Our local bar is extremely fortunate to have been blessed with a rich history of highly effective advocates who never abandoned the fundamental rules of good citizenship and mannerly living so often instilled in each of us at an early age.
By historical accounts both written and oral, one particular local lawyer, John K. Morgan (1930-1986), stood preeminent among those who were able to bring a keen legal acumen to bear along with an endearing courtroom finesse that resulted in Morgan being recognized as one of the greatest lawyers of his time.
Morgan was born in Chattanooga into modest circumstances during the Great Depression, but quickly distinguished himself among his peers with sheer will and force of personality.
In 1948, he graduated from Central High School and was chosen as “Mr. Central” by his classmates. Morgan went on serve in the United States Air Force during the Korean Conflict. After returning from service, he began his studies at the University of Chattanooga and later obtained his undergraduate and law degree from the University of Tennessee. Thereafter, Morgan returned to Chattanooga and quickly rose to prominence. By the time of his untimely death in 1986, Morgan had successfully tried many of the more significant cases in the region and had earned the universal goodwill, admiration and respect of the local bar. Together with his law partner, Hugh Garner, Morgan forged one of the most respected firms in Chattanooga’s legal history, Morgan & Garner.
Because of his own preeminence, Morgan was called upon to rub elbows with the legal elite. Over his career, Morgan successfully tried cases with both Bobby Lee Cook of Summerville, Ga., and James Neal of Nashville, Tenn. No thumbnail sketch of Morgan’s career would be complete without mention of a couple of his more significant cases, involving Cook and Neal, respectively.
According to Cook, he and Morgan tried dozens of cases together. When asked about Morgan’s trial abilities, Cook still becomes effusive. According to Cook, Morgan was a “lawyer of extraordinary talent” who “had all of the great qualities of a lawyer of extraordinary strength and intelligence.” Cook remembers that Morgan’s unmatched charm and friendly demeanor were a great attribute, particularly in enemy territory. Cook recalls a trip to New Jersey with Morgan. The day before they arrived, the courthouse where they were to conduct their business had been firebombed. The courthouse staff was on edge and none too friendly to two southerners making an unwelcome appearance in northern climes. Cook still laughs when he mentions that the surly attitudes of the locals lasted only about five to ten minutes, as that was all the time required for Morgan to have everyone in the courthouse under his spell. Affability was a virtue of Morgan’s – it was also a dangerous weapon that one had to take into account when taking on Morgan in a courtroom setting.
To this end, in one of their more infamous cases tried in the United District Court for the North District of Georgia, Adams Machine and Tool Co. Inc. v. MFB Mutual Ins. Co., Morgan and Cook represented a North Georgia manufacturer in a substantial fire loss case against an insurer who denied coverage. The insurer alleged that the proprietor of the manufacturer had engaged in arson. The insurer retained a prestigious legal team to defend its interests, including a renowned Wall Street law firm. During the course of the litigation, Cook and Morgan made a settlement demand. A certain defense attorney scoffed dismissively and told them he did not think much of their client’s case or their chances at prevailing. Cook propitiously informed that defense counsel that a yellow jacket can drive a mule into a creek. The case was tried twice to a North Georgia jury, with Morgan and Cook securing seven figure verdicts both times.
A second case that must be mentioned is United States v. Turner, which was tried in the United District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. In Turner, Morgan paired with Neal to defend James E. “Bookie” Turner, the sitting Chattanooga Fire and Police Commissioner (and former Hamilton County Sheriff) against federal charges stemming from an alleged conspiracy to control the flow of moonshine whiskey in Hamilton County. Turner was a colorful local politician – he had won every race that he had ever entered. Among the more salient allegations of the case, Turner was alleged to have charged “importers” a 50-cent per gallon fee for moonshine illegally brought into Hamilton County. The case garnered virtually every newspaper headline in September and October of 1967. Facing an onslaught of prosecution witnesses, Neal and Morgan mounted a defense over three intense weeks of trial that resulted in a complete acquittal of Turner—while, at the same time, his alleged co-conspirators were both found guilty. A historical account of the reading of the verdict from the October 19, 1967 edition of The Chattanooga Post, indicates that, after wiping his tears, Turner turned immediately to shake hands first with Morgan.
Beyond the courtroom, Morgan took the time to get to know and help those around him, stopping to greet and converse with virtually every acquaintance encountered on the way to and from his office. He did not miss an opportunity to drop a personal note to anyone who had managed to make a favorable appearance in the local newspapers. He also often sent flowers to those opposing counsel who were fortunate enough to defeat him in trial. In such cases, he liked to acknowledge a well-tried case and to assure his adversary that no hard feelings persisted.
According to all accounts, Morgan had an innate ability to make a person feel that he or she was the most important person in the world while in his presence. Given his gregarious and kind nature, Morgan naturally served as a mentor to many young lawyers who wished to emulate his success and inimitable style.
To this very end, in his new book, “The Turtle and the Lawyer,” Jerry Summers eloquently writes about several attorneys, friends and family members who have helped Summers along his path to great success. An entire chapter of Summers’ book is devoted to Morgan–whom Summers openly idolizes–and the kindness and wisdom that Morgan bestowed upon Summers as a young student and later as an attorney. Summers states that, during his own career, there has “not existed a more charming and debonair attorney than John K. Morgan.” Summers recounts his first meeting with Morgan that ultimately led to Summers’ own fateful decision to attend law school:
A smiling, handsome man with a personality that made you immediately feel you were important and that he was interested in my future, John invited us into his office and instructed his secretary to hold all his calls. Now that was great technique.
In summing up Morgan, Summers writes, “John Morgan was a legal giant and had the charisma ideally suited to be a public servant in the political arena but chose instead to be a great trial lawyer.”
By the time of his untimely death at the age of 55, Morgan had served the Chattanooga Bar Association as president and was a member of the Board of Governors of the Tennessee Bar Association and the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference. Among other professional honors, Morgan had also been chosen by his national peers to be a member of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers and of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Upon his death, he was specially honored by the Tennessee General Assembly by means of Memorial House Joint Resolution No. 458.
More than a lawyer, Morgan also served as a beloved husband to his wife, Jane, and father to his daughter, Jan, and sons, Jay and Jeff. Morgan had just returned from an annual duck hunting trip with his sons when he passed away unexpectedly at his home from a heart attack. According to Jay, consistent with Morgan’s nature, he had gotten into duck hunting, not out of his own love of the activity, but instead as a means to spend more quality time with his sons — who had expressed the initial interest in the sport.
If you should wish to learn more about Morgan and other notable members of our legal profession, do take the time to obtain and read “The Turtle and Lawyer,” wherein one of Morgan’s many protégés, Jerry Summers, takes the time to remember Morgan and many others who have helped him (and countless others) along their paths. Jerry will not sell you a copy of his captivating book, but he will trade you one for a minimum donation of $19.95 to be made to one of several charities which include a number of Central High scholarship funds, the University of the South, the University Tennessee College of Law, Area IV Special Olympics, and Orange Grove Center. One can easily witness in those pages how the legacy of John K. Morgan still lives among us.