Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam last week appointed a special Supreme Court to hear a case from which all five Tennessee Supreme Court justices have recused themselves. The five special appointees include William M. Barker, who is of counsel at Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel in Chattanooga. Barker retired from the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2008 after a decade of service, three as chief justice. He began his service as a judge in 1983, when he was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial District. He received his bachelor of science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and his law degree from the University of Cincinnati. The special Supreme Court will decide any appeal of Hooker et al. vs. Haslam et al., a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Court of Criminal Appeals appointment by the governor.