Services have been set for Knoxville lawyer and former TBA Board of Governors member Jack Humphreys “Nick” McCall Jr., who died April 13 at the age of 63. A celebration of life will be held July 14 from 1-4 p.m. EDT at the Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum, 2743 Wimpole Ave., Knoxville 37914. Memorial donations may be made to Legal Aid of East Tennessee, 100 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., Ste. 402, Chattanooga, TN 37402 or East Tennessee Veterans Memorial Association (ETVMA), PO Box 3714, Knoxville, TN 37927. Read TBA's news of his passing in April.

Civil Rights activist and pioneer in nonviolent protest, James Lawson, died yesterday at the age of 95, according to the Tennessean. Lawson inspired a generation of activists in the earliest days of the Civil Rights Movement, including helping to organize the movement to desegregate lunch counters in Nashville. Imprisoned as a conscientious objector during the Korean War in the early 1950s, Lawson was also kicked out of Vanderbilt University and arrested for organizing student demonstrations. During his incarceration, he said he learned about the nonviolent protests led by Mohandas Ghandi in India. In 1960, Lawson drafted the first purpose statement for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), an organization led by Nashville students. In 1961, he was arrested during a freedom ride and held in a Mississippi prison for weeks. Lawson was working on the sanitation strike in Memphis in 1968 and called Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to participate, then leading marches in the wake of King’s death. In 2006, Vanderbilt invited Lawson back to the school as a divinity professor. The university later purchased his writings and photographs, and in 2021, launched the James Lawson Institute for the Research and Study of Nonviolent Movements.

A Celebration of Life service for former Judge R. Leon Jordan will be held June 28 at 10 a.m. CDT in the Howard Baker Jr. Courthouse, 800 Market St., Knoxville 37902. Jordan was confirmed to the federal bench in 1988 and served as senior U.S. district judge from 2001 until late 2023. He died in February at age 89.

Kevin Gene Steiling of Franklin died May 25 at the age of 69. A 1983 graduate of the Boston College Law School, Steiling moved to Nashville and began his lengthy career at the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office. From 1983 to 2016, he served as an assistant attorney general and then a deputy attorney general working on civil rights, employment discrimination and contract and construction litigation with jury and non-jury trials in federal and all state courts and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Steiling also spent three years working in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office as an assistant attorney general in the Trial Division/Real Estate Section, handling eminent domain cases. A memorial gathering will be held on June 8 from 1-4 p.m. at Williamson Memorial Funeral Home, 3009 Columbia Ave., Franklin 37064.

Richard Randolph Ruth Jr. of Walden died May 25 at the age of 86. Originally from Pennsylvania, Ruth earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1965. He practiced in Chattanooga from 1965 until 2002, including time with the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office; Luther, Anderson, Ruth & Cleary; Ruth & Foster; and Ruth & McCarthy. After retiring, Ruth volunteered with the Legal Aid of East Tennessee and was instrumental in advocating for the Tennessee Supreme Court’s adoption of the “Pro Bono Emeritus Rule” in 2010, which provides special status to retired attorneys who volunteer to assist indigent clients. Ruth also was honored with the Jac Chambliss Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chattanooga Bar Association in 2010. A private memorial service will be held for the family. Memorial contributions may be made to Legal Aid of East Tennessee, National Kidney Foundation or Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.

Kingsport attorney Julia C. West died May 16 at age 85. She graduated from East Tennessee State University (ETSU) with a degree in English and master's degree in English Literature. West went on to pursue a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law and began practicing law in 1992. Her legal career spanned more than two decades, focusing on government tort liability. She was a member of the Tennessee Bar Association and the Kingsport Bar Association, serving as its president in 2000. Services will be held at 1 p.m. EDT on May 23 at Oak Hill Memorial Park, 800 Truxton Dr., Kingsport 37660. A memorial service will follow at 1:30 p.m. at Hamlett-Dobson Funeral Home, 117 E. Charlemont Ave. The family will receive friends following the service. In lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Julia C. West Foundation, established to continue West's legacy by supporting local education and arts, as well as efforts to support animal welfare. Donations should be addressed to Julia C. West Foundation, 537 E. Center St., Kingsport, TN 37660.

Memphis lawyer James Torreyson Allison died April 19 at the age of 92. According to an obituary sent to the TBA, Allison was originally from Arkansas. He served in combat in the Korean War with the First Marine Division, and later graduated from the University of Arkansas and Vanderbilt University Law School. He began practicing law in Memphis in 1963 with the firm of Clifton and Mack and then established his own practice. He was well read and fond of jazz, movies and the outdoors. A graveside funeral was held May 2 at Memphis Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens in Bartlett.

The Bankruptcy Section of the Memphis Bar Association will hold a celebration of the life and career for David S. Kennedy, the late U.S. bankruptcy judge for the Western District of Tennessee, on May 13 from 3-5 p.m. CDT. The event will take place at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, 4th Floor Reading Room, 1 Front St., Memphis 38103. To attend, please email Johnell Goins no later than May 6. Kennedy died Nov. 26, 2023, at the age of 79. Memorial donations may be made through the University of Memphis Foundation to the Hon. David S. Kennedy Bankruptcy Achievement Award Fund (find the fund by clicking on the "search all funds" button). View an invitation to the event.

Members of the Tennessee judiciary are remembering retired Knox County Circuit Court Judge Wheeler A. Rosenbalm, who died on April 21. Rosenbalm served as a judge for 22 years, from September 1990 until his retirement in January 2013. Prior to joining the court, Rosenbalm was a partner with the Knoxville law firm of Frantz, McConnell & Seymour LLP. He earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where he also was an instructor and associate professor of law. Judge Deborah C. Stevens, who succeeded Rosenbalm on the bench, said he was “a very good man, a brilliant lawyer and an extremely well-respected judge.” Rosenbalm was a member of the Knoxville Bar Association, and a fellow in the Tennessee Bar Foundation and American College of Trial Lawyers. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

Memphis lawyer Jack Lewis Halliburton died April 14 at the age of 94. Halliburton earned his undergraduate degree from Memphis State University in 1954 and his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. He returned to Memphis after graduating and practiced law there for 56 years. Visitation will be held Saturday from 1:30-2:30 p.m. CDT at Memorial Park Funeral Home, 5668 Poplar Ave., Memphis 38119. Memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.