Retired Memphis lawyer Leonard V. Hughes Jr. of Germantown died Dec. 9, 2020, at the age of 85. A graduate of the Southern Methodist University Law School, Hughes was initially licensed in the Texas. He became licensed in Tennessee in 1960 and spent 50 years with the law firm of Hoffman, Hughes & McWhorter. Burial was at Memorial Park in Memphis.

Attorney William Richard “Rick” Baker passed away suddenly at his Blount County home on March 3. He was 58. Baker earned his law degree from the University of Memphis in 1988 and practiced as a plaintiff’s attorney his entire career. He was a member of the American Association for Justice and the Tennessee Association for Justice. Memorial donations can be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. A private service will be held at a later date.

Jackson attorney David Hardee passed away on March 17 after a battle with the COVID-19 virus. He was 67. Hardee received his law degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University and went on to help form the law firm now known as Hardee, Martin & Owens in 1986. Hardee was admitted to practice in all Tennessee courts and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee and was a member of the state and American Associations for Justice and the Inns of Court. Hardee’s memorial service was held at Northside Church yesterday and a video of the service can be found on Northside’s Facebook page. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Women of Hope Recovery Center, P.O. Box 94, Medon, TN, 38356, or RIFA, P.O. Box 2301, Jackson, TN, 38302. 

Retired Knoxville lawyer Allen J. Ware Jr. died March 2 at 92. A graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Ware practiced real estate law for more than 50 years, first as a partner at Ayres, Parkey, Skaggs & Ware, and then for many years as a solo attorney. He was a member of the South Knoxville Optimist Club, West Knoxville Kiwanis Club, where he served as president, and Sons of the Revolution. He also volunteered as a Little League baseball coach, intramural basketball coach, Boy Scout leader and “Big Brother” for Kids Hope USA. The family requests memorial contributions be made to Every Home for Christ, P.O. Box 64000, Colorado Springs, CO 80962 or to a charity of the donor’s choice.

Baltimore mediation attorney and former American Bar Association President J. Michael McWilliams died on Feb. 23. He was 81. McWilliams spent two years as an assistant attorney general of Maryland and later served as counsel to the state Department of Transportation. He participated in the 1978 gubernatorial campaign of Harry R. Hughes and later headed his transition team. McWilliams became president of the ABA in 1992 and established McWilliams Dispute Resolutions Inc. in 1997, where he stayed until his retirement in 20017. Due to the pandemic, plans for a memorial service are incomplete.

Gary Ronald Thompson died Feb. 26 at the age of 77. A native of Ashland, Kentucky, Thompson attended Morehead State College before transferring to Western Kentucky University. After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served a one-year tour of duty in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star. Thompson returned to Nashville and worked at National Life and Accident Insurance Company while attending Nashville School of Law at night. Following graduation, he opened a private law practice in Huntingdon, where he also sat as a judge on occasion. He later moved back to Nashville and worked at Third National Bank as an in-house attorney until 1994. He finished his law career as senior counsel at the Tennessee Attorney General's office where he worked until his retirement in 2010. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Alzheimer's Association or Woodmont Christian Church.

Former 30th Judicial District Criminal Court Judge James C. Beasley Jr. died Feb. 21 according to the Administrative Office of the Courts. Beasley served the people of Shelby County for 22 years as a judge, from 1995 until his retirement in 2017. Prior to his judicial career, Beasley served as an assistant district attorney general there for 17 years. He graduated from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 1977. In pursuing a career in the law, he followed in the footsteps of his father, Judge James C. Beasley Sr., who was an assistant district attorney general in Shelby County and then a judge on the 30th Judicial District Criminal Court. 

Legendary Georgia attorney Bobby Lee Cook died today at his Lookout Mountain home. He was 94. In his storied career, Cook represented moonshiners, money launderers, bootleggers and bank fraud schemers, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. The 1980s television show “Matlock,” starring Andy Griffith, was reportedly based on Cook’s practice, and his defense of Savannah socialite Jim Williams was the inspiration for the true-crime classic “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” He was a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School.

Longtime Nashville attorney Robert “Bobby” Jackson Jr. died Monday after a brief hospitalization. He was 79. Jackson graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1965 as one of the first to complete an undergraduate and law degree in six years. He began his career with his father, Eugene D. Jackson Jr., in the Nashville firm of Jackson, Tanner and Reynolds. He later joined his son, Robert Todd Jackson, to form Jackson and Associates. Considered by some as the dean of the domestic bar in Nashville, Jackson mediated more than 2,000 divorce cases during his more than 50-year career. His family includes seven consecutive generations of lawyers. Memorials may be made to Centennial Heart, H.A.R.T. Inc. or Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Department of Cardiac Surgery.

Kingsport lawyer Gorman Waddell died on Feb. 13. A graduate of Vanderbilt Law School, Waddell would go on to practice law for 56 years. In 1966, he helped establish Moore Stout Waddell Law Firm in Kingsport, which would later become Wilson Worley Moore Gamble and Stout. Gorman served on a number of boards in the Kingsport area and was involved with many service clubs within the community. Gorman will lie in state tomorrow from noon until 4 p.m. EST at Hamlett Dobson Funeral Home and a private graveside service will be held per his wishes. A celebration of life service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to make a donation in Waddell’s memory may do so to Second Harvest Food Bank, 1020 Jericho Dr., Kingsport, TN 37663.