of the Tennessee Bar Association. This year, the judges were Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger A. Page, Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law Dean Matthew Lyon, University of Tennessee College of Law Dean Lonnie Brown and TBA President Tasha Blakney.

Fowler is director of litigation and advocacy at Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET), and since 1999 he has been adjunct professor of political science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He served as the law clerk to Chancellor C. Neal Small in Memphis and earned his law degree at the University of Memphis in 1987. Fowler has written many publications on law and legal history, and is a regular columnist for the Journal.

The TBA was founded in 1881. Its membership represents the entire spectrum of the legal profession in Tennessee and beyond.  The TBA is open to all licensed attorneys in good standing, and it is dedicated to enhancing fellowship and professionalism among the members of Tennessee’s legal community.