The family of Nashville lawyer Brad Smith will hold a memorial service and wake in his honor later this month. The service will take place Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. at Brentwood Roesch-Patton Funeral Home, 9010 Church St. E., Brentwood, TN 37027. The wake will be held Jan. 22 from 2 to 5 p.m. at 5212 Regent Dr., Nashville, TN 37220. Anyone with photos or stories about Smith are encouraged to email them to unclewinn@yahoo.com or mail them to Becky Rhodes, 1425 Bell Trace Dr., Antioch, TN 37013. Smith died Dec. 15 at age 55.

Nashville attorney Bradley Gordon Smith died Dec. 15 at the age of 55. Smith often served as a moderator at TBA CLEs and was the longtime companion of former TBA staff member Becky Rhodes. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Brentwood-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home. No other details were available.

M. Lee Smith, an influential player in Tennessee Republican politics and longtime publisher and attorney, died yesterday (Dec. 20) from a blood condition. He was 74. A graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, Smith worked as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge William E. Miller but soon set his sights on politics and public policy. He joined the staff of Sen. Howard Baker as a legislative assistant in the late 1960s and then became a top aide to Gov. Winfield Dunn in the early 1970s. In 1975, he left government service and founded M. Lee Smith Publishers. Smith is perhaps best known for the Tennessee Journal, a weekly guide to Tennessee government, politics and business that he started. Smith sold the company in 2005, but it remains active today with online and print publications covering law and politics. The Tennessean has more on his life.

Services will be held Friday with visitation at noon and a memorial service at 2 p.m. at Marshall Donnelly Combs Funeral Home in Nashville.

Betty Moretta Krupicka, 85, retired executive assistant to the Shelby County District Attorney General, died Dec. 10 after a long illness. Colleagues remember that she was known as the “Little General” during her more than 40 years at the district attorney’s office for her extensive knowledge of the law and ability to get things done. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday at Canale Funeral Directors. A funeral mass will be held Tuesday at 1 p.m. at St. Peter Catholic Church. Members of the legal community are invited to a reception immediately following the funeral at the law offices of Burch Porter & Johnson, 130 N. Court Ave. The Commercial Appeal has more on her life.

Nashville lawyer Davis H. Carr died Sunday (Dec. 11) at the age of 76. The former Bradley Arant Boult Cummings partner and managing partner of its predecessor firm, Carr is being remembered as an astute business lawyer and mentor to countless young lawyers. His practice included business law, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and venture capital, and e-commerce and technology law. He also served as general counsel to several financial institutions and on the board of directors for several area banks. He earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1970. Visitation will be Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. and Friday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Funeral Home. A Celebration of Life will be Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Woodlawn’s Dignity Hall. A family burial will be held in Mayfield, Kentucky, on Sunday. Read tributes from Carr’s former law partners.

Knoxville lawyer Charles G. Robinette died Dec. 10 of cancer. Originally from Virginia, Robinette earned his law degree from the University of Memphis School of Law and began practicing in Hawkins County and Kingsport. He later entered the business world, serving as owner of Robinette Iron & Metal in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and working at various financial institutions. He retired as chairman and CEO of all Union Planters operations in East Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky. Funeral services were held this morning at St. John’s Lutheran Church. Knoxnews hare more on his life.

Thomas Wesley Hardin, a native of Mt. Pleasant and the city’s longtime attorney, died Dec. 11 at age 72. A graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Hardin began his legal practice in Columbia with the law office of former state Attorney General William M. Leech Jr. In 1969, Hardin began serving as Mt. Pleasant’s city attorney and held the post for 47 years. He also served as the attorney for the Mt. Pleasant Power System and ran his own law firm in downtown Columbia. A funeral mass will be held tomorrow at 5 p.m. at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Columbia. Visitation will be from 3 to 5 p.m. in the church hall. The Columbia Herald has more on his life.

Lloyd Hal Blevins Sr. died last Friday (Dec. 2) after a brief illness. After serving four years in the U.S. Navy, seeing service in Japan, the Philippines, South Vietnam and Taiwan, Blevins earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. Following graduation, he took over as owner and operator of the Jonesboro Nursing Home, raised cattle and became active in East Tennessee politics, running as the Democratic nominee for the First Congressional District in 1974 and 1976. Blevins moved to Atlanta in 1976 and later to Houston, before returning to Georgia in retirement.

Denise Faili, who previously served in the Knox County Public Defender’s Office, died Nov. 26 in Texas. She was 33. Faili had moved to Alpine, Texas, earlier this year to be closer to her mother and work for the federal public defender’s office. Days after Thanksgiving, Faili and her mother were driving from Corpus Christi to Austin when a car crossed the center line. The head-on collision killed Faili, her mother and the other driver. Faili earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law and clerked for the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals before joining the public defender's office. Donations in her memory can be made to Gideon’s Promise, a training and advocacy organization for public defenders. Read a moving tribute to Faili from a former coworker in Alpine.

Funeral service details for University of Tennessee College of Law Professor Emeritus Otis Stephens have been announced. A memorial service celebrating his life will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday at Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church, 3700 Keowee Ave. SW, Knoxville. The family will receive friends before the service beginning at 10 a.m. and after the service at a reception that will include an opportunity to share stories and memories. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Otis Stephens College of Law Endowment at the University of Tennessee, 1525 University Ave., Knoxville, TN 37996. Stephens died Friday at 80.