Funeral services for Chancellor Irvin H. Kilcrease Jr. will be held Monday at Kayne Avenue Baptist Church, 1025 12th Avenue South, Nashville 37203. Visitation will begin at 11 a.m., with funeral services following at noon. Lewis & Wright Funeral Directors will handle arrangements.

Irvin H. Kilcrease Jr., a former Davidson County chancery court judge who served on the bench for more than two decades and was one of the Nashville School of Law’s first African-American graduates, died Monday night. He was 80. Kilcrease was appointed to the bench in 1980 and served until his retirement in 2003. He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Nashville and worked in private practice and as a public defender. Arrangements were not complete at press time. The Tennessean reports on his life.

Family, friends and acquaintances paid their respects to longtime Loudon County General Sessions Court Judge John O. Gibson during funeral services Friday. During the services, many former colleagues shared memories of Judge Gibson, including General Sessions Judge Rex Dale who said, "His life was one dedicated to the service of others. Countless thousands reaped the benefits of his generous heart during his life. His military service, legal practice, judicial duties, church and civic activities have created fond memories and humorous stories from those who were honored to have been in his presence.” Read more from the News Herald.

University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Professor Francis A. Gabor died this weekend at his home. A memorial service and reception to honor his contributions to the law school and the legal community will be held in April, with details to be announced.  Professor Gabor was a Holocaust survivor who came from his native Budapest to the United States in 1968. In addition to receiving his first law degree in Budapest, he received law degrees from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and Tulane.

Knoxville lawyer William F. Searle III died Feb. 27. He was 76. Mr. Searle was a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law and was admitted to practice in 1958. He practiced in Knoxville with the firm of Ambrose, Wilson, Grimm & Durand. There will be a Memorial Service at First Presbyterian Church (620 State Street, Knoxville) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. The family will greet friends following the service in the fellowship hall. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Children's Hospital, P.O. Box 15010, Knoxville 37901, or the music fund at First Presbyterian Church, 620 State Street, Knoxville 37902. Read his obituary here.

Memphis lawyer James W. Hodges Jr. died Feb. 25 at the age of 58. He earned his law degree from the Nashville School of Law in 1982 and joined his father's firm in Memphis, where he practiced with an emphasis in criminal law for many years. A memorial service will be held in the chapel of Central Church, 205 Winchester, Collierville, on Saturday at 11 a.m. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Kidney Foundation or the American Heart Society in his name. Read more from the Commercial Appeal

Former Memphis Bar Association president Edward Preston Acker Smith died Tuesday at the age of 86. A 1949 graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, he practiced law in Memphis for more than 50 years, and was a member of the American Bar Association and a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. At the age of 29, he was elected to the Tennessee Senate, but it was later determined that he did not meet the age requirements, and he did not serve. Visitation is today from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Memorial Park Funeral Home. Services are Friday at 12:30 p.m. in the chapel at Second Presbyterian Church. The family requests that donations be made to the Salvation Army, Memphis Humane Society or the Second Presbyterian Chapel Class. The Commercial Appeal reports

Longtime Clarksville lawyer and former state representative Frank Jasper Runyon II died today at 83. Mr. Runyon graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1957 and returned to Clarksville to practice law with his father. He served two terms in the state legislature from 1967 to 1970. For almost 50 years he was legal counsel to the City of Clarksville and the Clarksville Electric Power Board, and was active in the legal community, serving twice as president of the Montgomery County Bar Association, as a fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation, president of the Tennessee Municipal Attorneys Association and a founding member of the Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society. A rosary service will be held March 2 at 7 p.m. at the Neal-Tarpley-Parchman FuneralHome, 1510 Madison St., Clarksville. Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. on March 2 and from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on March 3 also at the funeral home. A celebration of his life will be held March 3 at 11 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 709 Franklin Street in Clarksville. Burial will follow in Greenwood Cemetery. Donations may be made to the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church School, 1901 Madison St., Clarksville 37043. Read more in the Leaf Chronicle

Henry Von Sutton, 80 of Memphis, died Feb. 27. A native of Crockett County, he practiced law in Memphis for 35 years. Mr. Von Sutton  earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1961. He was active in Democratic Party politics, serving as co-chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee, delegate to the Democratic National Convention and elector of the Electoral College. He ran for U.S. Congress in 1966 on a platform of equality at the polls, at work and in life. The family will receive friends today from 5 to 8 p.m. at Family Funeral Care. Services will be Thursday at 2 p.m. at the funeral home. Memorial donations may be sent to The Kirby Pines Foundation, The Henry V. Sutton Memorial Fund, 3535 Kirby Road, Memphis 38115. Read more about Von Sutton's life in The Commercial Appeal

Charles William "Chet" Gerdts III, a New York lawyer and a member of Vanderbilt Law School's Board of Advisors, died Feb. 16. The 1978 graduate of the law school was 58. Since 2002, he had served as the U.S.-based general counsel of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Read more from Vanderbilt