The Chattanooga Bar Foundation Fellows on Wednesday, May 15, will honor five new members during the annual fellows luncheon, to be held at The Walden Club. Joining this year are attorneys John Beard, Joe Hollis, Crews Townsend, Phil Whitaker and the Hon. Kevin Wilson.
“Being a fellow of the Chattanooga Bar Foundation is an honor,” says CBF President Jay Morgan. “To be invited by one’s peers to become a fellow, an attorney must have an outstanding record of service to both the Chattanooga Bar Association and the broader community.”
Being a fellow of the CBF also comes with responsibilities, Morgan adds.
As a group, the fellows work to improve the study of law, the administration of justice and relations between the members of the legal profession and the public.
The fellows also aim to elevate the ethical standards of the bench and bar, help lawyers who are ill, award scholarships and provide funds for charitable causes.
“It’s no small honor or responsibility to be a fellow,” Morgan continues. “Yet each year, when the CBF invites a select few Chattanooga-area attorneys and judges to join its ranks, they answer the call.”
To join the fellows, new members must make a financial donation to the organization.
John Beard
Beard is the managing partner of Patrick, Beard, Schulman & Jacoway, which celebrated its 35th anniversary May 1. Beard practices primarily in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, business and corporate law, contract law and estate planning and administration.
Beard is a past president of the Chattanooga Tax Practitioners, a member of the Estate Planning Council of Chattanooga and has given seminars in estate planning.
He attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he was awarded a degree in business administration in 1975.
He earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1978 and was elected to the Order of the Coif.
Beard is a past president of the Hamilton County chapter of the University of Tennessee Alumni Association and has served as national vice president of the University of Tennessee National Alumni Association.
He has also served as president of the Leadership Chattanooga Alumni Association and as secretary of the Chattanooga Rotary Club. In addition, Beard has served on the board of directors of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, the Hamilton County Chapter of the American Diabetes Association and the Fairyland Club.
He’s also been active in several capacities for the United Way.
Beard is a member of the Chattanooga and Tennessee Bar associations and the State Bar of Georgia.
He’s married to the former Carol Nation and has two children and three grandchildren.
Joe Hollis
Hollis is employed with Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell. Before the merger with the Rainey firm, he was a partner in the firm of Baker, Kinsman, Hollis & Clelland from 1985 through 2017.
During his 34 years of practice, Hollis has focused on insurance defense, as well as regulatory and contractual interpretation matters. In addition to representing defendants, Hollis also represents plaintiffs seeking damages in personal injury actions.
Hollis routinely practices in approximately 20 surrounding Middle and East Tennessee counties. He’s licensed to practice law in Tennessee and Georgia.
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’s a member of the Chattanooga and Tennessee Bar associations. He’s previously served on the Liberty Bell Award Committee of the CBA.
Hollis is a member of Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church, where he previously served on the Diaconate. He’s also been involved with Boy Scout Troop 116 (Signal Mountain United Methodist Church), where he served as a merit badge counselor.
Hollis has been married to Julie Hollis for 28 years. They have twins, Jay and Lindsey, who will be attending college this fall.
“I’ve 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,” Hollis says. “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.”
Crews Townsend
Townsend is a member of Miller & Martin and a litigator with more than 30 years of experience. He serves as lead counsel, coordinating the defense of multidistrict litigation and putative class actions throughout the country.
He also represents clients in a wide range of other commercial litigation matters and has appeared on behalf of clients in bankruptcy court and before administrative agencies.
Townsend is the chair of the firm’s Life Sciences Group.
Miller & Martin selected Crews to serve for over 10 years as Miller & Martin’s general counsel and chairperson of the Ethics Committee.
He has also served on the Policy Committee, the firm’s governing body.
Crews 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 bachelor’s degree from Washington and Lee University.
In 2013, the Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association honored Crews with its Special Services Award. In 2018, Legal Aid of East Tennessee recognized Crews at its annual Pro Bono Night event for his outstanding commitment to pro bono service and inducted him as a member of the Charles W. “Buz” Dooley Pro Bono Attorneys Hall of Fame.
Phil Whitaker
Whitaker is a shareholder with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, 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.
Whitaker 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.
Whitaker earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where he served on the Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif.
He served on active duty with the United States Navy as a surface warfare officer.
Hon. Kevin Wilson
Wilson earned a J. D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law at Knoxville in 1981 and a degree in business administration at Southern Adventist University in 1978.
He is admitted to practice in all courts in Tennessee and Georgia and all federal courts in Tennessee.
He’s been the judge of the City of Collegedale Municipal Court since 1990.
Wilson moved to Chattanooga in 1982 and opened a law office with his wife, Scarlett Wilson. He’s 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.
Source: CBA