MEMPHIS, Tenn. — During a luncheon Friday, AC and Ruby Wharton were given the William M. Leech, Junior Public Service award from the Tennessee Bar Association for their service to the legal profession.
AC was Executive Director of Memphis Area Legal Services, Shelby County's Chief Public Defender, and an Ole Miss Law Professor before he became Mayor for both Shelby County and then Memphis.
Ruby also has decades of service as an attorney here in Memphis and in the community.
Wharton says he's honored by the award.
"Anytime your peers, your fellow professionals, who know us better than anyone else, see fit to honor the thousands of lawyers who could have received this award that my wife and I have been blessed to receive the award," says AC Wharton.
The Leech Public Service Award has been handed out almost every year since 1992. It wasn't given out in 1995 or 2000.