NASHVILLE, May 22, 2023 — Rutherford County attorney Mary Bonita Tucker will be honored next month with the Tennessee Bar Association’s Fourth Annual Claudia Jack Award. Named for the late Claudia Jack, a long-time champion of the poor and underprivileged, and a public defender in Maury County, the award is presented to an outstanding public defender or court-appointed private practitioner who serves the legal community and clients in an exemplary fashion.

Tucker has served in a public defender role as a court-appointed private practitioner for involuntary commitment proceedings in Rutherford County since the special court's inception in 2013. Since 2015, she also has defended clients in involuntary commitment proceedings involving the Veterans Affairs Department. Involuntary commitment is a legal process by which an individual deemed by a court to have a mental disorder is detained in a psychiatric hospital for treatment.

Tucker also accepts appointments in probate court as conservator, administrator ad litem, guardian ad litem and attorney ad litem, representing individuals and children in need of special consideration by the courts.

An attorney nominating Tucker for this award wrote that she “serves those who are often either in the worst state of their lives or who are struggling in ways that many will never have to experience or understand,” and that she has helped “ an uncounted number of people” in Tennessee to "live better lives.” She also has been described as “trustworthy and respectful of her clients” and called an “inspiration.”

The Claudia Jack Award will be presented at the TBA Annual Convention in Knoxville on June 16 during the Lawyers’ Luncheon.

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.