The new Hamilton County District Attorney (either John Allen Brooks or Coty Wamp) will have a lot of room to refashion the office with many experienced prosecutors and staff choosing to either go elsewhere or retire with the change of administration.
The first to go after the recent election defeat of District Attorney Neal Pinkston is Division I supervisor Andrew Coyle, whose last day in the office will be May 27.
Prosecutor Coyle said, "I will very much miss it. Being a prosecutor is incredibly rewarding and provides such a sense of job achievement. I will miss it tremendously."
He said he has been asked to join the law firm of Patrick, Beard, Schulman and Jacoway, where former top prosecutor Lance Pope earlier joined the team. Former prosecutor Kristen Williams is also on staff - as is prosecutor Coyle's wife as a paralegal.
Prosecutor Coyle expects to handle very little criminal defense, if any. The focus will be civil cases, business law, construction, estates.
Mr. Coyle was born in New Orleans, though his parents and grandparents had lived in Chattanooga. His grandfather was pastor of Signal Mountain Baptist Church. His parents had an opportunity to return to Chattanooga and when they arrived back Andrew was 14 and enrolled at McCallie School.
He graduated from UT, then met his wife while they both worked at Southern Star restaurant. Then he went on to Cumberland Law School. He was briefly in private practice before joining the DA's staff in 2015.
Prosecutor Coyle said Neal Pinkston "did a lot for me" in guiding him in the courtroom and eventually entrusting him with oversight of a division of Criminal Court.
He said lead prosecutor Cameron Williams "has been a delight to work with. It was a tremendous honor to be able to try cases together with him."
A number of other prosecutors and staff members are expected to depart.