Chattanooga Bar Foundation Announces New Fellows

  • Monday, May 6, 2019

The Chattanooga Bar Foundation Fellows will honor five new members for the Class of 2019 on May 15, at the annual luncheon to be held at The Walden Club. Honored this year are John W. Beard, W. Joseph Hollis, Jr., C. Crews Townsend, Philip B. Whitaker, Jr., and Honorable Kevin B. Wilson.

The number of Fellows from any law firm shall not exceed ten percent (10%) of the total number of Fellows.  This percentage may be increased or decreased from time to time by the Committee by amendment of these Rules and Operating Procedures.

 At its annual meeting or at any other appropriate time, the Committee shall elect individuals to become new Fellows.  In any given year, no single law firm may have more than one (1) of its attorneys elected as a new Fellow.  Fellows shall retain membership in the Committee for life subject to the right of the Committee to terminate a Fellow for conduct determined by the Committee to be prejudicial to the objectives of the Committee.

The purposes of the Fellows Committee shall be to promote and improve the legal profession, including the following: 

To promote and improve the study of law and research therein, the diffusion of knowledge hereof, and the continuing education of lawyers;

To promote improvements in the administration of justice and the uniformity of judicial proceedings and decisions;

To elevate the ethical standards of the bench and bar, and to encourage compliance with these standards;

To improve relations between the members of the legal profession, the judiciary and the public;

To relieve, aid and assist, as charitable acts, deserving lawyers who shall be ill, incapacitated or superannuated and in need of aid;

To create scholarships for worthy applicants, based upon moral standards, scholastic achievements, aptitude and need of financial assistance;

To advance the science of jurisprudence; and

To provide funds for and promote any charitable undertaking deemed beneficial for the benefit of the community and recognized as exempt from federal taxation under §501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
       
John Beard is the managing partner in the law firm of Patrick, Beard, Schulman & Jacoway, P.C., which celebrated its 35th anniversary on May 1st.  The firm currently has 16 attorneys.  Mr. Beard practices primarily in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, business and corporate law, contract law and estate planning and administration.

He is past president of the Chattanooga Tax Practitioners.  He has been an instructor for the advanced estate planning course offered by the American College through the Chattanooga chapter of CLU.  He is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Chattanooga.  He has been an instructor for the estate planning session of Financial Strategies for Successful Retirement Services and has given seminars in estate planning.

He attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors in Business Administration with a major in accounting in 1975.  He received his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1978 and was elected Order of the Coif.   He is past president of the Hamilton County chapter of the University of Tennessee Alumni Association and served as national vice president of the University of Tennessee National Alumni Association.

He has served as president of the Leadership Chattanooga Alumni Association and as secretary of the Chattanooga Rotary Club. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce, the Hamilton County Chapter of the American Diabetes Association and the Fairyland Club. He has been active in several capacities for the United Way.

During law school, he received the American Jurisprudence Awards for highest grade in his class in Estate Planning, Evidence and Creditors’ Rights.  He is a member of the Chattanooga and Tennessee Bar Associations and the State Bar of Georgia.

He is married to the former Carol Nation and has two children and three grandchildren.

W. Joseph Hollis, Jr. since 2018, has been employed with Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell, PLC which provides statewide legal services through offices conveniently located in Memphis, Jackson, Nashville and Chattanooga. Prior to the merger with the Rainey firm, he was a partner in the firm of Baker, Kinsman, Hollis & Clelland, PC from 1985 through 2017.

During his 34 years of practice, his focus has been primarily in insurance defense with emphasis in personal injury, wrongful death, premises liability, dram shop liability, common carrier liability, animal liability, general liability and products liability litigation as well as regulatory and contractual interpretation matters. In addition to representing defendants, he also represents Plaintiffs seeking damages in personal injury actions.

He routinely practices in approximately 20 surrounding middle and east Tennessee counties. He is licensed to practice law in Tennessee and Georgia.

Mr. Hollis graduated from the University of Georgia in 1981 and from Walter F. George School of Law (Mercer University) in 1985 after taking a gap year for employment in order to finance his attendance at law school. He is a member of the Chattanooga and Tennessee Bar Associations. He has previously served on the Liberty Bell Award Committee of the Chattanooga Bar Association.

He is a member of Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church at which he previously served on the Diaconate. He has been involved with Boy Scout Troop 116 (Signal Mountain United Methodist Church) in which he has served as a merit badge counselor.

He has been married to Julie B. Hollis for 28 years. She is a CPA, employed as an accountant for TVA and is a 7-time All-American swimmer for the University of Tennessee. They have twins, Jay and Lindsey, who will be attending college this upcoming fall. Lindsey is the 2017 TN State Golf Champion and played for the Signal Mountain High School women’s team. Jay has recently obtained his Eagle Scout rank.

He said, “I am very fortunate to be a part of the Rainey, Kizer firm which is composed of extremely talented and dedicated attorneys and staff whose primary focus is to provide exceptional representation of its clients in a cost-effective and timely manner. Also, I have been blessed to work with and against the fine members of the Chattanooga Bar Association as well as exemplary lawyers in the surrounding counties for 34 years. I find that the court clerks, lawyers and judges I encounter daily to be honest, diligent, cooperative and accommodating individuals. Likewise, I have enormous respect for the Fellows of the Chattanooga Bar Foundation whose shining examples I can only begin to try to reflect.”

C. Crews Townsend, a member with Miller & Martin, is a litigator with more than 30 years of litigation experience. He serves as lead counsel coordinating the defense of multi-district litigation and putative class actions throughout the country. His experience includes serving as national coordinating counsel for a leading consumer products company in multi-district litigations involving an over-the-counter diet drug that contained phenylpropanolamine (PPA). He has also coordinated the nationwide defense of cases arising from recalled products and regularly serves as first chair for consumer class actions that involve false labeling and advertising claims. He is the chair of the firm’s Life Sciences Group.

Mr. Townsend also represents clients in a wide range of other commercial litigation matters. Additionally, he has appeared on behalf of clients in bankruptcy court and before administrative agencies.

Miller & Martin selected him to serve for over 10 years as the firm's General Counsel and Chairperson of the Ethics Committee. He has also served on the Policy Committee (the firm's governing body).

He  holds a J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law where he served as a member of the Law Review and Moot Court Board. He holds a B.A. from Washington and Lee University.

His honors include Best Lawyers "Lawyer of the Year" - Product Liability Litigation Defense, 2016 and 2018; Martindale-Hubbell - AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated; Mid-South Super Lawyers, since 2012; The Best Lawyers in America© - Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation and Product Liability Litigation-Defendants, since 2010.

In 2013, he was given the Special Services Award by the Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association

In 2018, he was recognized by Legal Aid of East Tennessee at its annual Pro Bono Night event for his outstanding commitment to pro bono service and was inducted as the inaugural member into its Pro Bono Hall of Fame, which was renamed as the Charles W. “Buz” Dooley Pro Bono Attorneys Hall of Fame.

Philip B. Whitaker, Jr. is a shareholder with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, where he specializes in financing, real estate, and other business transactions, primarily in the transportation, mixed use, and seniors housing areas.  His practice also includes the drafting of wills and trusts and the implementation of estate planning strategies.

He is a member of the board of trustees of The Baylor School and has served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Club of Chattanooga, Friends of the Park, Metropolitan YMCA, and other civic organizations.  He is a member of the Church of the Good Shepherd on Lookout Mountain where he serves as a verger. 

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and his law degree from the University of Tennessee where he served on the Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif upon graduation.

He served on active duty with the United States Navy as a surface warfare officer. 

His professional honors include listings in The Best Lawyers in America and Martindale-Hubbell-AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated.

Honorable Kevin B. Wilson obtained a J. D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law, Knoxville, in 1981, and a B.S. in Business Administration, Southern Adventist University, Collegedale, in 1978.  He is admitted to practice in all Courts in Tennessee and Georgia and all Federal Courts in Tennessee.  He has been the Judge of the City of Collegedale Municipal Court since 1990, being re-elected three times.

Judge Wilson moved to Chattanooga in 1982 and opened a law office with his wife Scarlett T. Wilson.  He has been engaged in a general practice since then and is currently Managing Partner of Kevin B. Wilson Law Offices, with Chattanooga and Orlando, Florida Offices.  His legal affiliations include the Chattanooga Bar Association, Tennessee Municipal Judges Conference, Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference, ACA International and Members’ Attorney Program, and Tennessee Collectors Association. 

 

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