The Chattanooga Bar Foundation Fellows welcomed three new members during the 2018 Fellows Luncheon held at The Walden Club on June 27. Honored were attorneys Lee Ann Adams, Tonya Cammon and Russell “Rusty” Gray.
Adams is a member and the secretary of Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott & Cannon. During her 21 years with the firm, she has focused her practice on estate planning and estate administration.
Adams graduated magna cum laude from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1994 with a degree in English and magna cum laude from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1997.
She serves as the chair of the UTC Alumni Association Women’s Council. She began a three-year term on the UT Alumni Association board of governors in June. Adams also serves on the UTC Planned Giving Advisory Council.
Adams says she has a passion for educating the public about legal issues. She has served as an adjunct professor for the UTC College of Business and makes numerous presentations each year on estate and tax planning issues.
She is a member of various legal and civic organizations including the Estate Planning Council, Chattanooga Tax Practitioners (where she has served as secretary, vice-president and president) and Girls Inc. of Chattanooga (where she is a board member and has served as secretary).
Adams also is serving on the Chattanooga Bar Association board of governors.
She attends Signal Crest United Methodist Church, where she sings in the choir and serves as a member of the board of trustees.
Adams is married to Tom Adams, an educator at the McCallie School, and has two sons.
“As a Chattanooga native, my goal was always to come back to Chattanooga to practice,” Adams says. “It’s been an honor to be a part of the local bar, and I’m humbled by this recognition.”
Cammon is a native of Mississippi who earned a degree from Millsaps College, a post-graduate degree in medical technology and a J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law.
After law school, Cammon served as law clerk to the Hon. Armis E. Hawkins, then chief justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi.
In 1993, Cammon joined the Chattanooga law firm of Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison. She has served on the firm’s executive committee and as managing director for the firm.
Cammon concentrates her practice in the areas of employment law, health care and litigation. She is a member of the Chattanooga, Tennessee and Federal Bar Associations. Cammon has formerly served as a member of the CBA’s board of governors and has earned several honors from that organization, including the President’s Award and the Albert L. Hodge Volunteer Award.
Cammon is also a recipient of an UnBought & UnBossed award from Girls, Inc.
An active member of the Tennessee Bar Association, Cammon has been named a fellow of both the TBA and its Young Lawyers’ Division. In addition, she has served locally and nationally as an officer of the Federal Bar Association.
Cammon was named a fellow of the FBA in 2015. She currently serves as chair of the FBA’s task force for Access to Justice. Cammon is a member and a past president of the Southeast Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women and is a current master of the Brock-Cooper Inn of Court.
Cammon is a graduate of Leadership Chattanooga and has served on the Chattanooga Human Rights-Human Relations Commission. She is a former chair of the board of directors of the AIM Center, has served as a member of the State Advisory Board for Project Citizen, a civics organization for middle school students, and was one of the founders of AMC³, an appellate moot court competition for Tennessee college students.
Cammon served for several years as a member of the Memorial Health Care System Foundation’s board of directors. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Downtown Council of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce and on the board of Chattanooga Room in the Inn.
She is married to Barry Cammon, owner of Advanced Video Solutions. They reside on Lookout Mountain. The Cammons have three children. She is a classically-trained pianist who loves sports, travel, animals, cooking, reading, music and gardening.
“It’s a great honor to be elected as a fellow of the Chattanooga Bar Foundation,” Cammon says. “I have great respect for the members of this organization and I appreciate the work they do. Being a part of this group means a lot to me.”
Gray is the managing shareholder of Baker Donelson’s Chattanooga office and serves on the firm’s board of directors.
He concentrates his practice on litigation and labor and employment issues and has litigated before courts and agencies in approximately 20 states.
Gray has obtained verdicts, settlements and court approvals in numerous cases, including wage and hour collective actions. Gray also has more than 20 years of experience in commercial and business litigation.
Since 2011, Gray has been listed in Best Lawyers in America in labor and employment law and Mid-South Super Lawyers.
He graduated from UT in 1988 and earned his J.D. from American University in 1993.
“It is a real honor to become a fellow,” Gray says. “That point really hit home as I looked around at all the talent of my fellow members at the induction luncheon. It is a very impressive group.”
Jay Morgan, chair of the Chattanooga Bar Foundation Fellows, says Adams, Cammon and Gray and were excellent candidates with strong resumes of service to the local bar association and the community. “The entire slate of nominees were worthy of election, but these three were the clear choices on the ballots,” Morgan says.
The CBA Fellows serve several roles as an organization, including promoting and improving the legal profession, elevating the ethical standards of the bench and bar, improving relations between the members of the legal profession, the judiciary and the public, providing scholarships and charitable giving.
Source: Some information from the CBA