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For release: July 26, 2011
For press information, contact Curt Guenther, 901-678-2843.
The University of Memphis Law Alumni Board has chosen Tanja L. Thompson as its new
president, The Honorable Robert “Butch” Childers as president-elect, and R. Hunter
Humphreys as secretary/treasurer. Tapped as new board members are Robert E. Craddock
Jr. and John I. Houseal Jr.
Thompson, a partner with Kieswetter Wise Kaplan Prather, PLC, received her law degree
from the U of M in 1997. She is a member of the Labor and Employment Law sections
of the American, Tennessee, and American Bar Associations and is the Management Program
co-chair of the ABA’s Committee on the Development of the Law under the National Labor
Relations Act. She is also the Employer co-chair of the Membership Development Committee
of the ABA’s Labor and Employment Law section.
Judge Childers has been a Circuit Court Judge since 1984. He has served as a Special
Judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court Workers’ Compensation Panel and the Tennessee
Court of Appeals. He is a past president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference and
the Tennessee Trial Judges Association. He is currently chair of the American Bar
Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP). Previously, he had
served on the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program Commission, from its inception
in 1999 to 2009.
He is a charter member and Master of the Bench of the Leo Bearman Sr. American Inn
of Court. He has chaired the Tennessee Judicial Conference Civil Pattern Jury Instruction
Committee since 1991. He is a current member and past chair of the Tennessee Domestic
Violence State Coordinating Council and is a former chair of the Shelby County Domestic
Violence Council.
Judge Childers has been recognized as Outstanding Judge of the Year five times since
1984. He received the Judge Wheatcraft Award from the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. He received
the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Memphis in 2002 and was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Memphis Rotary Club in 2007. He has taught at the National Judicial College
at the University of Nevada Reno, and has been a frequent speaker at legal seminars
and for schools, civic, church, and business groups in Tennessee and throughout the
nation.
Humphreys is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Real Estate Law), Chambers USA,
Mid-South SuperLawyers, Top 100 Lawyers in the State of Tennessee, Business TN magazine's Top 150 Lawyers in TN, and Top 150 CRE in TN (influential individuals
in the commercial real estate business).
He also serves or has served on the boards of the Downtown YMCA, the Metropolitan
YMCA, Memphis University School Alumni Association, and the Estate Planning Council
of Memphis .
Humphreys has served as an adjunct professor of real estate transactions at the U
of M law school since 1998. He is a frequent speaker on real estate law and secured
lending.
Craddock (JD ’77) is co-chair of the Litigation Department of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs
and serves on the firm's executive committee. He concentrates his practice in the
area of commercial litigation. He leads the firm’s Class Actions & Appeals Service
Team. Craddock has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the practice of business
litigation and by his peers as a SuperLawyer in the area of business litigation.
He holds the highest professional rating by the Martindale Hubbell law directory.
He is a trustee of the Hutchison School, a board member of The Children's Museum of
Memphis and The Memphis Arts Council, and the co-chair of the Annual Fundraising Campaign
for Memphis Area Legal Services.
Houseal (BS ’67, JD ’70) is a member of Glankler, Brown, PLLC. He concentrates his
practice in the areas of litigation, including health care and construction. In addition,
his practice also focuses on compliance, ERISA, and insurance coverage.
Recognition for his legal work includes membership in Who's Who in American Law, Who's
Who in the South and Southwest, Mid-South SuperLawyers, Fellow of the Litigation Counsel
of America, and Best Lawyers in America.
While a student at the University, Houseal served as president of the Student Government
Association. After receiving his law degree, he graduated from the Air University,
Judge Advocate Staff Officer School, and served as Assistant Staff Judge Advocate
of the 21st Air Base Group, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Elmendorf Air Force
Base, Alaska, Trial Counsel and Claims Officer, at the rank of captain.
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