Rev. James Netters, civil rights leader, pastor and one of the first Black members of the Memphis City Council, has died at age 93. His death was announced yesterday by Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Westwood, where he served as pastor for more than 60 years. Netters began his decades-long work of advancing civil rights after he attended the March on Washington in 1963. Inspired by national civil rights leaders, Netters returned to Memphis and started a bus boycott, working with Rev. Billy Kyles to ultimately integrate the city bus system. As a city councilman, Netters marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in support of the city’s sanitation workers' strike in 1968. King was in town for the event when he was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel. Netters frequently spoke to lawyers about the civil rights movement in Memphis. The Commercial Appeal and U.S. News have more on his life.

Bob Covington, former professor at Vanderbilt Law School, passed away on Nov. 29 at 84. Covington received his undergraduate degree from Yale before earning his law degree from Vanderbilt Law School in 1961. He was offered a fellowship to teach and serve as a research fellow at Vanderbilt Law immediately after graduating and accepted an offer to join the law faculty permanently when the fellowship ended. Covington taught labor and employment law for 46 years until his retirement in 2007. Covington received Vanderbilt’s Thomas Jefferson Award in 1992 and when the law school was expanded and renovated in the early 2000s, the Covington Room was named in his honor. A small family memorial service will be livestreamed from St. George’s Episcopal Church on Dec. 11 at 11 a.m. CST. Donations in Professor Covington’s memory can be made to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee “Covington Quality of Life Fund,” which supports the Nashville symphony, opera, ballet and the Frist Art Museum; to Vanderbilt Law School; or to a charity of the donor’s choice.

Clarksville lawyer Alex Whitefield Darnell died Nov. 24. He was 91. Darnell attended Vanderbilt University Law School and was coach of the Vanderbilt freshman football team while earning his law degree. After graduation, he served two years in Germany with the U.S. Army and returned to Clarksville where he was in private practice until he was appointed clerk and master of Montgomery County Chancery Court. Darnell was appointed chancellor of what was then the 6th Chancery District and served more than 20 years on the bench. There will be a graveside service at Greenwood Cemetery Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. CST. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate gifts to the Sarah Howser Darnell History Scholarship Endowment at Austin Peay State University, P.O. Box 4417, Clarksville, TN 37044, or Urban Ministries Safe House, 217 South 3rd Street, Clarksville, TN 37040.

Shelbyville attorney John Richardson White died unexpectedly on Nov. 24 at 75. White, a native of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, earned his undergraduate degree at the University of the South in 1967 and his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1971. He was a U. S. Army veteran and worked for First American Trust Department, Associated Milk Producers Inc., Barnett & Alazia and was a partner with the Shelbyville law firm Bobo Hunt & White, for almost 30 years. A private graveside service was held Sunday. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN  38105 or Second Harvest Food Bank, 331 Great Circle Road, Nashville, TN  37228.

Judge Lloyd Raymond Grimes, a general sessions and juvenile court judge in Montgomery County, died Thursday after being hospitalized with the COVID-19 virus for several days. He was 73. Grimes earned his law degree from the University of Memphis School of Law in 1980, and practiced in Clarksville before becoming a judge in 1998. He also served as a judge for the Montgomery County Drug Court beginning with its inception in 2005. Grimes served as president of the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in 2010, and received the McCain-Abernathy Memorial Award from the council in 2011. He also served as a Montgomery County Commissioner for several years. A celebration of life will be held tomorrow at 3 p.m. CST at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Montgomery County Recovery Court, 2 Millennium Plaza, Clarksville, TN 37040.

Clarksville lawyer John Minor Richardson, 98, died Friday at his residence. Richardson earned his law degree from the Vanderbilt University Law School in 1950. He was a U.S. Army veteran, practiced law in Clarksville, and served two terms in the Tennessee State Legislature. He also was a TBA Senior Counselor. A private family service will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. CST at the Neal-Tarpley-Parchman Funeral Home. A live stream of the service will be available at www.nealtarpleyparchman.com. Burial will follow at Greenwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Clarksville Christian School, 505 Highway 76, Clarksville, TN 37043.

Drew S. Days III, a lawyer who grew up in the segregated South, devoted much of his career to the cause of racial equality, and became the first African American to lead the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division died Nov. 15 at age 79, the Washington Post reports. His death was announced by Yale Law School, where he was a professor emeritus. Days spent decades seeking to advance the cause of civil rights from positions both inside and outside the government. He was a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund before being tapped by President Jimmy Carter for the DOJ role. He also served as solicitor general under President Bill Clinton. He joined the Yale Law School faculty in 1981 and taught at the university until retiring in 2017.

Memphis lawyer James J. "Jim" Webb Jr. died Nov. 10 at the age of 63. A 1995 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Law, Webb began his career as a law clerk to Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Holly Kirby while she was on the Tennessee Court of Appeals. In 1997, he joined Crone & Mason, and then in 2010, moved to the Miles Mason Family Law Group. He was the senior associate attorney there at the time of his passing. Colleagues called Webb "one of the brightest, finest lawyers” and “one of the best people” they knew. Memorial donations may be made to the American Diabetes Association.

Tommy Pacello, an attorney and city planner who championed changes in streets and buildings to make Memphis a friendlier place for pedestrians, died Monday night at 43. He had previously announced his diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer. With a law degree and master's degree in city and regional planning from the University of Memphis, Pacello worked as an assistant city attorney in the division of planning and later served as president of the Memphis Medical District Collaborative. The Commercial Appeal has more on his work and legacy. Funeral arrangements are still pending.

Chattanooga lawyer John Tate Rice died Nov. 9 at 72. A 1973 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, he was admitted to the bar in Tennessee and South Carolina the next year. He also was licensed to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. Rice served on the board of the Chattanooga Bar Association from 1985 to 1987 and from 2007 to 2011, and served as president of the organization in 2010. He was named a fellow of the Chattanooga Bar Foundation in 2011. Memorial donations may be made to Operation Smile, Children's Hospital at Erlanger or First Centenary United Methodist Church. No services have been announced.