With a new year under way, American Law Daily offers a review of notable members of the legal community who passed away in 2012.

Chattanooga lawyer Hal Fredric Sherman Clements died on Saturday (Dec. 29). A memorial service will be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at a date and time to be determined. The family suggests that memorials be made to The Tennessee River Gorge Trust, 535 Chestnut Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402, or online at www.trgt.org. Arrangements are by Heritage Funeral Home, 7454 East Brainerd Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421.

Raymond R. Murphy Jr., 76, of Lookout Mountain, Ga., died yesterday (Dec. 30) after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Murphy returned to the southeast to work for Spears, Moore, Rebman (now Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams). He then joined Miller & Martin in 1963, where he became a senior partner focused on civil litigation and dispute resolution. His service to the bar included a term as member and president of the Chattanooga Bar Association Board of Governors; sitting on the board of Chattanooga Area Law Enforcement Commission; and being named a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Tennessee Bar Foundation and the Chattanooga Bar Foundation. Funeral services will be held Thursday at the Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church at 11:30 a.m. The family will receive friends beginning at 10 a.m. at the church. A private burial will follow at Forrest Hills Cemetery. The family reports that memorial contributions may be made to Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church, Teen Challenge of the Mid South or Hospice of Chattanooga. Read a full obituary at Chattanoogan.com

Federal Judge Robert Bork died early Wednesday in Arlington, Va., from complications from heart disease at the age of 85, the Washington Post reports. Known as a conservative icon, Bork was famously known for firing Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox during the “Saturday Night Massacre” of 1973, and whose failed nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1987 sparked an enduring political schism.

Clarence W. “Pete” Phillips Jr., a Tennessee state legislator representing Lincoln County for 30 years, died last week in Shelbyville. The son of Bedford County Judge Clarence Waters Phillips, he earned a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School and went on to serve as president of the Shelbyville-Bedford County Bar Association. In the legislature, he served as chairman of the House Calendar and Rules Committee and the Commerce Committee’s Utilities and Banking Subcommittee. Among his many accomplishments were the expansion of the Murfreesboro Highway from Shelbyville to Rutherford County, securing funding for the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy and the creation of the Shelbyville-Tullahoma Bypass. Funeral services were held Saturday. The Elk Valley Times has more on his life.

Nashville lawyer Mary Martin Schaffner, 73, died Dec. 5 of complications from cancer. Schaffner earned her law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1977 and spent her entire legal career at the firm of Howell & Fisher, where she earned a reputation as a tenacious litigator. Among her many accomplishments, Schaffner was a founding member of the Tennessee Bar Journal Editorial Board, which began in 1989, and was a member of the Court of the Judiciary. Visitation will be held at her home, 3702 Granny White Pike, on Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m. Read the full obituary in The Tennessean

Albert Benton Merkel Sr., 68, died at his home in Jackson on Dec. 1 after a six-year battle with cancer. Merkel earned his law degree in 1975 from Memphis State University and returned to Jackson to practice law. During his 36-year career, he practiced primarily in the area of bankruptcy law and served his local bar, the Jackson-Madison County Bar Association, in a variety of roles, including a term as president. Funeral services were held this morning. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials be made to Youth Town of Tennessee, P.O. Box 1385, Jackson, TN 38302. Read the full obituary in the Jackson Sun.

Memphis attorney Anthony Harold D. Archibald Sr., 63, died Nov. 30. A 1974 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Archibald began practicing law shortly thereafter with the firm of Archibald & Halmon PC. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at MJ Edwards Funeral Home, 1165 Airways. Funeral services will be Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Midtown Church of Christ, 1930 Union Ave.

Donald J. Hall, a celebrated professor of criminal law, who served on Vanderbilt’s law faculty from 1970 until his retirement in 2007, died Nov. 29 at the age of 69. Well regarded by students and colleagues, Hall was the author of a national casebook on criminal procedure, held the Vanderbilt University Chair for Teaching Excellence in 1994 and served as the law school’s associate dean from 1979 to 1984. He also coached the school’s national moot court team for many years and mentored generations of students. Hall was active outside the university setting as well, serving as chair of the state Ethics Commission, co-chair of the Tennessee Commission on Gender Fairness, a member of the Tennessee Sentencing Commission, and a member of the Governor's Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform and the Governor's Task Force on the Use of Enhancement Factors in Criminal Sentencing. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Family and Children’s Center of Nashville, the Donald J. Hall Scholarship Fund at Vanderbilt Law School or to a charitable organization of the donor’s choice. Read more from the school

Former Circuit Judge Thomas Greer died this morning (Nov. 29). He was 89. A Cumberland School of Law graduate, Judge Greer was appointed to the Twelfth Judicial Circuit post in 1970 and served until 1994. After leaving the bench, he conducted a limited law practice and did pro bono work. Visitation for Judge Greer will be Saturday at Ewton Funeral Home in Dunlap,  from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Dunlap. Funeral services will take place directly following visitation at 2 p.m.