BACKGROUND CHECK
Magistrate Judge Alistair Newbern | Bart Pickett
Born in Fayetteville, she moved to Little Rock upon her father’s election to the Arkansas Supreme Court. In 1991, Judge Newbern left the confines of Little Rock to head to Rhode Island for college at Brown University. She majored in American Civilization and wrote her thesis on punk rock. After graduating from the Ivy League university magna cum laude, she joined AmeriCorps. Per her request, AmeriCorps assigned her to Little Rock, as she wanted to see her hometown from a different perspective. She spent two years working with community development corporations on issues such as affordable housing. After her AmeriCorps stint, Judge Newbern went to the west coast for law school. She graduated from the University of California at Berkley School of Law in 2000. She always knew she wanted to do a clerkship following law school, researched all the available positions, and found her dream job with Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey in Nashville. Following her one-year clerkship with Judge Daughtrey, Judge Newbern landed at the Nashville office of Lieff Cabraser. While there, her work focused
on plaintiff’s class action litigation. Judge Newbern enjoyed the work and all of the bright lawyers at the firm, but she knew ultimately that “firm life” was not for her. When an opportunity to clerk for Judge Aleta Trauger arose, Judge Newbern took it. After a year clerking, she decided to give teaching a try. She went to Washington, D.C. to be a teaching fellow and supervising attorney at Georgetown University Law Center’s Appellate Litigation Clinic. She spent two years in that role before moving to Chapel Hill to be an Assistant Professor at University of North Carolina School of Law. Ultimately wanting to get back to Nashville, Judge Newbern jumped at the chance when she heard that Vanderbilt University had a clinical faculty opening. She came to the law school in 2008 and created the Vanderbilt Appellate Litigation Clinic, practicing with her students in the Sixth Circuit and other courts of appeals. She stayed in this role until her appointment to the bench. Having a continued desire for public service and a deep respect for the judges of the Middle District of Tennessee, Judge Newbern knew the magistrate position would be ideal for her. She remembers reading the job description and thinking not only that it would be an ideal position for her, but also that—as a law professor—she would be a long-shot candidate to get it. In a fitting move for Music City, the judges of the Middle District of Tennessee federal courts appointed Alistair Newbern as a magistrate judge on September 1, 2016.
Judge Newbern truly enjoys her new role. As a magistrate judge, she is constantly learning. One of the most challenging, yet rewarding aspects of her job, is the breadth of cases that come before her. She deals with a wide variety of issues in both civil and criminal matters. Judge Newbern not only inherited her father’s love for the law but also his passion for music. While her father plays the tuba, Judge Newbern’s instrument of choice is the fiddle. As a child she played the classical violin. Throughout high school and college, she played in numerous bands. Currently she plays in a “ragtag string band” called Bashful Mountain Broadcasters. The group formed at Bill Ramsey’s Ode to Otha Block Party where they still reunite annually for their sole, yearly performance. The band has released two records, which are available on iTunes. Judge Newbern shares her musical talent by being a volunteer violin teacher to students at the nonprofit W.O. Smith School once a week. When not working or playing music, she can be found in East Nashville with her two “ornery” rescue dogs. n BART PICKETT is an attorney at the Law Offices of Julie Bhattacharya Peak where he represents Liberty
Mutual
Group,
Inc.’s insureds and customers of its affiliated groups throughout Middle Tennessee. Prior to practicing, Pickett worked as a law clerk for the Honorable Judge Thomas W. Brothers of the Sixth Circuit Court of Davidson County and the Honorable Joseph P. Binkley, Jr. of the Fifth Circuit Court of Davidson County.
JUN/JUL 2017 | NASHVILLE BAR JOURNAL
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