John Tarpley, shareholder at Lewis Thomason’s Nashville office, is being honored with this year’s ALFA International Nathan Fishbach Attorney of the Year award. ALFA is a global legal network consisting of 150 independent law firms and its Attorney of the Year award is given annually to a person who exemplifies the best attributes of an attorney. According to ALFA’s website, Tarpley was recognized this year for his “service and dedication” that has “led the association through the challenges of 2020 by creating an inclusive framework for the organization and its member firms moving forward.” Tarpley is a past president of the TBA and currently represents the TBA in the American Bar Association House of Delegates. He handles complex litigation in the areas of transportation, tort, product liability and a wide range of insurance-related matters for Lewis Thomason.

Lewis Thomason shareholder Whitney Kimerling has been appointed to serve on the Metro Short Term Rental Appeals Board in Nashville. The board hears and decides appeals from decisions made by the zoning administrator regarding short-term rental permits where it is alleged that the zoning administrator is in error or acted arbitrarily. Kimerling’s practice focuses on the defense of manufacturers in product liability claims pending in Tennessee and throughout the U.S. Her work also includes medical malpractice, premises liability, and transportation litigation. She is a member of the TBA Leadership Law Class of 2019, a member of the TBA Young Lawyers Division and of its Tort and Insurance Law Section. 

The Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association will honor Memphis attorneys Tannera Gibson, Van Turner Jr. and Amber Floyd on Saturday during its virtual 2020 Barristers Ball. Gibson, a member at Burch Porter & Johnson, will receive the A.A. Latting Award for Legal Excellence. Turner, a partner at Bruce Turner, will be awarded the A.A. Latting Award for Community Service. Floyd, Memphis deputy city attorney, will take home the President’s Award. This year’s event “A Night of Good Trouble: Honoring Our Freedom Fighters & Continuing the Pursuit for Justice” will be held at 6:30 p.m. CST.

TBA member and Nashville attorney Mary Griffin has been appointed to the Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority board of directors, the Tennessee Tribune reports. Griffin has served as the State Social Security Administrator since 2011 and describes herself as a “regular WeGo commuter.” She is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Association, a recipient of the Tennessee Supreme Court Attorney for Justice Award and has previously chaired the TBA’s Law Office Technology and Management Section and the Attorney Well-Being Committee. She is an advocate for underserved communities and is passionate about helping those with mental and physical disabilities. WeGo Public Transit CEO Steve Bland called Griffin’s appointment to the board a “welcome addition,” adding that her “public service and strong passion for advocating for others makes her a natural fit for our board to help guide the agency through the challenges ahead.”

Butler Snow attorney and former TBA President Randall Noel last week testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding an evaluation of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, the ABA Journal reports. Noel, who is chair of the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, spoke about the committee’s evaluation process and explained how Barrett earned a “well qualified” rating. In his prepared remarks, Noel explained the evaluation is “based solely on its comprehensive, nonpartisan, non-ideological peer review of the nominee’s integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament.” Noel is a partner at Butler Snow in Memphis and is engaged in a civil trial practice, with an emphasis on commercial, banking, antitrust, data security and products liability matters.

George Scoville, an associate in the Lewis Thomason Nashville office, has been named an adjunct fellow with the Institute for Free Speech. IFS is the nation’s largest organization dedicated solely to protecting First Amendment political speech rights. In his role as an adjunct fellow, Scoville will provide commentary on topics related to the organization’s mission. Most recently, he helped scrutinize Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s judicial record in free speech cases. Scoville represents global and national consumer product brands in products liability actions in the state and federal courts for Lewis Thomason. Additionally, he is adjunct professor of American Government and Constitutional Law in the Department of Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Belmont University. Scoville earned his law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. He is a member of the TBA Young Lawyers Division, as well as a member of the Federal Practice and Litigation sections.  

Memphis attorney and TBA member Brooke Hyman has been promoted to chief of staff for the legislative division of the Memphis City Council. Hyman joined the council four years ago, serving as the senior legal and legislative analyst. Prior to working for the council, she served as assistant public defender at the Shelby County Office of the Public Defender. Hyman is a member of the TBA’s Young Lawyers Division and of the TBA Leadership Law Class of 2020. “This is a wonderful opportunity and I am so grateful,” Hyman said of her promotion in an email to her TBALL classmates. The 2020 TBALL program was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Hyman and other class members will continue the program in the spring of 2021.

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel attorney Charles Gilbreath this week wrote a column for the Daily Memphian paying tribute to his late professor, mentor and friend, Leo Bearman of Memphis. In the article, Gilbreath, who earned his law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, fondly remembers time spent with Bearman, who was Gilbreath’s Products Liability professor during his second year of law school. Gilbreath also reflects on advice and book recommendations he received from the “legal legend” and even their routine lunch orders from McEwen’s. Gilbreath is an employment litigator with his Chattanooga-based firm, a TBA member and a member of the TBA’s Young Lawyers Division. He is a board member of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Chattanooga and a volunteer with the Hamilton County Youth Court. Read his full article here.

On Monday, the Memphis legal community gathered on the steps of the Shelby County Courthouse to celebrate and honor the memory of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The event was organized by attorney and TBA member Jessica Indingaro, who is the assistant county attorney and disproportionate minority contact coordinator for Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ office. Indingaro spoke to the Daily Memphian about Ginsburg, saying the justice had an unconventional career “because she had to be unconventional. Women in the South can really relate to that." Indingaro earned her law degree from Syracuse University College of Law and was previously an attorney with Glankler Brown in Memphis. She is a member of the Junior League of Memphis and the TBA’s Juvenile & Children’s Law Section.

Husch Blackwell attorney Ariel Anthony spoke with the Hamilton County Herald this month to discuss her work with the TBA’s new Diversity Task Force — a 19-member group assembled to take on diversity challenges within the legal profession. When asked about her role within the task force, Anthony said she’ll be “helping to evaluate the current legal climate and the TBA’s policies and practices related to diversity and inclusion,” ultimately making recommendations to the TBA Board of Governors for immediate and long-term strategies. Anthony earned her law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, where in her 3L year, she was chosen to participate in the TBA Young Lawyers Division Diversity Leadership Institute. After law school, she landed in the Chattanooga office of Husch Blackwell and is now a board member of the TBA YLD where she co-chairs DLI. Read more about Anthony’s role on the task force, the hiring process challenges she and colleagues have faced and how she thinks diversity can be increased in Chattanooga’s legal community.