Memphis Law | Fall 2021

ML MEMPHIS LAW MAGAZINE | FALL 2021

Rent. Relief. Eviction.

Moratorium. Pandemic.

President

M. David Rudd

Executive Vice President for University Relations Tammy Hedges

Dean

Katharine T. Schaffzin

Executive Editor Ryan Jones

Contributing Writers Ryan Jones Katy Ramsey Mason

Photography Wendy Adams

Art Direction and Design

University of Memphis Division for External Relations

Published by

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law 1 North Front Street Memphis, TN 38103 901.678.2421 memphis.edu/law To submit story ideas, letters to the editor, alumni updates or for other ML-related inquiries, please contact executive editor Ryan Jones at rjones1@memphis.edu.

The University of Memphis does not discriminate against students, employees or applicants for admission or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, age, status as a protected veteran, genetic information or any other legally protected class with respect to all employment, programs and activities sponsored by the University of Memphis. The following position has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies: Director for Institutional Equity/Title VI Coordinator, oie@memphis.edu, 156 Administration Building, 901.678.2713. The University of Memphis policy on nondiscrimination can be found at https://memphis.policytech.com/dotNet/ documents/?docid=430. The University of Memphis Magazine (USPS-662-550) is published four times a year by the Division of External Relations of the University of Memphis, 308 Administration Building, Memphis, TN 38152-3370. Periodical postage paid at Memphis, TN 38152. UOM672-FY2021

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Dean’s Letter

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News + Events

10 Gone Too Soon: The Story of Kenneth Maurice Cox

By Ryan Jones

Kenneth Maurice Cox was one of the first African American graduates of the University of Memphis School of Law. Most alumni are familiar with the ceremony named after him, which is held each spring prior to graduation and hosted by the Black Law Students Association.

But most people don’t know the full story of Kenneth Cox and his journey after law school, serving as an army captain and judge advocate general in Korea, where he tragically died while on active duty.

16 Housing on Hold: Eviction Relief During a Pandemic

By Ryan Jones

As the pandemic raged across the country, many lowincome individuals were suddenly at risk of losing their homes due to work closures and pandemic-related issues. Eviction moratoriums were put in place to stem the bleeding, but what happens when they are lifted?

Attorneys from Shelby County and other local organizations, alongside attorneys and students from the University of Memphis School of Law, worked together to form the Eviction Settlement Program as a way to combat the thousands of filings waiting to be heard in court. The model was unique on a national level, with work still being done today as a model for cities across the country.

24 From Lesson Plans to Law School

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32 Virtually Alternative

By Ryan Jones

For more than 10 years, Memphis Law has hosted students from across the country for an “Alternative Spring Break,” where participants help Memphians in need of pro bono legal services. This year, the program was virtual for the first time and partnered with nonprofit organizations service more clients in a larger number of areas in need throughout Memphis, the Mid-South and the State of Tennessee.

38 Alumni Spotlight: Luke Pruett (’15)

By Ryan Jones

Memphis is full of potential and exciting young leaders in a variety of fields. It doesn’t happen by accident though.

Luke Pruett is behind the scenes helping to bring impactful and inspiring new citizens to Memphis on a daily basis.

As the recruiting director at City Leadership, he helps lead Choose901, Teach901, Serve901 and Play901, respectively.

He’s helping recruit, develop and catalyze these potential leaders for the City of Memphis. This is the story of his journey from Memphis Law to visionary nonprofit leadership.

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44 Alumni Notes 46 Faculty Accomplishments 49 Faculty Opinion/ Editorial: Housing Help

By Professor Katy Ramsey Mason

Professor Ramsey Mason provides insight into her nationally published work regarding tenant protections and evictionrelated relief throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

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By Ryan Jones

A profile on several Memphis Law students who served as teachers, educators and education professionals prior to law school. We ask them about their decision to become teachers, what that meant to them, what they learned from the experience and how it has influenced their life in law school.

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Dean's Letter

Dear ML Readers, AS I WRITE THIS, WE HAVE JUST RETURNED TO MORE COMMUNAL INTERACTIONS POST-PANDEMIC. I don’t like the phrase “new normal” because it implies a desire to return to the past, which is not only impossible, but also assumes traditions and norms of the past are better than innovations of the future. After more than a year of reflection, I am instead excited by the post-pandemic possibilities of redefining old cultural narratives and embracing educational creativity.

I recently had the exciting opportunity to travel across the State of Tennessee and visit with some of our alumni in person for the first time in over a year. This trip showed me several things: Memphis Law alums continue to find success across a wide array of fields and industries, from brewery owners to general counsel at some of the South’s biggest firms and everywhere in between. No matter what city I found myself in, I was heartened by the positive encouragement and enthusiasm by the ranks of the Memphis Law community for all that the law school is working towards. And finally, it was clear to me that the desire to learn more, do more and be more a part of what we’re doing at Memphis Law (now in person!) is something shared by our alums, no matter the location.

This same trip reminded me of the importance of building community, a theme that I intend to build upon in the coming year, while integrating the three driving pillars of my deanship: promotion of student success, fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion and embracing teaching excellence and innovation.

Memphis Law would not be the amazing law school it is today without the various communities we are a part of and as we return to more in-person activities, I am excited to work with our students, alumni, legal 2

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communities and others to ensure we continue to build meaningful relationships and communities in order to achieve the goals I’ve set for our law school.

One of the things I’ve looked forward to most about this semester has been the ability to spend more time together in person moving forward.

The University of Memphis, including the Law School, returned to holding inperson classes this fall semester with all faculty, staff, and students returning to the building and resuming (to the best of our abilities) our routines from more than a year ago.

I’m not sure any of us fully appreciate what that means quite yet or just how much we were affected by a year of social distancing, isolation, remote learning and working, and an overall sense of worry in many regards. Our classrooms have been mostly empty, but our lives never stopped. How we continue to deal with coming back and gathering together again in our law school community will be hard, but it’s a problem I am happy to have to (finally) deal with.

In a certain sense, the coronavirus made the unrealistic possible. Classes once thought impossible to teach remotely have now proven to be effective via that model. Courts and government agencies that adhered to traditional ways of doing things now recognize that innovative and creative methods are possible.

Faculty and staff members adapted their workload and styles highlighting flexibility and

creativity across a variety of projects. Students and attorneys involved with our clinic and externship programs found amazing ways to still educate, advocate, and persevere, with many discovering that remote working opened new doors for them that they never considered before.

In short, it wasn’t all bad. At the very least, we learned many valuable lessons from how we navigated the entire ordeal. And many things once thought unrealistic turned out to be advantageous. As we move forward, we will endeavor to adopt the successful practices we discovered to enhance our ability to educate the next generation of attorneys.

As we embark upon our initial stage of postpandemic life, I am happy to note that one large item on our wish list did finally come to fruition, and was a strong signal of our return to normalcy. In May, we held our first in-person commencement ceremony in almost two years at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium

here in Memphis. One of our student’s biggest wishes was to reach a stage where we could safely celebrate commencement in person once again, and I’m happy that we could accomplish this on their behalf.

Continuing the trend of positive momentum and partial return to in-person activities, our experiential learning program saw 161 Memphis Law students complete field placements in a number of courts, government agencies, healthcare entities, non-profits, and in-house counsel offices over the course of the last year and continuing through this summer. One of our most advantageous attributes is our strong network of legal partnerships and relationships throughout the community, and seeing so many of our students back at work outside of the traditional classroom is incredibly exciting.

I am also proud to note that our most recent incoming class that we welcomed this semester is one of our most diverse classes ever! This is a testament to our recognized value, commitment to diversity and inclusion, and the momentum that Memphis as a city has seen overall.

Additionally, it is one of our strongest LSAT performing classes since 2014! I am looking forward to seeing the ways in which this class grows alongside our current 2Ls and 3Ls who showed such resilience and adaptability in the past year of unforeseen circumstances.

The pandemic offered the Memphis Law community the possibility to reset strategies and goals in light of a changed society. Reflecting on so much success realized under uncertain and ever-changing conditions, it is clear that progress was made and that we should adopt those practices that proved most successful. We must also continue the difficult conversations begun over the course of the last year-plus about diversity and inclusion, social justice, and the rule of law to ensure that we are always moving forward towards a more perfect union. Attorneys are uniquely positioned to champion this work, and it is only fitting that conversations on these topics continue within the law school community.

Here’s to seeing more of our friends, families, students and teachers in-person again very soon!

Best regards,

Dean Katharine T. Schaffzin

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Darius Wade — Alternative Spring Break Track Leader,

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story on page 30

News + Events

PROFESSOR DANNY SCHAFFZIN AND TRIO OF STUDENTS AWARDED BY MBA

MEMPHIS LAW FACULTY SPEAKER SERIES The Memphis Law 2020-21 Speaker Series featured numerous faculty members from various law schools giving in-depth presentations of their upcoming works or the focus of their research. The lineup included:

Dr. Aaron Taylor of the Saint Louis University School of Law presented his article, “The Marginalization of Black Aspiring Lawyers.”

2021 DIVERSITY & PRE-LAW WEEK “STILL I RISE”

D r. Randall Johnson of the Mississippi College School of Law presented a draft of his article, “Why Illinois Should Eliminate Its Video Tolling Subsidy.”

Professor Lisa Avalos of the Louisiana State University Paul M. Herbert Law Center presented a draft of her paper, “Affirmative Consent: a Proposal.”

P rofessor Chris Odinet of the University of Iowa College of Law discussed his book, “Foreclosed: Mortgage Servicing and the Hidden Architecture of Homeownership in America.”

Professor Yvette Butler of the University of Mississippi School of Law discussed her paper, “Protecting the Hustle: Exploring the Constitutional Protections Afforded to Survival.”

The Memphis Bar Association recently honored professor Danny Schaffzin as one of its 2020 Champions of Justice Award recipients in the attorney category. Additionally, Memphis Law students Asia Moolenaar (3L), Danielle Husseini (2L) and Caleb Hand (2L) were named Champions of Justice Award recipients in the law student category.

This year’s Diversity & Pre-Law event expanded from a day of activities to a full week of comprehensive programming, all of which was virtual. More than 150 prospective students attended the virtual events throughout the week. This year’s events saw more non-volunteer student attendance at events than ever before and featured individual days with programming focused on mental wellness and LGBTQ+, pre-law and high school students, women in law, Hispanic and Latino law students and Black law students. The week also included a keynote address from Judge Carlos Moore focusing on overcoming the adversities facing diverse attorneys and law students amid a global pandemic and a divided country.

BLSA WINS CHAPTER OF THE YEAR The University of Memphis School of Law Black Law Students Association was named a National Chapter of the Year in 2021 and in addition to the national award, were also recognized as the Southern Regional small chapter of the year at the 2021 Southern Region Black Law Students Association (SRBLSA) Regional Convention.

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2021 MEMPHIS LAW REVIEW SYMPOSIUM

PROFESSOR RONNIE GIPSON JOINS MEMPHIS LAW

The University of Memphis Law Review hosted its annual symposium this spring.

The virtual symposium, “Diagnosing America’s Healthcare System: Addressing Costs and Access NOW,” focused on ideas and solutions on reforming our current insurance system, reducing the rising costs of

Professor Ronnie Gipson joined the faculty of Memphis Law as an assistant professor of law.

Gipson had served as a visiting professor over the past year.

healthcare, capitalizing on solutions offered by artificial intelligence and other technologies, addressing disparities of individuals and groups facing chronic discrimination, expanding the roles of non-MD healthcare workers and promoting community initiatives aimed at education

PRINCETON REVIEW TOP 50 and expansion of access to those most vulnerable and at risk.

The Princeton Review recently rated the University of Memphis School of Law as a top 50 law school for the quality and accessibility of our faculty.

BLSA ADVOCACY TEAMS EXCEL AT REGIONALS Memphis Law's Black Law Students Association (BLSA) excelled in two major advocacy competitions at the Southern Region Black Law Students Association (SRBLSA) Regional Convention. Memphis Law BLSA teams placed in the top three in both the Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Competition and the Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial Competition, with both teams advancing to nationals.

MEMPHIS LAW 2L WINS LAW STUDENT VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR Memphis Law student Gerald Bradner (2L) was awarded the Tennessee Bar Association Law Student Volunteer of the Year Award for his work with the Eviction Settlement Program for Shelby County.

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Briana Butler Bridgeforth and Alexxas Johnson competed in the Southern Regional Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Competition.

This team won best respondent brief and placed third in the region. The coaches of the team are Aurelia McBride and Andre Mathis.

Will Perry also assisted in coaching.

Trial team members Devarius Minor, Kiereka Banks, Malik Luckett and Khalia Word competed in the Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial Competition. This team placed third in the region. The coach of the team was Brittany Williams; Will Perry and Patrick Hillard assisted.

LAW REVIEW VOL. 52 EDITORIAL BOARD The University of Memphis Law Review Vol. 52 Editorial Board was selected earlier this spring.

Editor-in-Chief Katelyn Jackson

Business & Media Editor Will Gebo

Symposium Editor Lexie Haralson

Managing Editor Ameshia Forrest

Research Editor Hailey Townsend

Senior Articles Editor Marshall Cole McComas

Articles Editors Rayna Todd Nicole Blanchard Rachel McCallister Emma Poindexter David Coats

Notes Editors Alex McWhirter Nina Szymaszek Michelle Chiles Ericka Webster Jennifer Myers Sara Burns

Senior Notes Editor Emma Kent

MEMPHIS LAW & BASS, BERRY & SIMS LAUNCH DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Memphis Law proudly launched a new program and partnership with the law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC. The diversity scholarship program is designed to encourage diverse students to consider careers as attorneys with scholarship, mentorship and leadership resources for high school and college students and help prepare them for success in the legal industry.

Memphis Law students recruited and attending law school as part of the diversity scholarship program will receive access to exclusive scholarships, mentorship and career opportunities. The partnership also establishes the Bass, Berry & Sims Summer Trial Institute to give high school students a hands-on introduction to careers in the legal field and training for valuable skills for college and law school. The partnership also establishes a diversity fellow funding program.

LEGAL CLINIC NAMED IN HONOR OF JAMES S. “JIM” GILLILAND, SR. The University of Memphis Legal Clinic has been renamed the James S. Gilliland Legal Clinic in honor of the late Jim Gilliland, the Memphis-based legendary lawyer, philanthropist, community leader and longtime University of Memphis School of Law supporter. Thanks to the Gilliland family’s generous gift to name the clinic, the law school will have enhanced capacity to educate generations of successful lawyers and serve the legal needs of the community.

MEMPHIS LAW 3L NAMED TOP ORAL ADVOCATE AT USA REGIONAL INTL JESSUP MOOT COURT COMPETITION Memphis Law student Anthony Bridgeforth (3L) was named the Top Oral Advocate at the USA Regional International Jessup Moot Court Competition in March.

FULBRIGHT CANADA AND MEMPHIS LAW ANNOUNCE NEW CHAIR Memphis Law has partnered with Fulbright Canada to establish a visiting research chair in race and health policy. The inaugural visiting professor will take up residence in the 2022-23 academic year. The chair will allow outstanding Canadian scholars to pursue a semester of interdisciplinary study in Memphis and will help develop capacity in race and health policy and create synergies between Canadian universities and the University of Memphis School of Law.

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News + Events MEMPHIS LAW STUDENT WINS 2021 HASTINGS WRITING COMPETITION Memphis Law student Kate Ernst was recently named the winner of the 2021 Jon E. Hastings Memorial Award Writing Competition, sponsored by the Tennessee Bar Association's Environmental Law Section. Her paper, "Point Source versus Non-Point Source: At What Point Does Groundwater Flow in?," addresses the Sixth Circuit’s decision after County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 140 S. Ct. 1462 (2020).

FEBRUARY 2021 BAR RESULTS Memphis Law graduates taking the Bar Exam in February 2021 achieved a 94% passage rate on the exam.

MEMPHIS LAW 3L APPEARS ON JEOPARDY Memphis Law 3L, Trenton Woodley, was a contestant on the TV game show Jeopardy in June.

PROFESSOR RONNIE GIPSON NAMED CHAIR OF EAA LEGAL ADVISORY COUNCIL Professor Ronnie Gipson has been appointed as the Chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Legal Advisory Council. EAA's Legal Advisory Council is a group of attorneys who possess expertise in representing airmen in FAA enforcement actions, legal matters pertaining to FAA rulemaking, regulations and other matters pertaining to aviation law. The Legal Advisory Council helps provide EAA with the best possible information on regulatory issues that require particular expertise.

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MEMPHIS LAW WELCOMES TWO VISITING PROFESSORS The law school proudly welcomed Dr. Nicole Tuchinda and Professor Timothy Peterkin as visiting professors this fall.

Dr. Tuchinda will teach Health Law Survey, Health Law Seminar, Torts I and Torts II. Professor Peterkin will lead our Academic Excellence Programming and offer several Bar Prep courses.

LAW 2021 MEMPHIS LAW ADVOCACY AWARD WINNERS Memphis Law is pleased to announce the roundup of winners for our 2021 Advocacy Awards.

Wes Fowler 1L Best Oral Advocate Award: Madison Bennett Greene Christian Soronen Award for Excellence in Oral Advocacy: Hannah Strong

Deal Cooper Holton PLLC Award in Excellence in Trial Advocacy Scholarship Award: Malik Luckett CourtCall Advocacy Awards: Rose Logan Malik Luckett

Joe Moore Jr. Advocacy Award: Hannah Strong The Hon. David S. Kennedy Bankruptcy Achievement Award: Madison Albertson Dardanius (J.R.) Coleman William Faulk Rachel Simmons Taylor Sorilla

PROFESSOR KATY RAMSEY MASON TESTIFIES BEFORE U.S. HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE MEMPHIS LAW HOSTS 5TH ANNUAL STRATEGIC CODE ENFORCEMENT MANAGEMENT ACADEMY (SCEMA)

Memphis Law Professor and Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic Director Katy Ramsey Mason recently testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee oversight hearing on illegal evictions during the pandemic.

The law school recently hosted the fifth annual SCEMA Conference. The program focused on local teams of government managers, attorneys and community partners on the core principles and practices of strategic code enforcement tailored to the priorities and challenges confronting each teams’ community.

Teams from cities across the country were in attendance to share data and gain knowledge.

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Kenneth Maurice Cox

Members of the Memphis Law Class of 1966, including Kenneth M. Cox (center, front row).

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T GONE SOON

By Ryan Jones

THE STORY OF KENNETH MAURICE COX

T

HE BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CHAPTER OF THE BLACK LAW STUDENTS ASSOCIATION (BLSA) at the University of Memphis School of Law has held the Kenneth Maurice Cox Ceremony immediately preceding the law school’s graduation ceremony for more than a decade.

The Cox Ceremony, named after one of the law school's first Black graduates, gives BLSA the opportunity to recognize each of its graduating members for their contribution to the law school’s academic, cultural and professional environment.

Countless Black graduates have taken part in this annual tradition, but far too many individuals are unaware of the history and tragedy associated with the event’s namesake.

Before he even arrived at the University of Memphis School of Law to ultimately become one of its first Black graduates, Cox was already well acquainted with success.

One of 10 children growing up in the Orange Mound neighborhood of Memphis, Cox attended Melrose High School and excelled across the board. It was at Melrose where he became a member of the National Honor Society, participated in track, Melrose Science Club and student council, and was voted “Best Dressed” among all of the young men at Melrose.

His classmates twice elected him to serve as president of his class, and he held that position until he graduated in 1960.

Soon after graduating from Melrose, he attended Morehouse College in Atlanta.

He came back home to Memphis to become closely involved with the civil rights movement and enrolled in law school at the UofM, becoming one of the law school's first Black graduates in 1966.

An ardent and vocal civil rights activist, Cox soon became involved in local movements and civil rights work. A 1970 Tri-State Defender article about his untimely death stated that “Kenny,” as he was known to Memphians, participated in

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Graduating BLSA members at 2016 Kenneth Cox Ceremony.

many political campaigns, including the 1966 campaigns for John Jay Hooker and Ross Bass, in addition to serving as president of the local NAACP, where he was a youth delegate to the national conventions for several years and also a member of the Shelby County Democratic Club.

As involved as he was in the civil rights and political scenes in Memphis, he witnessed some of the bleaker moments in African Americans' fight for equality in Memphis. The first riot of 1968, an outcome of the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike, resulted in the young attorney being added to the city’s list of persons victimized by police brutality.

However, instances like that did not dim his passion for the cause of human rights and equal justice.

Several founding members of the Kenneth Cox Ceremony at Class of 2017 event.

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It was not long before he saw his civil rights-related activism turn

into a career of sorts. He served with distinction as an attorney and field representative for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in Memphis and soon thereafter for the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights in Frankfort, Ky. Cox then began what would ultimately be the final act of his career and, tragically, too-short life.

He made the decision to enlist in the U.S. Army, with the primary goal of serving in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps.

He entered active-duty military service with the Army on Jan. 17, 1968, and was immediately assigned to the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., until directly commissioned and concurrently promoted to captain on Feb. 7, 1969. Several weeks later, Cox

He served with distinction as an attorney and field representative for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in Memphis

began attending the Judge Advocate General’s Basic Course at Fort Lee, Va., and then was a member of the 50th Basic Course at the Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Va. After graduating in May 1969, Captain Cox was assigned to the SJA office at Fort Meade, Md., where he served as defense counsel, making friends and garnering the praise and respect of his colleagues immediately.

“Ken and I were assigned to the same military defense detachment in Fort Meade,” said Mark Tuft, a former JAG Corps colleague of Cox’s,

who went on to years of successful private practice in California. “We were handling a dozen or more cases every day, and Ken and I got to know each other really well there. We also lived together off-base, along with our wives, and hung out together, had barbeques together and just spent an incredible amount of time together that year. We became very good friends. It was a really magical time.”

He served for a year at Fort Meade before being reassigned to Korea, where he arrived on May 16, 1970, and was assigned to Korea Support Command. The Army took notice

Kenneth Cox (third from left) with classmates at Melrose High School.

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Life near Yongsan Garrison circa 1969

of his record of success and skill set, and he soon became the chief defense counsel at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, South Korea.

While there, Cox quickly connected with some of his former classmates from his JAG training school days. Captain John O’Brien was in the class below his in Virginia in JAG school and was deployed to Korea during the Vietnam War about a month after Cox. They immediately kindled a friendship and established a great professional relationship as well.

“I met Ken in Korea and we hung out a lot together, socially off-hours, and worked together a lot professionally,” said O’Brien, who went on to many years of successful private practice and co-founded his own San Francisco-based law firm, from which he retired in 2018. “We actually made

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a trial team, with me serving as prosecutor and Ken as the defense, so we got to know each other really well. After a month or so, both of our wives moved to Korea to be with us, and we all ended up getting apartments together on the same floor.

Ken and I would ride to the army base together.

We’d try cases together. Then we’d socialize and hang out together with our families after-hours and on weekends. We were all extremely close.”

As part of his routine duties, Cox often traveled by helicopter to remote areas to interview witnesses for trial. Most of the time, these flights took place using small, unarmed observation helicopters, with the 1st Cavalry Division dedicating one of its own helicopters to Army lawyers for a half day each week. It was known as the “lawbird.”

On Oct. 8, 1970, after being appointed to a

court martial case, Cox took the lawbird — set to arrive at Camp Page to investigate items on behalf of his client. In fact, his ofttimes trial partner O’Brien was supposed to be on the same flight with him that day.

“I got rescheduled early that morning,” said O’Brien. “I dropped Ken off at the heliport, said goodbye to him, and headed down to the stockade, intending to go to Camp Page later.”

Tragically, the Bell OH-58A Kiowa helicopter Cox crashed near Chuncheon, Korea, en route to its final destination, killing both the pilot and Cox immediately.

His friends and service members were devastated.

“I never got to try a case with him,” said Tuft. “It

was so tragic, because on the day he died, it was supposed to be the very first time, a real special occasion, that I was going to be the military judge and he was going to be the defense counsel. We were really looking forward to it, but it never got to happen.

as well.

Shortly after his passing, the U.S. Army in Korea obtained a plaque and dedicated it to Cox on Nov. 6, 1970. It was placed in Building 2566 at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, which was then designated as “His last words to me were ‘Well, Mark, at Kenneth M. Cox Memorial Hall from that least I know I’ll get a fair trial up there date until March 2, 1999. On that date, the with you.’” designation was changed to Building 4364, which was the military justice building at It was a tragic end to one of the Yongsan that included the most promising lives, according courtroom, Trial Defense “I always to those who knew and served Service and Military Justice with him. thought Ken divisions, all of which Cox “I always thought Ken was the was the kind had direct involvement with during his time in service. kind of person who could really go far in politics, maybe even be the first Black President of the United States.” said O’Brien. “He was just that dynamic of a person. You knew he was going somewhere big.

There was no denying it.”

of person who could really go far in politics, maybe even be the first Black President of the United States,”

Tuft said, “I have every reason to believe that Ken would have been a noted lawyer and figure had he lived, there’s no question about it whatsoever.

He was extremely effective and enjoyable to be around. You just knew he was going to go places. He got along with every single person that ever met him.

He was so effective in communicating with anyone that disagreed with him.

Rather than get in your face, he’d much rather persuade you and convince you of his position in an incredibly effective manner. Just a darn good lawyer.”

Cox wasn’t in Korea long, a mere nine months, but the impression he made on his colleagues was deeply felt.

Most recently, on Nov. 6, 2020 — 50 years to the day after the original plaque was dedicated to Cox at Yongsan in Seoul — U.S. Army Colonel Michael F. Tremblay signed a Memorialization Order designating the foyer of the BG Bruce Babbitt Judicial Center as the Kenneth M. Cox Memorial Hall. The original plaque from 1970 was rededicated and rehung in this new place of honor, alongside a portrait of Cox.

Kenneth Maurice Cox

Cox achieved milestones wherever he went, though he may have been there only a short while. From the law school to the Army, memorials, ceremonies and dedications are still taking place in commemoration of him and his achievements.

Some say he could have changed the world had he been able to avert that horrible tragedy, but it seems he’s still making a difference in people’s lives and memories despite it.

His work and dedication were noticed by his superiors in the Army and JAG Corps

Officers' Club — Yongsan Garrison circa 1969

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Eviction Relief During a Pandemic

BY RYA N J O N E S

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VER THE PAST YEAR, THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS LEFT A MARK ON CITIZENS across the country, but its most detrimental effects have been felt by some of the nation’s most vulnerable segments. With many individuals struggling to pay their bills due to loss of work or new health concerns, the pandemic has resulted in a new threat to not only their economic livelihood but also their homes. Large segments of the population, many of them low-income people of color, were faced with the threat of eviction at a time when they have also been more at-risk for infection, hospitalization, death and income loss, all as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A national moratorium on evicting tenants from certain residential and rental properties went into effect as part of the first COVID-19 relief package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, that former President Donald Trump signed in March 2020.

That moratorium protected about 28% of U.S. rental units — roughly 12 million, according to analysis from the nonprofit organization Urban Institute — and included properties backed by federal mortgage loans and federal housing programs. Tenants were not exempt from paying rent, as bills piled up on those who couldn’t pay, but evictions dropped considerably, and the moratorium prevented millions of individuals from losing their homes during the pandemic, according to a ProPublica analysis of court records from more than a dozen states. However, that moratorium expired at the end of July 2020, so as a public health measure, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) halted evictions for nonpayment of rent about two months later in September 2020.

As a result of this crisis, a group of law students, professors, attorneys and local government offices in Memphis and Shelby County came together last summer to form a program intended to help both tenants and landlords affected by COVID-19. The Eviction Settlement Program (ESP) was formed to help connect attorneys with tenants in danger of eviction due to financial hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Managed by Neighborhood Preservation, Inc., the University of Memphis School of Law, Memphis Area Legal Services, the City of Memphis Division of Housing & Community Development and Shelby County Community Services, the program originally oversaw approximately $2 million in emergency financial assistance through the federal CARES Act.

It was an innovative partnership, one that differed from other cities across the country attempting to allocate CARES money to landlords and tenants, and it continues to evolve as the pandemic and associated eviction moratoriums drag on.

Steve Barlow, a Memphis Law adjunct professor, co-director of our Neighborhood Preservation Clinic, and president and co-founder of Neighborhood Preservation, Inc., was the impetus behind the formation of the program. Alongside Memphis attorney Webb Brewer and Danny Schaffzin, law school director of experiential learning and associate professor of law, Barlow and company started to develop the idea not long after the passage of the CARES Act in March 2020. They saw other cities across the nation setting up programs that utilized a first-come, firstserved approach to issuing grants directly to homeowners or renters, but after seeing how quickly money became depleted and how inequitable distribution was under this model, they devised the plan that would eventually become the Eviction Settlement Program.

“The idea was to try and negotiate with landlords in order to help both them and the at-risk tenant,” said professor Schaffzin. “We wanted to make it more of a legal representation program with the backing of this fund created by the city and county offices involved.”

Early on, this team and several others approached local government and public officials for their assistance in organizing the program. They found a sibling powerhouse to assist their efforts in the form of Paul Young, director of the City of Memphis Division of Housing & Community Development, and his sister, Dorcas Young Griffin, director of Shelby County Community Services.

“We knew from the start of this pandemic that significant impact would be felt on both the health and economic fronts for Shelby County residents,” said Griffin. “Keeping every family in their home is top priority.”

Young also saw the importance of making sure no families were turned out of their homes due to financial burdens associated with the pandemic.

“Housing insecurity in this community is a serious issue,” he told the Tri-State Defender. “This potential displacement of individuals and families is devastating. Those who could least afford it have MEMPHIS L AW | FALL 2021

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Megha Patel, legal clinic student-attorney

had to suffer the effect of the shutdown, job loss and dealing with the illness itself.”

After learning of $2 million in CARES Act funds being allocated to the city and county, Young and Griffin worked with Barlow and his team, as well as Memphis Area Legal Services, the University of Memphis School of Law, Innovate Memphis, General Sessions Civil Court and a number of other local agencies, to put together and formally launch the Eviction Settlement Program, giving tenants legal and financial support, but also long-term financial counseling and social services to help decrease the chances of future eviction.

The tenants are not the only ones the program was intended to benefit though.

Landlords have also been hurt throughout this pandemic, and the ESP recognized that.

“We are counting on the compassion of the landlords who need payment but realize that the effects of the pandemic have been hard on everyone,” said Young.

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“Strong legal negotiations on behalf of the tenants will get landlords paid and families remaining in their homes. It’s a win-win.”

Brewer echoed that sentiment in a statement to the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. “Because landlords were hurting too from this, and part of our belief was that a tenant in-hand, especially if they had been a reasonably good tenant before the crisis, was better than the unknown, which might be not being able to rent the place.”

These tenants and landlord applicants were first screened through an online portal before being referred out through either the law school’s legal clinic or through Memphis Area Legal Services. The clients were then put in touch with their attorneys, which could be a private volunteer lawyer or a law school professor or student who would then discuss possible resolutions with the client.

All agreements were conditioned on the tenant being able to continue residence in the property they were renting at the time, with landlords also making a mandatory

promise to make any necessary repairs and maintain the property in habitable condition.

The partnerships that enabled this program to come to fruition were also a big reason for its success, according to another Memphis Law professor that was vital to its development since the beginning.

“I think this program only worked because we had lawyers on the tenant’s side,” said assistant professor and director of the law school’s Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic Katy Ramsey Mason. “If you think about having a non-lawyer or the tenant themselves trying to negotiate settlement agreements with the landlord and request the types of protections we got for our clients, that is just not possible without an attorney. It’s the difference-maker in what made this successful.”

As an example of that need for legal services, a recent congressionally mandated study by the Legal Services Corporation found that only 1.3% of Shelby County’s eviction cases from 2016–19 resulted in a clear ruling for the tenant. That is particularly concerning, yet not unpredictable, given that an estimated 90% of tenants don’t have a legal advocate by their side.

found himself as the recipient of the Law Student Volunteer of the Year Award from the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA).

Memphis Law 2L Gerald Bradner received the annual award in 2021 for providing outstanding volunteer services while working with an organization that provides legal representation to the indigent, all as part of his work with the Eviction Settlement Program.

When Schaffzin and Ramsey Mason asked for volunteers to help meet the heavy demands of the program, Bradner eagerly stepped up. He took on dozens of cases over the first few months of the program, reviewing paperwork, meeting with tenants and landlords and negotiating settlements, all under the supervision of his attorney mentor and ESP participant, Monique Beals (JD ’88) of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC. “During my career, I have never met a law student like Gerald,” said Beals in

The need for more legal assistance was clear to the program planners.

Professors Schaffzin and Ramsey Mason took the lead on recruiting law students for the program and both saw it as an ideal learning opportunity for students to get meaningful experience in a timely area of public concern, with the chance to make an immediate difference in a client’s life.

More than 20 students took part over the summer and fall as part of the program, doing a variety of work as the need arose. From calling clients to gather additional information about their situation or going to get paperwork from court, to speaking with landlords’ attorneys to get conversations started about settlements, the learning that continues to occur as part of the program ranged far and wide.

One Memphis Law student who took up the mantle to serve through this program even

Danielle Husseini (legal clinic student-attorney) and professor Katy Ramsey Mason

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her nomination letter to TBA for the award.

“His eagerness to help, his willingness to take the initiative, his refusal to take no for an answer to benefit his clients and his communication skills are unparalleled even by the standards of practicing attorneys.”

Bradner was no stranger to serving. He enlisted in the Army after high school and was soon sent to Iraq, a focal point of the Al-Qaeda insurgency at the time. He was deployed there for 15 months, and after showing a great deal of leadership ability, was accepted into the Army’s officer training program.

He soon found himself at James Madison University, where he earned a degree in justice studies and studies before being commissioned as an intelligence officer and being deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city.

Gerald Bradner, legal clinic student-attorney

While he found his time in the Middle East rewarding and important, he soon found himself considering a second career after his stateside staff assignments. This led to him looking for a career that he found as honorable as his time serving in the Army, and he soon enrolled at Memphis Law. It wasn’t too long before he enthusiastically accepted professor Schaffzin’s call for student volunteers with the ESP and began to work on the types of cases that would result in him receiving the prestigious Law Student Volunteer of the Year Award.

“One client was a certified nursing assistant who had three children and worked in a COVID ward,” Bradner told the TBA in an article about his award. “She was so happy when she found out she had someone in her corner that she dissolved into tears.”

In that case, Bradner discovered that there were close to 30 tenants at the same complex facing eviction. He remembered that Barlow had recently piloted a bulk settlement concept in a similar situation, so he went to him to see if it might work in this case. After getting the green light, he developed a proposal, met with the tenants and successfully negotiated a deal with the landlord and his counsel, keeping most of the tenants from being evicted.

Bradner found it satisfying to reach the settlement in that case and others, and found

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Steve Barlow

“amazing” the amount of support and guidance he received from Beals and the law school’s Clinical Program and faculty.

“If I can do something like that every year of my career, then I’ll have a very long and satisfying career,” he said.

The program was considered an overwhelming success. It ran until federal funds ran out shortly before the new year, handing out approximately $2 million in aid to local tenants and landlords in need throughout the course of the summer and fall.

But eviction moratoriums were (and are) constantly under threat of expiring or being overturned, and the pandemic was still raging when the program ended.

So what happened next?

With more than 26,000 eviction notices filed locally in 2019 alone, and 10,000 additional notices filed in Shelby County in the final six months of 2020, the eviction issue in Memphis was not solved overnight, despite the successful first round of the Eviction Settlement Program.

Earlier this year, President Biden extended the CDC’s eviction moratorium through March, though that was seen as only a stopgap measure. It was subsequently extended through July 31 at the federal level after several court battles, including a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Additionally, more federal aid was confirmed in the spring with Congress’s passage of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package in March, with Memphis and Shelby County allocated approximately $30 million in emergency rental and utility assistance.

That $30 million in funding was utilized for eviction relief through the eviction settlement fund, allowing the Eviction Settlement Program to continue its successful work from the fall. But the leaders of the ESP here in Memphis had to adapt to rapidly changing conditions, often in real time.

Cindy Ettingoff

“We are literally building the airplane as we are flying it with this new money,” Griffin said at the time. “It’s a historic amount of money. We have never received this kind of money for this kind of service in our community at one time, ever.”

One item that evolved as a result of the ESP’s successful fall implementation was the use of “equitable randomized selection.” This new, weighted selection process set a standard for future programs in local government that have traditionally been decided by the “firstcome, first-served” approach of who gets in line first or who submits their paperwork first.

Paul Young & Dorcas Young Griffin

“We are giving weight to applicants who meet certain criteria – those that are elderly, that are veterans, may have disabilities and are at 50% or below of the poverty rate. Those are the ones we are adding more weight to,” said Young,

of City Housing and Community Development in an interview with the Daily Memphian.

“Those that have urgent needs or those that are facing eviction or those who are having utility cutoffs – those individuals and households will be pulled out of that selection process and immediately get help they need, as long as they meet our program criteria.”

The economic dislocation caused by the pandemic has already resulted in thousands of Memphisarea renters falling behind and made clear the need for the ESPs continued implementation.

However, numerous locations across the country started to challenge the CDCs authority to issue the ban on evictions.

Notably, for Shelby County and nationally, United States District Judge Mark Norris, ruled in March that the government overstepped its bounds when it put a moratorium on evictions last year.

In his ruling, Judge Norris said the government’s order is unenforceable in West Tennessee.

The decision came just two weeks before the federal ban on evictions was initially set to expire, which is a key item to note according to attorneys involved with the Eviction Settlement Program.

They had planned to use that remaining time to work on applications submitted to the ESP. MALS CEO and ESP partner Cindy Ettingoff said that 68% of the people they’ve helped through the program had no issues paying rent before the pandemic but now struggle to do so after losing their job.

Regardless of the recent decisions regarding moratoriums, many ESP partners are optimistic that many landlords and tenants will still work with the program, especially landlords that are looking to recoup as much money as possible.

But with no local moratorium in place, the program lost a lot of its leverage.

“I think in some cases a landlord could see 80, 90, or even in some cases 100% of the back rent owed if they work with the Eviction Settlement Program,” said professor Schaffzin. “If they choose to evict the tenant, they are not going to see any of that money.

They know they will not be able to collect money from the majority of those tenants, so it’s in their own interest to not evict the tenant and to work with us.

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Paul Young, Steve Barlow & Judge Patrick Dandridge

“The leverage for our program now is the amount of money people owe and the availability of money to get to landlords to keep tenants in place. We have around $25-30 million right now for that and that’s not a small amount of money. There’s utility assistance, future rent, and more that this money can be used for.”

for rental assistance has not been spent as of this writing, and in areas, such as the nearby state of Mississippi, there are glaring racial disparities in who is receiving aid because of a lack of awareness about the programs and a basic bureaucracy that is prohibitive to these populations taking advantage of the programs themselves.

Other states around the country have put in place a number of rental assistance programs and even extended their local moratoriums several months past the CDC’s end-of-July cutoff. Additionally, New York, Washington, California and more than a dozen cities, have implemented right-to-counsel programs to ensure that tenants in those locations have the opportunity to look for assistance before they are evicted.

The Biden administration is worried about a rush of evictions occurring once the moratorium ends and has been encouraging communities to adopt a variety of related efforts before the moratorium itself is lifted.

Most notably, California recently passed a bill that gave landlords rent debt relief and required owners to seek rental assistance and give any applicable tenants the opportunity to seek help before eviction proceedings begin.

But are these patchwork solutions the best available route? Or should advocates hope for another moratorium extension? Are federal rental relief funds being used as best as they could be throughout the country?

“I don’t think it would be inappropriate for the moratorium to be extended again, especially given the Delta variant surge we are seeing nationally,” said professor Ramsey Mason. “However, the moratorium has never been intended to be a permanent solution, and eventually we have to move past it. Eviction diversion programs, especially those that mandate pre-filing mediation for nonpayment evictions, are highly effective.”

Some locales, such as those mentioned above, as well as notable programs in Philadelphia and Michigan, have shown great success in their efforts to help those in need get relief and in the dispersant of federal aid.

However, states like Wyoming and nearby Mississippi have only spent a very small amount of their federal government rent assistance funds – 1- 3% respectively. More than two dozen states, including those two, have no statewide eviction moratoriums in place, as of this writing.

The data does seem to suggest that, nationally, renter debt is trending down, but there are still millions of tenants with rental debts. According to an analysis by National Equity Atlas, a group that studies social equity among states and cities with data from the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 6 million households are behind on rent, amounting to $20 million in rent debt. That is indeed down from approximately 17 million households last summer, but the majority of those citizens still affected are people of color, at 66%, and lowincome households, at 81%, which are those making less than $50,000 a year, according to the data from the National Equity Atlas group.

The vast majority of the nearly $50 billion that Congress allocated

Gene Sperling, senior advisor in the Biden administration noted that the country is in a race against time, with emergency rental aid slowly trickling out.

“We are asking for states and local governments to do everything they can to fill that void in a hurry,” Sperling told NBC News this summer.

Mason also agreed that the lifting of the moratorium places a large number of renters at risk and that time is of the essence to make best use of these federal aid dollars.

“The lifting of the moratorium will make a big difference across the country,” said Mason. “There are millions of people who would have qualified for the protections of the CDC’s order, and most jurisdictions don’t have any additional protections in place at this point. That being said, there are billions of dollars of federal funds that are intended to be used to keep tenants housed, and all state and local governments have access to those.”

Locally, Memphis has not had to worry as much about the July 31 end-date, due to Judge Norris’ ruling in March negating the moratorium in the Western District of Tennessee. But regardless of how things ultimately play out this fall, the success of the Eviction Settlement Program is one to applaud.

“There’s been concern on the national level about the slow pace of distributing these funds, but fortunately that’s not an issue for us here – our program has been steadily churning out funds since March,” said Mason. “As of now, we’re approaching $15 million in assistance that’s been distributed for rent and utilities in Shelby County.”

This relief provided through the ESP has kept more than 1,200 households from losing their homes so far. But of course, the need is far greater. It’s clear that innovative programs like the Eviction Settlement Program are needed to defend against the public health and housing crisis that eviction perpetuates, and as Memphis takes the national spotlight in the eviction crisis, the team of law students, attorneys, government officials, and law school professors behind the Eviction Settlement Program seems well-prepared to continue to help our most vulnerable citizens.

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FROM LESSON PLANS TO LAW SCHOOL B Y R YA N J O N E S

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EORGE BERNARD SHAW ONCE SAID, “To me the sole hope of human salvation lies in teaching.”

That is an intimidating goal to live up to, yet millions of teachers step into their classrooms every day with some semblance of that goal in mind.

There has long been a common theme of community service here at Memphis Law. That extends to some of our current students, several of whom served as teachers before arriving at law school.

These Memphis Law students felt the call to teach others before eventually returning to the classroom to once again become students themselves.

Anthony Bridgeforth

The stories of their journeys from teachers to law students are unique and varied. But all share common themes of service and dedication. These themes will likely carry over into their pending legal careers as they wrap up law school to become advocates for their various communities and causes.

These are their stories. We hope they’ll once again serve as teachers in this article and help the reader learn something new.

ANTHONY

Bridgeforth (3L)

Luxora/Rivercrest Elementary | Southern Mississippi County School District For 10 years, Anthony Bridgeforth taught elementary school in the Southern Mississippi County School District at Luxora Elementary School in Luxora, Ark. He progressed through almost every grade level and taught each subject at some grade levels, particularly mathematics in the upper grades.

But being a teacher wasn’t where he originally thought he’d end up.

Though he had publicly professed to always wanting to be an attorney, going so far as to enroll and study at California State University, Los Angeles as a pre-law student, he had wanted to be an actor for as long as he could remember.

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“By the time I was 16, I had an acting agent,” Bridgeforth said.

“Though I was accepted to Cal State University, officially pursuing the study of law, I was really going to Los Angeles to become a movie star.”

transactions, but rather to perform meaningful work in his own right.

“I returned to working at Danver’s, the fast-food restaurant I worked at during undergrad, and began to think about my career choices,” Bridgeforth said. “I Aside from his dream of being an actor realized that teaching was meaningful, taking him further from his stated legal challenging, creative and it had the path, several of his pre-law professors’ perfect work schedule. Teaching gave attitudes and actions turned me a salary I could him off of the idea of further support myself with, legal study as well. He was and the financial “I desired to do a paid actor with an agent freedom to leave something that by his second year in L.A., my parent’s house. and it was on the set of one It had everything I I felt was more of these projects that he had wanted at the time. meaningful. I the revelation that would didn’t want to “Consequently, set him on his path back to I returned to the be the person Memphis and the Mid-South, University of pretending to and ultimately to teaching Memphis and and on to law school. be someone graduated with a interesting and “I realized that this was an master’s degree meaningful. I actor’s life: playing a role in teaching.” written by someone else and wanted to be Bridgeforth was eating from the food truck the meaningful soon hired by Luxora between scenes,” Bridgeforth person.”

Elementary at a time said. “I understood that even when only 30% of though acting was fun, actors their students were were effectively puppets proficient in reading and math at their carrying out the vision of the writers. grade level.

He was quickly chosen I desired to do something that I felt to serve on the school leadership was more meaningful. I didn’t want team and was sent to the Arkansas to be the person pretending to be Leadership Academy, where he gained someone interesting and meaningful. I the reputation of being someone who wanted to be the meaningful person.” could get the hard things done. Not He moved to Memphis to be closer long after, Bridgeforth and Luxora to his parents and transferred to found themselves in the enviable the University of Memphis, where but outlying position of being an he eventually graduated with a overwhelming success among their degree in economics, though he struggling peers. The school was wasn’t really interested in pursuing composed of mostly minority students, a career in that field either. but now more than 80% of them were proficient in reading and more than Like many recent graduates, he 90% were proficient in mathematics. bounced around between a few It was an undeniable success. different jobs, with each one bringing him back to his original dilemma It was here, in the latter years of of not wanting to work on other his teaching tenure with Luxora, people’s important projects and that he first became an advocate.

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It began with his leadership and insightful questioning of the Arkansas Insurance Department regarding the raising of teacher’s insurance rates, while all other state employee rates remained the same. He attended meetings, spoke up on behalf of other teachers and pressed representatives on the reasoning behind the increases.

Media attention soon followed, and the state legislature eventually brought the rates back down. He was offered a position with the teacher’s union but ultimately declined.

The next year he was faced with another test and opportunity for advocacy.

Stumbling upon a newspaper article regarding a 60-year-old teacher that was fired and headed to trial for alleged child abuse for restraining a special education student after he had a fit, he took it upon himself to lobby the teacher’s union for her to receive representation. Ultimately, he spread the word about her situation and garnered support for her. At trial, the court found her not guilty.

A common thread was beginning to reveal itself in Bridgeforth’s actions.

Advocacy and representation were naturally coming to the forefront.

A third and final instance in his 10th year of teaching may have been the most convincing and important to setting him on his path to law school.

He was teaching sixth-grade math at the time and, in addition to the instances of teen pregnancy he was seeing in nearby middle and high school classes, the sixth graders he taught were beginning to have problems with sexual occurrences and exhibited a lack of knowledge surrounding the issues. Bridgeforth took it upon himself to help educate and protect his students.

“I had a conversation with the students in my math classes,” he said.

“I warned them about the risks of sexually transmitted diseases, sexual predators and teenage pregnancy.

I allowed them to ask questions.”

Unfortunately, his diligence and care were not rewarded.

“Ten percent of parents of my 100 students wrote letters to the newly appointed superintendent. The superintendent along with the school board terminated me.”

Subsequently, he sued the school district.

As his own attorney searched for wrongful termination and breach of contract theories, he took it upon himself to research the case.

Essentially, his research showed that a student in Arkansas public schools could go through middle school and high school and never receive any sex education classes, or at best, receive limited sex education instruction, such as “abstinence only” education.

At the preliminary hearing, the judge dismissed all of his attorney’s theories. However, when his attorney began to argue about the research Bridgeforth had done on his own, the judge inquired about learning more, but ultimately dismissed his suit with prejudice. Rather than have his attorney file an appeal, Bridgeforth once again took it upon himself.

“After looking for an attorney interested in fighting for the sex education rights of students, to no avail, I realized that it was my arguments that were persuasive,” he said. “My arguments moved the court. My research found the answers. I was the lawyer. With this epiphany, I sued the State of Arkansas and applied to law school.”

At trial, he defeated the assistant attorney general’s motion to dismiss and was ultimately required to seek alternative dispute resolution.

Things ended with the court allowing Bridgeforth to write an amended complaint stating why he had personally suffered an injury due to the Arkansas law and holding that he was barely or not affected by the Arkansas law regarding the teaching of sex education. The court dismissed the case without prejudice. Consequently, he could now bring the issue at a later date.

He had just wrapped up his second year of law school.

“Teaching helped me learn how to deal with difficult people and to be calm despite someone’s attempts to be adversarial. I learned how to care for other people,” Bridgeforth said.

“I learned how to meet people where they are and help them get to where they need to be. Teaching taught me to stand up for the right thing.”

He doesn’t have plans to become a teacher again upon graduation, but he does have his sights set on making changes to the education sector as a whole.

“I have seen the problems in the education sector, and I seek to attack laws that impede progress and initiate programs that solve problems,” Bridgeforth said.“I will always chase after the larger problems that plague our society.

“At heart, I will always be a teacher.

I honestly feel that when I present my arguments before a court, I am teaching the judge and the jury. Consequently, I have not stopped being a teacher, I just have a different classroom.”

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Evan Johnson

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EVAN

Johnson (3L)

Berclair Elementary School | Memphis Teacher Residency Memphis Teacher Residency (MTR) has a vision of using their specific work within education to help restore communities, so that all individuals can become empowered contributors to Memphis and people of all races and classes can engage with one another in peace.

It’s a program that brings young educators from across the country into some of our most at-need schools.

It’s what brought Evan Johnson to Berclair Elementary School to become a teacher.

“Originally, I decided to become a teacher after working as a summer camp counselor in Missouri during college,” said Johnson. “One of my friends from college, who was a couple of years older than me and who also worked at the summer camp, had already been accepted into the MTR program and I really liked the idea of an alternative path to teaching as opposed to the traditional route. Teaching seemed like the best way for me to utilize my strengths and passion for being helpful.”

It didn’t take long before Johnson had moved to Memphis and began his residency program at MTR in 2014.

In the program, he received a year of course work toward a master’s degree in education, served in his classroom at Berclair Elementary under a mentor teacher and received regular feedback from his MTR coach. After completion of his first year, he became a fully licensed teacher and was placed back at Berclair Elementary, where he was already familiar with the culture, students and staff, which allowed him a great degree of comfort for his first teaching job.

He continued to teach there for three

more years, focusing on math and science for fourth and fifth grades.

Johnson spent those four years teaching others the skills they would need to succeed in school and life, but it’s the lessons he learned from them that seem to have resonated the most.

applies in various situations, so a lot of what I learned as a teacher about how people actually learn has helped me in the legal arena as well.”

As he reflects back on his time as a teacher, Johnson sees the relationships he was able to build with his students as his greatest accomplishment from “After four years of teaching, I felt like that time. He never wanted to be seen I better understood myself — my skills, as their friend or buddy — they already interests and passions,” said Johnson. had plenty of those — but rather he “Part of the reason I taught was because valued his work to get them to see that I care deeply about educational he was on their team and had their equity and students having the same best interests in mind. opportunities for success Their willingness to be no matter their race, honest with him and socioeconomic status, “Lawyers are come to him in moments zip code or any other of need were some of often ‘teaching’ similar factor. I started to his greatest victories. a jury, court, realize that my specific client or other skills and passions would Now that he is set to be better utilized toward embark upon the next individual about educational equity through stage of his career, he a specific facet of obtaining a law degree still sees a place in the law or how it more than remaining his future for issues applies in various in the classroom.” involving education.

situations.”

Since his decision to leave teaching and enter law school, he finds himself discovering how those lessons continue to help him as a law student.

“I spent four years standing in front of 30 people and teaching them every day,” Johnson said. “Teaching always made me feel as if I was on a stage and in the spotlight, which is one of the reasons it is so exhausting. But the amount of preparation needed for it also helped me transition into the amount of preparation needed as a law student and future attorney.

“Lawyers are often ‘teaching’ a jury, court, client or other individual about a specific facet of the law or how it

“I am still very passionate about education — particularly educational equity — so I would love to continue to be involved in education in any way that I can,” Johnson said.

“That being said, I think my experience as an educator, combined with a law degree, puts me in a good position to influence things like educational equity because I know what it is like to teach in a public school and also have some idea of what things look like on the legal side.”

From Berclair Elementary to Memphis Law, the lessons are still rolling in for him.

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ROSE

logan (3L)

Cornerstone Prep Lester Campus | Memphis Teacher Residency Rose Logan knew she was moving to Memphis after receiving her undergraduate degree from Indiana University Bloomington. She just had no idea that she would become a teacher.

She initially committed to come to Memphis and participate in the Downline Ministries Emerging Leaders program, with a start date of August 2013. But before starting that program, she learned about a summer camp hosted by Memphis Teacher Residency (MTR) focused on summer learning loss and helping restore how students felt about their school itself. She credits this camp with setting her upon some of the first steps of this important phase of her journey.

“This camp opened my eyes to education inequity,” Logan said. “It took place at Cornerstone Prep in Binghampton and showed me the importance of Black students having Black teachers.”

The camp was run by MTR leadership who, after seeing how well Logan worked with the students and families in the community, encouraged her to apply for residency with MTR after her year with Downline Ministries. As she was completing the Emerging Leaders program at Downline, she became an assistant special education teacher at Cornerstone Prep, where she began to really learn more about the state of education in Memphis.

“The truth is, throughout the nation, the quality of education students receive is often determined by the zip code they live in,” said Logan. “As a teacher, I sought to combat one of the greatest social justice and civil rights issues in America — educational inequity.”

It wasn’t long afterward that Logan applied and became a part of the 2014-15 class at Memphis Teacher Residency.

It was at Cornerstone Prep where she experienced some of the greatest success stories, as well

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as hard lessons, of her teaching career, many of which she still draws upon today.

As is often the case with teachers, the personal effort and extra attention given beyond the minimum required produced the best results for her. Logan shared a story about a particularly difficult fourth-grade student who acted out in frustration, sometimes aggressively.

It's stories like this one that helped Logan learn a valuable lesson, which was to always ask “Why?” She notes that there is always a reason for a student’s behavior and asking why something happened would oftentimes result in a dramatically changed attitude or improved situation. It’s a lesson that has carried over into her time in law school and beyond.

“It’s important to ask questions when you are “My second year of teaching I had a student who confused,” Logan said. “As a teacher, I made it a was known for his behavior and his disdain for point to always tell my students to ask me when school. When frustrated, he would punch the desk, something does not make sense. In law school, throw papers on the floor and even storm out of whenever I am confused about something, I ask class. He would often have to be restrained by me my professor. Sometimes I ask during class and in order to avoid him harming himself. I noticed sometimes I ask during office hours, but I he always got frustrated during reading. One day always ask.”

I pulled him aside and told him I saw him. He was on a first-grade In a sentiment echoed by her reading level in the fourth grade. peers in this profile, Logan also “During my Whenever it was time for reading, notes the importance of building five years in I would allow students to read relationships as a skill set in both aloud as we went along. Imagine teaching and as a student in law the classroom, him sitting in that chair terrified school. As a result of her honing I taught some that he was going to get called on the ability to build relationships of the most to read and looking at the book as a teacher with students in her vulnerable being unable to access the words on classroom, she has been intentional the page. His fear was fueling his in building relationships while students. I know frustration. When I pulled him aside, in law school. She has worked firsthand the I told him I would not be calling on hard to build strong relationships disparaging him to read aloud. I removed that with peers, professors, mentors, effects fear from his mind. I also told him judges and future employers.

I would teach him to read on grade educational “As a teacher, you have to have level before the year was up. His inequities have the ability to build relationships,” end of the bargain was to control on families and Logan said. “Law school is hard. You his behavior and trust me. During need support at every level. You communities.” our time of reading aloud, he would also need people who can speak to circle words he knew as he followed your character. Your character will along in his book. I also used my always precede you. I have received free time to backfill the reading many opportunities because I was mentioned skills he needed to get up to grade level. His mom in rooms that I had yet to enter because of the said I was the first teacher so willing to reach him. relationships I developed in law school.”

His behavior changed immediately. He was on grade level by the end of the year. We celebrated a lot. I am still in touch with his family to this day.”

Although she may be done teaching in the classroom, Logan is not done working in the education sector as a whole. She was offered and accepted a paid fellowship for her project proposal centered around education equity.

She will be representing low-income and minority families in education-related matters. As part of the reason behind this work, she stresses her belief that all educators should be informed about the law and know the rights of their students and their families in order to best serve as advocates for those rights.

Rose Logan

“During my five years in the classroom, I taught some of the most vulnerable students,” said Logan. “I know firsthand the disparaging effects educational inequities have on families and communities. In my capacity as an educator, I pursued justice by advocating for individualized education program services, English as a second language services and equal access to quality education for all students.

“Education inequality and access to justice for families is what led me to law school.”

It’s what seems to be leading her to further success and advocacy as well.

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V IR T U ALLY

-ALtErnaTivE Lt Erna T iv E BY

INCE THE SPRING OF 2010, MANY MEMPHIS LAW STUDENTS have used their spring break to help local citizens in need of quality legal services in our Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program. For many years, it was the only student-led alternative spring break in the country to recruit nationally.

s

Over the years, this program has drawn students from law schools of all shapes and sizes to work alongside Memphis Law students, as well as attorneys and organizations throughout Memphis. Traditionally, ASB participants have gone out into the community to assist with matters such as

RYAN

JONES

powers of attorney, health care surrogacies, wills, pro se divorce, legislative drafting and immigration, among many other areas of focus, to help as many individuals in need as possible. With themes ranging from civil rights, juvenile justice, education, community building and mental health interventions in the justice system, ASB has managed to constantly evolve and innovate, while also educating participating law students in unique ways.

Past ASBs have even seen innovative concepts brought into reality, such as the “Street Court” track where students partnered with the Shelby County Public Defender’s Office to expunge outstanding court fees for homeless individuals.

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Lexie Haralson

Due to the pandemic, ASB was faced with new challenges this year. There would be no visiting law students from across the country traveling to Memphis for a week of providing free legal services. Gone, too, would be the participation in large community events where those in need could come to receive services from across the community spectrum, including legal services staffed by our ASB participants. No in-person keynote speakers, group projects or visits to law offices to consult with volunteer attorney supervisors. No visits to the National Civil Rights Museum or Central BBQ to show out-of-town law students some of the great things about Memphis. And no in-person court visits for any of the legal work completed by ASB participants.

legal services find and receive them.

With this year’s program being virtual, it was important to find unique ways to carry out ASB’s mission successfully. To do so, ASB and the law school partnered with six local nonprofit organizations with specializations and missions. These partner organizations included: • Neighborhood Preservation, Inc. • Memphis Area Legal Services • Legal Aid of Arkansas • OUTMemphis • Welcome South • Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services

Although this year’s event was different in form, it was the same in function: Helping those in need of

THIS YEAR’S PROGRAM INVOLVED 65 Memphis Law students Memphis Law students worked with nonprofits to handle nine different tracks addressing issues such as expungement, eviction/

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From left to right, seated: Lexie Haralson, Brittney Ford, Darius Wade & Professor Daniel Schaffzin.

Standing: Trenton Woodley, Matthew Moore, Cole Harrell & Heather Bornstein

housing issues, immigration matters, LGBTQ+ rights, divorce, unemployment, wills and estates, driver’s license restoration, DACA issues and much more.

Attorneys from more than a dozen organizations, law firms, city/county legal divisions and some of our own law professors all worked alongside these students as supervisors and trainers throughout the break.

One partner organization, Welcome South, even used this partnership to launch its innovative new online platform and database to facilitate cross-network referrals from social services agencies in the South to their legal programs, pro bono

counsel and other legal programs across the country. Our students were the first to use this new platform to refer immigration clients in need of legal help to agencies and attorneys in a way that makes it easier on the client and helps solve the logistical nightmare created by distance and service gaps that these individuals face. With this new platform and technology, the case travels with the client during their unpredictable movements among remote detention facilities and increases the efficiency of all the organizations to serve the clients.

Professor Daniel Schaffzin

“I find it to be really rewarding to know that my work will hopefully help to change someone's life and

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potentially impact their future in a positive way,” said Welcome South track participant and Memphis Law 2L student Emma Poindexter.

“I've really enjoyed the hands-on experience that we have gotten to have in helping these clients.”

Heather Bornstein

EACH TRACK SAW ITS OWN numerous success stories As always, the tangible help given to these clients, in virtual settings or not, is among the most rewarding aspects for the students. Each track saw its own numerous success stories and clients served, with several tracks laying the foundation for future work and projects above and beyond the scope of the ASB service days.

“The experience was amazing,” said Expungement Track leader Heather Bornstein. “The Expungement Track that I worked with had amazing track leaders and student volunteers. Some of the clients we served had over 100 convictions and no one, not even me, thought we would finish. But with passion and perseverance, we did.”

The Expungement Track went on to help eight individuals expunge their records and begin to secure

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and restore their voting rights and reinstate their driver’s licenses.

“Most of these people have turned their lives around and are taking the first step toward a new beginning by seeking help,” Bornstein said.

Past ASBs have always featured a specific writing track, often scholarly related, but this year’s writing elements had a distinctly more noticeable community impact.

The OUTMemphis Track was focused on students researching and creating a “Know Your Rights” pamphlet to help in-need persons served by the organization, which would include information on how to navigate relevant legal issues such as traffic stop/police interaction guidance and tenants' housing rights with

their landlords. This track also put together content to substantially bolster the information on the nonprofit's website, which will provide additional information and resources on how to navigate the legal system in Memphis and Shelby County for OUTMemphis constituents.

“Working with Cole, Melba, Ian, Allen, Laurie and Eric as part of the UofM Law School’s Alternative Spring Break was amazing and incredible,” said Kendra Black, Metamorphosis Project case manager for OUTMemphis. “The whole team came together to rapidly produce a concise, easily understandable pamphlet regarding traffic stops that will be a huge help to the participants of the Metamorphosis Project, as well as to the LGBTQ+ community of

Cole Harrell

the Mid-South. I am eagerly looking forward to working with this team again to flesh out the online content that will provide even more education and support to our community!”

One of the biggest benefits to the entire ASB experience, whether virtual or not, is the hands-on, practical experience students get.

Working alongside one of our longtime legal community partners in Memphis Area Legal Services (MALS) on four separate tracks (elder law, expungement/rights restoration, family law and unemployment), this year’s ASB participants were able to see firsthand all of the work that organizations like MALS perform on a daily basis and learn from some of the wisest industry veterans.

Trenton Woodley

“MALS was able to provide the much-needed real-life application of my Family Law course this semester,” said Memphis Law student Trevor Auerbach. “Over two days, the program opened my eyes to the vast differences of learning in the classroom and actually practicing.”

ASB OFFERS STUDENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THE right thing, at the right time and in the right way

MALS certainly provided these students with the opportunity to gain expertise in a number of areas, with ASB participants assisting MALS clients with a number of divorce proceedings and unemployment claims, as well as rights restoration for several individuals and providing assistance with the preparation of wills and other advanced directives for clients.

The mission of MALS and that of ASB dovetail nicely, a message that MALS CEO and general counsel Cindy Ettingoff echoed. “Engaging law students in pro bono legal service is something that is not only an opportunity for students to have a hands-on, client interactivelearning experience, but it also provides a valuable service to those most in need in our community.”

“ASB offers students an opportunity to do the right thing, at the right time and in the right way.”

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Alumni Spotlight

LUKE

PRUETT (JD ’15)

I ALWAYS SAY THAT MEMPHIS IS LIKE YOUR MAMA,” Luke Pruett (JD ’15) joked. “You love it, but you don’t always expect everyone else to.

“But in law school, I kept meeting all of these folks from Denver, Dallas, Nashville and all of these places who didn’t want to go home, and all of a sudden ... it was like everyone else just loved mama too!”

That’s one of the more unique ways to describe how a love of Memphis sneaks up on most everyone who comes to call the Bluff City home. But terms like unique, love, Memphis ... those are all things that ring true when you talk about Pruett too.

Building on that sense of uniqueness, Pruett took a nontraditional route to law school, and he’s ended up in what one might call a nontraditional career for someone with

a law degree. But the common threads throughout his travels have always involved passionate service, learning and leadership.

Originally from Blytheville, Ark., Pruett and his wife, April, both attended Union University in Jackson, Tenn., where he worked in student life and enrollment for six years after finishing his undergraduate degree there.

Wanting to find a way to advance his career options and with Memphis having always been a big part of his life — as a nearby Blytheville resident coming here for fun or as a mentor to a young student residing in Memphis — Pruett enrolled on a whim to the University of Memphis School of Law, not knowing much more than the building was beautiful and downtown was on the rise.

He soon found out that there was much more to love about being here.

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“WE BELIEVE THAT EDUCATORS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN ADVANCING EQUITABLE EDUCATION.”

Though he commuted from Jackson to Memphis several times a week for classes, he began to find more and more inspiration in the Bluff City. It started to become more than just a place to attend law school. He was soon caught up in the momentum of the city and the passionate people making a difference here.

It was around this time that several prominent Memphis websites and media outlets took off. The Choose901 and I Love Memphis websites began to soar in popularity and promote Memphis, Memphians and the stories of both in a way not seen before or appreciated by the people who lived here.

“In March of my 3L year, I started up a podcast and website project all about Jackson that was really inspired by the energy and momentum that Choose901 and the I Love Memphis blog were harnessing here,” Pruett said. “That led to me meeting John Carroll, the executive director of City Leadership, the organization behind Choose901, and he invited us to come into the mission of advocating for a city we’d fallen in love with, but didn’t know there would be an opportunity to help advance it.”

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It was a quick pivot, but Pruett and his family went from a path toward law in Jackson to a life of nonprofit consulting in Memphis within a few short months.

“When I graduated, I had planned on practicing law at a firm back in Jackson,” Pruett said. “But after graduating in May and before taking the bar exam, I walked away from a legal career and into doing nonprofit consulting work by June 2015.”

Choose901 might be the most visible product of the City Leadership organization Pruett went to work for, but its mission goes much deeper than just positive city promotion. It exists to recruit, develop and catalyze leaders for the benefit of the city itself. Its goal is to creatively serve other nonprofits, schools, churches and various government agencies, and proactively identify the challenges of other leaders in Memphis and try to help them find the best solutions for themselves and the future of the city. They also strive to keep innovative and creative young Memphians in Memphis or help convince them to come back and work here.

“I came on board to recruit young people to stay in Memphis or return to Memphis,” said Pruett. He quickly became engaged in sharing his passion for the city and City Leadership’s mission and is currently the recruiting director for City Leadership, with a lead role in the Teach901 and Serve901 campaigns.

According to Pruett, being able to lead at this level so quickly couldn’t have happened without the time he spent at Memphis Law and the experiences he had in law school.

“Even though I’m not practicing on a day-to-day basis, Memphis Law changed my life,” Pruett said. “There’s a mindset that came with it. I just didn’t understand the importance of failure when it came to work ethic until I came to law school. There’s no way to be good at law school without failing, and there is definitely no way to be a good leader without failing on a day-to-day basis and being able to learn from those failures.”

In a related item of leadership, things ramped up dramatically in 2015 around the time that Pruett joined the team to lead Teach901, which has evolved to where it now annually recruits 200 educators from around the country to come and work in Memphis schools, specifically schools serving the city.

Pruett’s efforts with Teach901 are also dedicated to retaining the incredible teacher talent already in Memphis through a number of different ways. The organization hosts events that build community and show appreciation, share positive stories that uplift educators and education-based organizations, and provide professional development opportunities.

“We believe that educators are the most important thing in advancing equitable education,” Pruett said.

“Our contribution to the future success and growing movement in Memphis is to invest in high-quality individuals who haven’t thought about a career in education and steering them toward a new career here or finding experienced and creative educators who are in markets that have a surplus and bringing them to high-needs areas here in Memphis.”

According to Memphis Teacher Residency, one of City Leadership’s ongoing partners, of 381 metro areas in the U.S., Memphis has the lowest rate of “absolute

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upward mobility” for children born into lower-income families. Children born into lower-income families in Memphis are the least likely to be earning meaningfully more as adults. This statistic is significantly related to the quality of education provided to lowerincome children in each of these metro areas.

Related to this, Memphis is one of the cities where minority students are most likely to attend a concentrated-poverty school where more than 50% of students come from lowerincome families. A variety of research points to all students doing better if they do not have to attend a school with concentrated poverty.

“We know that resource availability is what determines economic outcome,” said Pruett when asked about this issue.

“There is a direct correlation to access to high-quality resources to the way in which your education and career journeys go.

“Investment in communities, education and talent are what is needed over time to create better education and community outcomes. We’ve seen this in our schools.

When the funding is there, when the talented and creative educators are there, that incredible outcomes happen.”

The future of the city depends on all of these issues and how they tie to equitable education, according to Pruett and City Leadership.

“For us to become the city that we can become, from arts, to business, to justice issues, we have to have equitable education,” Pruett said. “It is the gateway. It’s the way forward. It’s the answer to questions from justice, to business, to day-to-day flourishing in communities throughout the city.”

The person that inadvertently fell in love with Memphis is now in charge of helping others do the same to help push the city forward and achieve its full potential.

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“INVESTMENT IN COMMUNITIES, EDUCATION AND TALENT ARE WHAT IS NEEDED OVER TIME TO CREATE BETTER EDUCATION

Getting his audiences to recognize Memphis’ potential has to do with ensuring that educators, leaders and everyday Memphians are pushing the boundaries and not settling for old solutions to new problems.

“We tell people all the time, ‘Don’t be what the New York Times is writing about; be what they are going to write about,’” Pruett enthusiastically said.

Part of that has to do with making sure current and former Memphians see the city’s worth.

Pruett works hard to ensure that Memphis “alumni” know about what is happening here and are spreading the word about the wealth of opportunities available to anyone looking for an engaging life or career in a variety of fields.

“There are two misconceptions that we want to address," Pruett said. “One of them is the belief, often held by current and former Memphians, that there are no jobs for creative and innovative individuals in Memphis. Not only do we want to help these people get connected to economic opportunities, but we also don’t want to lose our talented young citizens to other cities around the country.”

Pruett also noted that a lot of employers and Memphians were often guilty of selling Memphis short in the past, looking out of town for talent and jobs.

AND COMMUNITY

“For a long time, Memphis was a place that didn’t believe in itself on a broad scale, but that is changing,” said Pruett.

“And now that same broad belief that Memphis has found in itself needs to be cultivated and move into education here.”

OUTCOMES.”

When Pruett says, “Choose 901,” he wants people from all over the country to choose Memphis. More than anything he wants Memphians to believe in it and stay here.

"That's the secret sauce," he said.

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Alumni Notes

’95

Todd Presnell was recently selected by the Defense Research Institute as the 2020 recipient of the Tom Segalla Excellence in Education Award.

’73

A. Stephen McDaniel

A. Stephen McDaniel was recently elected to the NAEPC Estate Planning Hall of Fame® and honored as an Accredited Estate Planner® (Distinguished) designee by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils.

McDaniel was one of only seven estate planning professionals to receive this prestigious award in 2020. He has also served for approximately 25 years as an adjunct professor at Memphis Law in the areas of estate and gift taxation, estate planning, trust law and insurance law.

’97

Kirk Caraway

It is estimated that McDaniel has written in excess of 10,000 wills and trusts over his career. None has ever been overturned.

’98

John “Johnny” Miller recently co-founded the Good United States Artificial Intelligence Group. The group focuses on AI and ML areas, such as safety, integrity, honesty, ethics, zero bias, democracy, responsibility and social benefit.

Katherine “Kay” Anderson John “Johnny” Miller

Kirk Caraway, of the law firm Allen, Summers, Simpson, Lillie & Gresham, PLLC, was named a “Superlawyer” in the field of labor and employment

by Law & Politics magazine. He was also selected as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” in the field of employment law-management and personal injury litigation-defendants for 2021.

’76

Randy Kinnard, of the firm Kinnard, Clayton & Beveridge, was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers at the 2021 meeting of the college.

Katherine “Kay” Anderson, of Baker Donelson, was named as the “Defense Lawyer of the Year,” by the Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association (TDLA). She is a member of the Baker Donelson Health Care Litigation group. Anderson represents physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners and CRNAs in malpractice defense litigation. The award honors a TDLA member who has made significant contributions to the defense bar and to the practice of law in Tennessee in the past year. ’04

Brooks Irvine has joined the Miles Mason Family Law Group.

’77

Larry Rice has been named as a Top 100 Super Lawyer, the 13th year in a row that he has been rated as such.

’05

Larry Rice

’83

Lee Ann Pafford Dobson was elected to the position of judge of Collierville, Tenn. She had been appointed to the position by the mayor and board of alderman previously. Dobson still has her family law practice in addition to her duties with the Town of Collierville.

Lee Ann Pafford Dobson

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Rice Byars, a member at Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh, PLLC, has been recognized in the new edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

UNIVERSIT Y OF MEMPHIS

Michael Working was selected to serve as president of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. As president, Working formed an ethics committee and worked to help lawyers communicate with their incarcerated clients during the pandemic. ’08

Paul Sacco recently formed The Merry Back Company™, a startup whose mission is to eliminate back pain experienced by more than 75% of the U.S. population. ’88

Paul Sacco

Brooks Irvine

Christen Blackburn

Christen Blackburn, special counsel in Lewis Thomason’s Nashville office, has been named to the Nashville Business Journal’s 2021 40 Under 40. Blackburn was named The Best Lawyers® 2021 Litigation/ Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Nashville, Tenn. She is immediate past president of the Lawyers' Association for Women, chair of ALFA International Women’s Initiative Practice Group and community relations chair of the Nashville Bar Association.

’17

’12

Andrew J. Godbold was recently named as a member of the law firm of Leitner Williams Dooley Napolitan, PLLC. Andrew J. Godbold

Alexis Peddy Espinoza

Kyle Johnson, of the Prosser Law Firm, was one of two lead associates on a recent $6.8 million settlement against Morgan Stanley.

Addison Russell was recently promoted to principal at the lobbying firm of Ramsey, Farrar, Russell & Smith. ’14

Anthony Adewumi recently started working as an attorney with Broadcast Music, Inc., in Nashville, Tenn.

Anthony Adewumi

Jennifer Ogletree

’18 Kyle Johnson

Megan Lane, an associate attorney at Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh, PLLC, was named to the 2020 Attorneys for Justice Honor Roll by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Attorneys for Justice celebrates lawyers and law offices for their commitment to providing pro bono services to those who cannot afford legal costs.

Clayton P. Jackson

Lee Whitwell recently spoke on constitutional law in light of COVID-19 at Campbell Law School’s virtual law review symposium.

Penina Wender

’15

Rob Clapper, of the Prosser Law Firm, was one of two lead associates on a recent $6.8 million settlement against Morgan Stanley.

Rob Clapper

George Scoville

Joseph W. Smith has joined Miles Mason Family Law Group as an associate attorney.

Joseph W. Smith

Clayton P. Jackson will join Bass, Berry & Sims PLC as a litigation associate in September 2021.

Jackson completed term clerkships for Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Diane K. Vescovo (U.S. District Court, W.D. Tenn.); U.S. Magistrate Judge Jon A. York (U.S. District Court, W.D. Tenn.); and Chief U.S. District Judge D. P. Marshall Jr. (U.S. District Court, E.D. Ark.).

George Scoville has been named an adjunct fellow of the Institute for Free Speech in Washington, D.C. Scoville is currently an attorney at Lewis Thomason’s Nashville office, defending global consumer product manufacturing brands in the state and federal courts of Tennessee. ’20

Dakota Beasley has joined the law firm of Glankler Brown, PLLC, as an associate, where she concentrates her practice in the area of real estate.

Ross Smith was recently promoted to principal at the lobbying firm of Ramsey, Farrar, Russell & Smith. ’16

Kelsey Duckett, an associate attorney at Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh, PLLC, has been named a member of the Greater Memphis Chamber’s Young Memphis Class of 2020. ’19

Jennifer Ogletree recently joined the law firm of Morgan & Morgan at their Nashville office as a litigation attorney.

Penina Wender recently joined the law firm of Glankler Brown, PLLC, as counsel.

Alexis Peddy Espinoza recently became partner at Bradford Espinoza, P.A., in York, S.C.

Dakota Beasley

Jason Susser, of Siskind Susser PC, recently co-authored a book on immigration law with an emphasis on how it applies to technology startups in the United States. The book is called Immigration for Startups: A Guide for Founders

Eliza Jones has joined the law firm of Glankler Brown, PLLC, as an associate, where she concentrates her practice in the areas of family law and litigation.

Eliza Jones

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FACU LT Y

Accomplishments Lynda Black Professor Lynda Black's article, "Preserving Procreative Potential with a SmART Prenuptial Agreement," was accepted for publication in 2021 in the FIU Law Review.

Black was also elected by the Faculty Athletics Representatives (FAR) of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) to represent the AAC in 1A FAR (a national organization comprising FARs from each of the athletic conferences competing in Division I college athletics in the Football Bowl Subdivision).

She was also appointed to the University of Memphis Athletics for Diversity and Equality (UMADE) action group.

Additionally, Black was recently recognized by the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame as one of 12 faculty athletics representatives honored as part of the 2020 NFF Faculty Salutes presented by Fidelity Investments.

Demetria Frank Professor Demetria Frank presented at Washington & Lee's Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice 2020 Symposium, "Race and the Pandemic," in the fall, with a subsequent article published in its spring symposium issue.

Frank also recently took part in a virtual criminal justice reform symposium co-hosted by Just City and the National Civil Rights Museum.

Frank was appointed to the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

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Ronnie Gipson Professor Ronnie Gipson published an article entitled, "The 737 Max is ready to fly again, but plane certification still needs to be fixed – and here's how," in The Conversation.

Gipson's work was also referenced in the Congressional Report on the 737 Max certification investigation. The report cited his article, "The FAA's Aircraft Design Approval Process must be Overhauled," from the Empire Bar Review.

His article, "The Rise of Drones and the Erosion of Privacy and Trespass Laws," was also recently published in Air & Space Lawyer, a publication of the American Bar Association.

Gipson's article, "States in the Global South Can Improve Their Economies

by Rejecting a Favorable Trade Balance Policy and Adopting Free Trade Policies through an ASEAN Modeled Regional Trade Pact," was accepted for publication in 2021 in the Global Studies Law Review. Professor Gipson was recently appointed as Chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Legal Advisory Council.

Donna Harkness Professor Donna Harkness recently presented "Delighting in the Details: Connecting Legal Writing to Document Drafting in Clinic" at the Legal Writing Institute one-day workshop on "Building Connections: Connecting Legal Writing to the Broader Curriculum, the Bar Exam, Practice, and Beyond."

In July, Harkness presented "Durable Power of Attorney Insights" and "Advance Directive Tips: Making Healthcare Wishes Explicit" as part of the National Business Institute's "Estate Planning: Top 8 Tools to Know" webinar.

Additionally, she was recently appointed to serve as Memphis Law's liaison to the Memphis Bar Association (MBA). In this capacity, also serves as a member of both the MBA's Access to Justice and Professionalism committees.

Harkness was also invited to serve as co-executive editor of the NAELA Journal, the flagship publication of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, which publishes substantive articles covering a wide range of elder and special needs law topics.

Deshun Harris Professor Deshun Harris was recently featured in the latest issue of the AccessLex magazine, Raising the Bar, with a piece in the "Distinguished Thinker Commentary" section.

Her work was entitled, "Antiracist Strategies to Increase Licensure for Minorities.”

Harris was elected president of the Association of Academic Support Educators.

Regina Lambert Hillman Professor Lambert Hillman was appointed coordinator for the law school's legal methods program.

Hillman, alongside Memphis Law professor Anna Vescovo, gave a presentation entitled, "Learning to Paint the Picture in Persuasive Writing with In-Class Exercises" at the Legal Writing Institute's one-day workshop hosted by the KIMEP University School of Law in Kazakhstan in Central Asia.

Daniel Kiel Professor Daniel Kiel was recently invited by the Cardozo Law Review to contribute a piece on modern Supreme Court transitions for an emergency volume they produced in the wake of the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The volume, including his article, "A Bolt of Lightning: Measuring the Impact of Modern Supreme Court Transitions," was submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary as it considered replacing Ginsburg.

Additionally, Kiel had two pieces published during the fall regarding a loophole in Tennessee law that could lead to an unconstitutional execution of an individual with intellectual disabilities. The first piece was published as an op-ed in Bloomberg Law, with a longer piece being published in the University of Minnesota's online companion to their journal, Law and Inequality. Professor Kiel also served as a panelist on “Critical Race Theory: What It Is and What It Isn’t,” presented by the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute. This was an online discussion on the importance of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in academic, education and activist studies.

Mary Morris Professor Mary Morris was recently appointed to the Shelby County Ethics Commission by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris.

Steve Mulroy Professor Steve Mulroy has been a nationally sought-after expert on the topics of voting rights, elections and ballot issues in the past several months.

He has been quoted extensively by local, regional and national media outlets and publications.

Mulroy has also been involved in several successful court cases that helped to expand access to absentee ballots in Tennessee.

His work helped obtain a court order requiring Tennessee to notify voters that anyone with underlying medical conditions is eligible to vote by mail. Additionally, Mulroy was instrumental in the successful litigation to expand access to absentee ballots to any voter residing with a medically vulnerable person.

Mulroy completed a book chapter on the Voting Rights Act for the upcoming Oxford Handbook of American Election Law (Oxford Univ. Press). He also published eight articles in The Hill, The Conversation and Salon relating to the 2020 elections and COVID risks among the incarcerated. He presented a number of election-related continuing legal educations to the Tennessee Bar Association and Memphis Bar Association and debated a Heritage Foundation election law scholar at an Emory University School of Law event. Fox News Channel, the Canadian Broadcast Company, Voice of America and Sky News Arabia each interviewed him repeatedly on election and impeachment issues; he gave similar interviews to a number of radio and TV stations around the U.S. and Canada, including Memphis outlets. He served as lead counsel in a successful state court lawsuit to expand mail voting access in Tennessee during the pandemic and assisted in the successful lawsuit to improve COVID conditions for pretrial detainees at the Shelby County Jail. He traveled to Georgia for several weeks leading up to the U.S. Senate runoffs in the state, providing election protection legal assistance and ‘ballot cure’ canvassing.

Mulroy was recently elected to the board of the Memphis Bar Association.

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Faculty Accomplishments Katy Ramsey Mason Professor Katy Ramsey Mason had her work, "Crime-free Housing Ordinances and Eviction," published in the University of Wisconsin's Institute for Research on Poverty's publication, Fast Focus. The subject of the issue was systemic racism and the justice system, with her piece focusing on crime-free rental housing ordinances.

Additionally, her article, "Lessons from Tenant Protection Provisions in Federal Financial Crisis Legislation," was published in the University of St. Thomas Journal of Law and Public Policy.

Ramsey Mason has recently been at the forefront of the national discussion regarding evictions, particularly as they relate to the pandemic. She has been quoted extensively in both local and national news outlets. Professor Ramsey Mason also testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee oversight hearing on illegal evictions during the pandemic.

Timothy Peterkin Professor Timothy Peterkin joined the Memphis Law faculty as a visiting professor this fall.

Danny Schaffzin Professor Danny Schaffzin was recently honored by the Memphis Bar Association as one of its 2020 Champions of Justice Award recipients in the attorney category.

Schaffzin co-chaired the planning committee for the 2020 Clinical Legal Education Association New Clinicians Conference, which was held virtually in June and drew more than 250 attendees.

He served as senior faculty for the Fourth Annual Strategic Code Enforcement Management Academy.

In partnership with the Tennessee Supreme Court's Access to Justice Commission, he served with University of Tennessee College of Law professor Joy Radice as coordinating faculty for the Summer A2J Law Student Fellowship Program.

Schaffzin continues to serve on the team that designed and is leading the Memphis Eviction Settlement Program.

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David Romantz Professor David Romantz's latest article, "In Defense of Legislative History," was accepted for publication in 2021 in the Mississippi Law Journal.

Romantz served as a member of the American Bar Association Site Accreditation Committee for the University of San Diego School of Law.

Nicole Tuchinda Dr. Nicole Tuchinda joined the Memphis Law faculty as a visiting professor this fall.

Anna Vescovo Assistant professor Anna Vescovo, alongside Memphis Law professor Regina Hillman, gave a presentation entitled, "Learning to Paint the Picture in Persuasive Writing with In-Class Exercises," at the Legal Writing Institute's one-day workshop hosted by the KIMEP University School of Law in Kazakhstan in CentralAsia.

Jodi Wilson Associate dean Jodi Wilson's article, "COVID-19 Brings Renewed Attention to Supervised Practice Pending Admission," was recently published in Memphis Lawyer Magazine, the official magazine of the Memphis Bar Association.

Professor and associate dean Wilson also co-authored the article, “Law Students and Cell Phone Use: Results of a SixSchool Survey,” in the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Review.

Faculty Opinion/Editorial

Housing Help: Why Tenants Rights and Rental Relief Are Important Beyond the Pandemic

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by Professor Katy Ramsey Mason

ince the COVID-19 pandemic began last year, there has been an unprecedented amount of media attention on an urgent consequence of the pandemic: evictions. The numbers are staggering — as many as 40 million Americans, many of them low-income people of color, are at risk of losing their housing in the midst of the biggest public health crisis in a century. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, nearly 300,000 Tennesseans — more than 20% of the state’s residential renters — reported in February 2021 that they were behind on their rent payments. The pandemic has without question exacerbated housing instability over the past year, but it is also important to understand that there was already an eviction crisis before the pandemic started, and it will likely continue after the pandemic ends. And the pandemic has exposed many areas of the landlord-tenant relationship that are in desperate need of reform.

The link between housing insecurity and the pandemic is not difficult to grasp. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “eviction moratoria […] can be an effective public health measure utilized to prevent the spread of communicable disease […] housing stability helps protect public health because homelessness increases the likelihood of individuals moving into close quarters in congregate settings, such as homeless shelters, which then puts individuals at higher risk to COVID-19.” Since the pandemic took hold in the U.S. in March 2020, local, state and federal governments have implemented forms of eviction moratoria in recognition of the danger of making people homeless through eviction during this unprecedented time. Unfortunately, low-income people of color are the most likely to be at risk of eviction and are also most likely to have experienced the other devastating effects of the pandemic — infection, hospitalization, death and income loss. Landlords have also been struggling — many property owners, especially small-scale ones, have experienced significant hardship in meeting their mortgage payments, tax obligations and other costs because of the loss of rental income from tenants

affected by COVID-19. This, in turn, contributes to the loss of affordable housing units and further compression of an already difficult rental market for low-income tenants.

been felt most acutely. Therefore, ensuring that fewer people are displaced from housing in these areas is critical to addressing the disparities that the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated.

The pandemic has drawn broader attention to the issue of tenants’ rights. The landlord-tenant legal system is governed almost entirely by state and local law, which means that rights and responsibilities of tenants and owners can vary significantly state to state. However, one commonality among all 50 states is the use of a summary process for eviction matters. This expedited process is intended to incentivize landlords to use the court system to regain possession of property, rather than using self-help to remove tenants. In exchange for being required to take their disputes to court, landlords are promised an expedited court process, avoiding the lengthy procedure that usually accompanies civil litigation. In order to accomplish this, certain hallmarks of the civil court process are curtailed in eviction cases — tenants are not allowed to assert defenses and counterclaims or request discovery in the same way that other civil defendants can, and, by statute, there is a particularly short turnaround from complaint to trial.

All of these concessions to expediency are things that tend to benefit the landlord’s interests.

In Memphis, a dedicated group of attorneys, law students and government officials have worked hard to establish a response to the pandemic’s effect on housing insecurity, and at the same time, to improve tenants’ access to legal representation in eviction proceedings. In 2020, the Eviction Settlement Program (ESP) provided approximately $2 million in emergency financial assistance through the CARES Act on behalf of nearly 1,200 tenants, in exchange for their landlords agreeing to dismiss pending eviction proceedings. In 2021, Memphis and Shelby County have been allocated nearly $30 million in Emergency Rent Assistance funds to assist with unpaid rent and utilities. This emergency federal money is absolutely critical for preserving housing stability for renters in Shelby County. The ESP has also provided much-needed legal representation to tenants in negotiations and litigation. Other cities, such as New York City, which have invested in legal representation for tenants have found that it results in lower eviction rates and overall cost savings for local governments. Having attorneys for tenants also helps to even the playing field in court and alleviates some of the harmful imbalances in how landlords’ and tenants’ interests are treated in the summary eviction process.

Hopefully, the silver lining of the pandemic is that this will be just a first step in improved tenants’ rights and access to legal counsel for low-income renters in our city.

Moreover, landlords are significantly more likely to be represented by attorneys in court. More than 90% of landlords have lawyers who represent them in eviction proceedings, while fewer than 10% of tenants do. Both tenants and landlords have experienced hardships since the pandemic began, but tenants are at a significant disadvantage during the formal eviction process.

Especially in a city like Memphis, with a high poverty rate and stark racial disparities in the health and economic effects of the pandemic, evictions are a matter of racial justice. Since the pandemic began, approximately 80% of new eviction filings have been in zip codes where the median household income is below 50% of the area’s average. Those are the same areas with the highest populations of Black and brown residents, and where the effects of the pandemic have

Professor Ramsey Mason is an assistant professor of law and director of the Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic at the University of Memphis School of Law. She has become a leading voice on how evictions have become a part of the pandemic-related public health crisis across the country. She has been instrumental as a part of the leadership team for the Eviction Settlement Program in Memphis and Shelby County.

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