Interview with
MBA President Peter Gee
P
eter Gee is a native Memphian and the managing partner of Morgan and MorganMemphis where he has practiced since 2002. His practice is focused on civil litigation in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. In addition to his practice, Mr. Gee is the current President of the Memphis Bar Association. Mr. Gee co-chaired the Memphis Bar Association Summer Law Intern Program (“SLIP”) from 2013 to 2018, an ABA award winning program that places minority high school students in local law firms and businesses. In 2017 and in 2019, Mr. Gee was on the steering committee for the Unity in Diversity Scholarship Banquet, which has raised over $200,000 for scholarship money that helps promote diversity in the law.
What are you most proud of accomplishing during your tenure as MBA President? After the challenges of 2020, I was not certain how the year would go and how we would overcome the difficulties presented. In particular, the balance of remote v in-person programming as we attempted to “return to normal” was a big area of concern. I am pleased to say that we have endured and carried through with almost all of the programs through hard work, cooperation and sheer will to get things accomplished. We are trending towards a break even year at the MBA, the membership numbers have had an uptick, and the feedback from the programs has been very positive. I have been very proud to lead the organization in such a unique year, and believe we have set things up for a solid 2022. One particular thing that I am proud of is that my firm contributed equally to both the MBA and the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the NBA. I hope that is something that will catch on with other organizations. You are passionate about diversity in the law profession and providing opportunities to underrepresented groups in our community. What does it mean to you to be the first Asian American president of the MBA? It is something that I am proud of, and I am proud to have been given the opportunity to lead the organization 6
for this year. I think it is a milestone that I hope will be measured in a longer period of time. I am very excited for Tannera’s Gibson’s tenure and the milestone that will represent as well. I will say that I am very grateful to the people who helped me along the way that led to this place in time. When I was a younger lawyer, I often worried how I would be perceived in the community and whether someone who looked like me could be a successful trial attorney or a litigator in Memphis. I still believe that there is plenty of work to be done for future generations, and I’m proud to be a part of that progress. What or who made you want to become an attorney? I am asked this question fairly often and have been reluctant to talk much about it, because it is very personal. That said, I also think that it is important to share our experiences and the way they shape our lives. The reason I became an attorney is that my wife’s parents were killed in a robbery when we were in our 20s. Obviously that is the kind of event that changes the direction of your life in many ways, some obvious and others less so. In the months and years after their deaths, my wife and I had to interact with the legal system a great deal and the experience led me to pursue a career in law because I saw the ways that lawyers can impact their community. Going through that process as a non-lawyer, you could
