A retired Memphis lawyer will soon be honored by the state's bar association for "outstanding service to the profession, the legal system and their community."
Bill Haltom of the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) is set to be presented with the "William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award" on June 14, according to the TBA.
The award is named after the former attorney general Leech and presented by the Fellows of the TBA Young Lawyers division.
"Bill Haltom exemplifies the values embodied in the Leech Award," YLD Fellows President Rachel Mancl, a federal bankruptcy judge in Greeneville, said. "His contributions to the Tennessee Bar Association — as well as to the state and Memphis legal communities — demonstrate his lifelong commitment to improving the legal profession and serving the public."
Haltom reportedly earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1978. He then joined the Memphis firm of Thomason Hendrix Harvey Johnson & Mitchell, where he focused his practice in the areas of medical and legal malpractice defense, personal injury litigation, business litigation, health care law and media law, according to the TBI. The firm reportedly merged with Lewis, King, Krieg & Waldrop in 2014 to form Lewis Thomason. The TBA said that, even after his retirement in 2018, Haltom has "remained active as a continuing education speaker and writer for numerous legal publications."
Haltom was reportedly elected vice president of the TBA in 2003 and served as president of the association from 2005-2006. His platform included a statewide grassroots public education campaign focused on the importance of the rule of law as well as a statewide public service effort, according to the TBA.
