Incorporated in 1989, the Chattanooga Bar Foundation is the charitable and educational arm of the Chattanooga Bar Association. Through the Foundation, the Bar supports various charities and participates in community service, outreach programs and educational projects. Each year, the Foundation selects new Fellows, members which provide the funding for these efforts.
To become a Fellow of the Foundation, one must first become an outstanding attorney and servant of the community. Only then can that person be included among the ranks of some of the most revered lawyers in the recent history of the city. One must also be at least 35 years old and a licensed attorney, and have been practicing law for no less than 10 years.
Following is the Class of 2012 Fellows, announced May 10 during the Bar’s annual Law Day Celebration.
Craig Allen
Craig Allen is a member of Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, and has practiced law in Chattanooga for 31 years. He has an active trial practice and has tried numerous cases in Tennessee and Georgia. His clients include a major railroad, national fast food companies, and various residential and commercial construction firms. He is a member of the Chattanooga and Tennessee Bar Associations, the Defense Research Institute and the American Association of Railroad Trial Counsel. He has presented at seminars nationally on trial tactics, construction, premises liability and other topics. He and his wife Liz live in Hixson with their two sons.
Jeff Atherton
Chancellor Jeffrey Atherton resides over Part 2 of the Eleventh Judicial District of Hamilton County. Prior to ascending to the bench, he was an attorney with a general civil legal practice. Atherton has trial experience in federal and state courts and appellate experience in the Tennessee Court of Appeals, the Tennessee Supreme Court and the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Atherton earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1987 and has been a licensed attorney in Tennessee since 1988. His professional memberships include the Chattanooga Bar Association and the Tennessee Bar Association.
Atherton has served as a TBA high school mock trial coach for more than 20 years, with his teams winning national championships in 2002, 2003 and 2007.
A community-minded citizen, Atherton has served as deacon and commander of the AWANA Youth Ministry of Oakwood Baptist Church in Chattanooga and as a ministry board member of the Tennessee Valley AWANA Ministry.
In recognition of his exemplary service, the CBA has awarded Atherton its Ralph H. Kelley Humanitarian Award. In addition, the Civil Air Patrol bestowed its Commander’s Award to Atherton.
Atherton and his wife, Angie, married in 1982. They have four children: Paul, 9; Hannah, 18; Jeffrey, 23; and Stan, 25.
Harry Cash
Harry Cash is a director with Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison, P.C. He was born in Chattanooga and graduated from Baylor School in 1974, the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee in 1978, and Memphis State University School of Law in 1981. He moved back to Chattanooga to begin his law practice in 1981 and joined Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison, P.C. in 1994.
Cash is a member of the Chattanooga Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, and the American Bankruptcy Law Institute. He has served on the Vestry of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, the Board of Governors for the Chattanooga Bar Association and the Boards of the Signal Mountain Golf & Country Club and Signal Mountain Recreation League. In 2005, Mr. Cash was awarded the Bruce C. Bailey Pro-Bono Lawyer of the Year by Legal Aid of East Tennessee.
Cash and his wife, Leaba, reside in Signal Mountain, Tenn. They have three children: Matthew, 26; Andrew, 24; and Kathryn, 15.
Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper is a partner in Franklin, Cooper & Marcus in Chattanooga. He came to live and practice in Chattanooga in 1972 from his hometown of Bristol, Tenn.
In 1969, Cooper received a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he was a member and letterman on the Tennessee baseball team. Upon entry into law school, he was awarded the Herman Hickman Postgraduate Scholarship for Athletes at UT. He obtained his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Tennessee School of Law in 1972.
Cooper was admitted to practice of law in Tennessee in 1972 and in Florida in 1981. He has been a member of the Chattanooga Bar Association for almost 40 years and has previously served on the Association’s Board of Governors, during which he was Chairman of the Continuing Legal Education Committee.
Cooper is admitted to practice in all Tennessee and Florida state and appellate courts, The United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Tennessee, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.
He also holds membership in the American, Tennessee and Florida bar associations. He is a member of the Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association and Defense Research Institute. He is a member of Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity in which organization he served as a student officer while attending law school.
In the 1970’s, Cooper was a founding member of the East Ridge Exchange Club in which organization he served as Vice President. He was also a founding member of the Signal Mountain Exchange Club in which he also served as an officer.
From 1977 to 2000, he authored Tennessee “Forms for Trial Practice.” Since 1997, he has authored “Tennessee Forms for Trial Practices-Damages.” These are form and reference books for use by attorneys engaged in civil trial practice. He also authored “Tennessee Law Office Administration” in 1977.
Cooper is listed in “Who’s Who in American Law,” “Who’s Who in the World” and “Who’s Who in Emerging Leaders.”
He is married to Sally S. Cooper and resides in Hixson.
Stephen Greer
Stephen Greer is a 1973 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law and has been engaged in the private practice of law since that time, with the major emphasis of his work being trial work and litigation, in both civil and criminal matters. He is a long time member and former President of the Tennessee Association for Justice. He is also a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, an Advocate in the American Board of Trial Advocates, and a Fellow in the Tennessee Bar Foundation. He is a long time member of the Chattanooga Bar Association, and a former member of its Board of Governors.
Greer’s offices are located in Dunlap and Dayton, Tennessee, where he practices with Russell Anne Swafford and his daughter, Elizabeth Greer Adams.
Ira Long
Ira Long graduated from Tulane University Law School in 1982. He practiced law in Denver, Colo., from 1982 until 2003, where he litigated and tried a variety of business, personal injury and professional negligence cases. He returned to his native Chattanooga in 2003, with his wife Catherine, also an attorney, and his sons, Matthew and Aaron. Long served as President of the Chattanooga Trial Lawyers Association in 2006.
He is a member of the Chattanooga Chapter of the American Inns of Court, the Tennessee Association for Justice, the American Association for Justice and the Tennessee Bar Association. He has been a member of the Chattanooga Bar Association Board of Governors since 2007 and is its immediate past president. Long is a member of the law firm of Weill & Long.
Arvin Reingold
The son of Russian immigrants, Arvin Reingold moved from New York City to Chattanooga when he was 13. Reingold spent his teen years going to public school and working in the grocery story his mother and father owned on what is now Riverfront Parkway. Following his graduation from the University of Chattanooga, he entered the military and “took a bride.”
When Reingold returned to civilian life in 1954, he enrolled at the University of Knoxville College of Law. Reingold passed the bar exam in 1957 and was working the next day, building what would become a respected general litigation practice. He also serves as the city judge of the East Ridge Municipal Court.
Despite a career built on successfully defending Davids against Goliaths, Reingold does not view himself as having accomplished anything noteworthy. Rather, he hopes he has made a small contribution to the betterment of society.
“I have tried to live up to the ideals of my late parents and to be a credit to them and my family by living a positive, decent and beneficial life. The practice of law has given me an opportunity to hopefully perpetuate and bestow honor upon the good name of my family.
“I am grateful to have a loving and devoted wife, special children and blessed grandchildren, and the privilege of living and practicing law in a wonderful community,” he says.
Reingold and his wife, Lillian, have two children and six grandchildren.