The Foundation honors attorneys who have distinguished themselves in the profession by electing them to membership as “Fellows.” Their contributions are used to support selected, law-related public interest projects.

There are 617 Fellows as of February 2006. In accordance with the Foundation’s bylaws, attorneys elected as Fellows “…shall be limited to those outstanding lawyers, judges, and teachers of law licensed to practice for a period of ten years who have:

(a) demonstrated an uncompromised dedication to integrity and high personal and professional ethical standards;

(b) made outstanding and recognized contributions to the legal profession and to the public good;

(c) demonstrated a strong commitment to the published objectives and purposes of the Tennessee Bar Foundation.”

A class of no more than 35 new Fellows is elected in the fall of each year. To ensure geographic distribution, 10 Fellows may be selected from the East and West Grand Divisions of Tennessee and 15 from the Middle Grand Division (based on the attorney population in each area).

Suggestions for new Fellows are solicited annually from the current membership. Names are then forwarded to the appropriate committee for that Grand Division, which whittles the submissions to the required number. The Board of Trustees makes the final decision as to the members of the class. The newly-elected Fellows are honored each January at the Fellows’ Dinner.

The Fellows of the "Class of 2007" are pictured below.


First Row (left to right): Ronald Thurman – Cookeville; Mary Jo Middlebrooks – Jackson; Donna Simpson – Cookeville; Ruth T. Ellis – Knoxville; Edward M. Yarbrough – Nashville; Jere N. McCulloch – Lebanon.
Second Row: Luther Wright, Jr. – Nashville; Kenneth R. Rudstrom – Memphis; Mark L. Hayes – Dyersburg; Marla K. Williams – Cookeville; Jack H. (Nick) McCall, Jr. – Knoxville; Bruce M. Smith – Memphis; David L. Raybin – Nashville.
Third Row (begins in the center of the step, left to right): Thomas W. Lawless – Nashville; Tom Watt Crider – Trenton; Phillip C. Lawrence – Chattanooga; E. Lynn Dougherty – Bristol.
Fourth Row: D. Kelly Thomas, Jr. – Maryville; Daniel W. Van Horn – Memphis; John L. Norris – Nashville; Larry B. Stanley, Jr. – McMinnville; Harrison D. McIver – Memphis.
Fifth Row: Carl P. McDonald – Maryville; Frank A. Johnstone – Kingsport; Jeffrey M. Ward – Greeneville; John T. Blankenship – Murfreesboro; J. Russell Parkes – Columbia.
Not pictured: Suzanne Bailey – Chattanooga; John S. Colley III – Columbia; Donald Donati – Memphis; John J. Heflin III – Memphis; J. Weber McCraw – Somerville; Ewing T. Sellers – Murfreesboro; James M. Weaver – Nashville.