Mem

phi

s La

w M

agaz

ine

| Fal

l 20

14

Punk RockPlanningHEDGING OUR BETS:PENSIONS IN PERSPECTIVE

ATTORNEYS ATTIRE:SETTING THE BAR IN FASHION

The Art of the Possible

A publication of the University of MemphisCecil C. Humphreys School of Law

Fall 2014 | Issue 2

DeanPeter V. Letsou

Executive EditorRyan Jones

Contributing WritersRyan Jones

Steve Jones

Andrew Jay McClurg

Toby Sells

Alexis Stephens

Michael Waddell

Faculty News EditorKatharine Schaffzin

PhotographyBarry Aslinger

Rhonda Cosentino

Ryan Jones

Sherryl Lockett

Designarcher>malmo

Published ByThe University of Memphis

Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law

1 North Front Street

Memphis, TN 38103

(901) 678-2421

memphis.edu/law

1

The University of Memphis, a Tennessee Board of Regents institution, is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action University. It is committed to education of a non-racially identifiable student body. UOM315-FY1415/5M EM PRINTING

The nation’s law schools find themselves in a perfect

storm. Applicants have declined by more than 46%

over the last 10 years (from over 100,000 in 2004 to

54,500 today). But the number of ABA-approved

law schools continues to grow. The result: national

applicant levels are at their lowest in more than three

decades, while law school capacity is greater than

ever before.

Three principal factors explain the dramatic reversal

in law school applications. First, the 2008 financial

collapse had an unprecedented impact on law firms

and the legal profession, resulting in significant job

losses at the nation’s law firms and reduced hiring of

new attorneys, especially in 2009 and 2010. While the

worst of the financial collapse is now behind us, the

effects are still with us, with the national hiring rate

for recent law school graduates still declining, albeit

only slightly, since reaching a 23-year high in 2007.

Second, soaring tuition levels, especially at private

law schools, put a legal education beyond the reach

– or at least the risk tolerance – of many potential

law students. The average annual tuition for a private

law school reached $42,000 in 2013, a 560 percent

increase from the average of $7,500 in 1985. As a

result, the typical private law school student can now

expect to graduate with approximately $125,000 in

law school debt.

Third, very real questions have arisen about whether

law schools are providing adequate training for

their students, especially practical skills training. In

the past, law schools invested heavily in doctrinal

education and legal theory, leaving skills training

to the law firms who would employ their students

following graduation. But with law firms no longer

able to pass along training expenses to cost-conscious

clients, this model is unsustainable.

How then should law schools respond to the current

crisis in legal education? The causes of the crisis

point the way to solutions.

Law schools need to downsize so the number of

graduates more closely matches the demand for new

lawyers. And there’s good evidence this is already

happening. Since 2010, first year enrollment has

steadily declined from an all-time high of 52,500 to a

more than 30-year low of 39,700.

Law schools need to cut their costs so they can

reduce tuition levels or at least slow tuition growth.

During the 1990s and 2000s, when annual tuition

increases of 5 to 6 percent or higher went hand in

hand with growing enrollments, many law schools

increased the sizes of their faculties and added

expensive new programs. This trend has left many

law schools in financial crisis today, with high fixed

costs and too few students to provide the tuition

dollars to pay those costs.

Finally, law schools need to change how they teach.

Law schools can no longer rely on legal employers

to provide the skills training that law schools fail to

provide. Instead, law schools need to find new ways

to train their students and new ways to engage with

the legal profession to ensure that students and

recent graduates get the skills training they need.

With legal education in such a precarious state, you

might ask why anyone would choose to attend law

school today. That’s certainly a good question. But at

Memphis Law, there’s a very good answer.

Memphis Law didn’t get bloated in the good times,

so right-sizing our student population for today’s new

normal hasn’t resulted in the dislocations that have

shaken other schools.

Also, in addition to having one of the most

impressive law school buildings in the nation,

Memphis Law offers one of the best values in legal

education today. With an in-state tuition level less

than half that of the typical private law school (and a

recent 37 percent reduction in non-resident tuition,

making Memphis Law one of the most affordable

schools in the nation), Memphis Law now ranks

19th in the nation in preLaw magazine’s Best Value

rankings.

And Memphis Law’s downtown location in a major

metropolitan market — only blocks from the

courts, government offices, and much of city’s legal

community — uniquely positions us to provide the

kinds of experiential learning opportunities that

today’s students need and demand.

For today’s potential law student at sea in a turbulent

educational and economic environment, Memphis

Law offers a safe harbor in a perfect storm.

Cordially,

Peter V. Letsou

Dean

Memphis Law: A Safe Harbor in a Perfect Storm DEAN’S LETTER

2

Punk RockPlanningThe Art of the Possible

PUNK ROCK PLANNING BY TOBY SELLSMemphis is at the forefront of an emerging form of citizen activism –

tactical urbanism – where citizens achieve their goals or focus attention

on their objectives, not through the courts or governmental action, but

through direct citizen action. The results are inspiring Memphians to invest

in their city and communities in ways that are helping to make Memphis a

national model for positive change.

HEDGING OUR BETS: A Pension PerspectiveBY RYAN JONES & MICHAEL WADDELLWith contributions from Toby Sells & The Memphis Flyerand Alexis Stephens & Next City Cities across America face a similar crisis. The issues surrounding the fund-

ing of pension funds have led many municipalities to re-think the way they

invest and deal with an array of problems associated with the fallout from

the Great Recession. Memphis is not alone in this struggle, with cities like

Chicago and Detroit dealing with their own respective pension crisis, but

the Bluff City is better off than its citizens might realize. Examining how

other cities fare compared to Memphis puts our pension issues in perspec-

tive and sheds some light on the road ahead.

13

ATTORNEYS ATTIRE: Setting the Bar in Fashion BY RYAN JONESMemphis has its share of memorable personalities and fashion icons and the

legal community here is no exception. These members of the Memphis legal

community personify style and have become synonymous with at least one

memorable piece of fashion amongst the attorneys, judges, and other legal

professionals that call Memphis home. We take a look at what sets them

apart and what drives their style.

CONTENTS

13

FEATURES

17

23

233

TRUE BLUE: Alumni SpotlightKaren Clark (JD ’87) is the vice president for Global Legal Division

and Global Business Services at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio,

where she has worked for 27 years in various capacities.

SETTING THE BAR: Memphis Law Alumni Class Notes

FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

DIVISIONS

21

25

27

05

10

11

BRIEFS:News + Events

Honors ProsecutionExternship ProgramBY STEVE JONESFive Memphis Law students received some memorable, real-life legal

experiences through the Honors Prosecution Externship Program at the

Shelby County District Attorney’s Office in 2014.

STUDENT PROFILE: Cesar Arbelaez Cesar Arbelaez is a third-year student at Memphis Law and the current

president of the newly formed Hispanic Law Students Association (HLSA).

He was born in Columbia, moved with his family to Miami, spent his

teenage years in Nashville, and ultimately landed in Memphis, where he

attended the University of Memphis for his undergraduate degree. He is

now ready to use his diverse range of experiences to make Memphis a

better place.

21

11

4

Sibling SuccessKaren (JD ’87) and Kathy (JD ’86) Clark were born in Chattanooga, Tenn.,

and attended law school at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys

School of Law together, being separated by only one year while in law

school. We look at what it was like to go to law school at the same time as

your sister and what lessons they took away from the experience, as well as

their favorite memories and professors.

22

22

MEMPHIS LAW SCHOOL FORMS ADVISORY BOARDMemphis Law recently established its first advisory board to help lead

and advise the school on various matters. The advisory board includes

both alumni and non-alumni in a range of practice settings, with the

newly formed board consisting of members from over 12 major law

firms and corporations, as well as state and federal judges. The advisory

board will build even closer connections with the Memphis legal and

business community and enable the law school to find new ways to

enhance the educational experiences of our students and produce even

better lawyers for our community. Members include:

• John Bobango – Managing partner, Farris Bobango, PLC

• The Hon. Robert “Butch” Childers Shelby County Circuit Court, Div. 9

• Karen Clark – Vice president, Global Legal Division and Global Business Services, The Procter & Gamble Company

• Robert Craddock, Jr. – Partner, Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP

• Robert Dinkelspiel – Partner, Dinkelspiel, Rasmussen & Mink, PLLC

• Richard Glassman – Senior shareholder and president, Glassman, Wyatt, Tuttle & Cox, P.C.

• Mark Glover – Managing shareholder, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C.

• Harry Goldsmith – Senior counsel, Bass, Berry & Sims, PLC, and former general counsel (ret.), AutoZone

• R. Hunter Humphreys – Partner, Glankler Brown, PLLC

• The Hon. Holly M. Kirby – Tennessee Surpreme Court Justice

• Connie Lewis Lensing – Senior VP, Legal, FedEx Express, FedEx Corporation

• Harrison D. McIver, III – Executive director/CEO, Memphis Area Legal Services, Inc.

• Randall Noel – Partner, Butler Snow, LLP

• Todd Presnell – Partner, Bradley, Arant, Boult, Cummings, LLP

• Sharon Ryan – Senior VP, general counsel, International Paper

• Robert L. J. Spence, Jr. – Managing partner, The Spence Law Firm

• Edward Stanton, III – United States Attorney, Western District of Tennessee

• Charlie Tuggle – Executive VP and general counsel, First Horizon National Corp.

• The Hon. Diane Vescovo – Federal magistrate judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee

• Kristen Wright – Senior VP, general counsel and secretary, AutoZone

BRIEFS: NEWS + EVENTS

5

MEMPHIS LAW LOWERS TUITION BY RECORD AMOUNTBeginning this fall 2014 semester, tuition for out-

of-state students at the University of Memphis

Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law was lowered

by 37 percent, from $37,864 to $23,852. This

significant reduction in tuition makes Memphis

Law one of the most affordable law schools in

the nation for out-of-state students.

JAMIE M. JOHNSON NAMED AS NEW LAW SCHOOL REGISTRARJamie M. Johnson has been named law school

registrar at the University of Memphis School

of Law. Her responsibilities include oversight

of the law school registrar’s office and

duties relating to enrollment verification,

managing student’s academic records,

and ensuring the accuracy, integrity,

maintenance and delivery of all law

school institutional data. Johnson will

also work closely with the dean ofacademic affairs to administer exams, determine

class rank, and report grades. A native of

Memphis, Johnson attended Hutchison School

for high school and received her Bachelor’s

Degree with a double major in Government and

Women’s Studies from Georgetown University.

She received her law degree from Lewis and

Clark Law School in Portland, Ore. Johnson most

recently worked for the Memphis law office of

Edward Bearman as an associate attorney and

was the founder and executive director of the

Memphis Public Interest Law Center.

JOH

NSO

N

MEMPHIS LAW LISTED AS TOPFACILITY BY PRELAW MAGAZINE PreLaw magazine listed Memphis Law as having the Best Law

School Facility in the U.S. in its Fall 2014 issue. The magazine

assessed aesthetics, square footage per student on campus,

library hours, number of library seats per student on campus,

and amenities — dining, fitness, parking and lockers. It also

included student comments from Princeton Review’s law

school guidebook in its evaluation.

PROFESSOR RALPH BRASHIER RECEIVES FARRIS BOBANGO AWARDProfessor Ralph Brashier received the Farris

Bobango Scholarship Award during the law

school’s graduation ceremony in May 2014.

Farris Bobango works with the University of

Memphis annually to recognize and encourage

outstanding research by a faculty member.

Professor Brashier received the award for

his scholarly article “The Ghostwritten Will,”

published in the 93rd edition of the Boston

University Law Review.

SECOND “WELCOME TO MEMPHIS” PANEL SHOWCASES MEMPHISAs part of this year’s orientation activities, the

law school hosted the second “Welcome to

Memphis” panel, intended to give new students

and residents of Memphis an inspiring and

exciting glimpse of what Memphis is really

all about as a city. The panel showcased a

number of areas such as arts & entertainment,

the food and culinary scene, sports-related

matters, non-profit organizations, and business

expertise. Participants in the second edition

of this panel included: Kat Gordon, owner and

director of awesome at Muddy’s Bakery; Paul

Morris, president of the Downtown Memphis

Commission; Anne Pitts, Director of the Levitt

Shell; and Rick Trotter, the official voice of the

Memphis Grizzlies.

THE HONORABLE HOLLY M. KIRBY HOSTS TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT INVESTITURE AT MEMPHIS LAWTennessee Governor Bill Haslam swore the

Honorable Holly M. Kirby (JD ’82) into the

Tennessee Supreme Court, on September 19,

2014, in the historic courtroom of the law school.

More than 200 guests attended the ceremony,

with such notables as Governor Haslam, former

Governor Don Sundquist, Shelby County Mayor

Mark Luttrell, Judge Julia Gibbons, members of

the Tennessee Supreme Court, members of the

Tennessee Court of Appeals, and many other

members of the judiciary, legislature, and Mid-

South legal community. Justice Kirby is the first

graduate of the University of Memphis Cecil C.

Humphreys School of Law to be appointed to

the Tennessee Supreme Court.

VICKIE HARDY JONES NAMED PRESIDENT OF CECIL C. HUMPHREYS SCHOOL OF LAW ALUMNI CHAPTERVickie Hardy Jones (JD ’96) was named the

2014-15 University of Memphis School of Law

Alumni Chapter president. Jones is a partner

at the firm of Black, McLaren, Jones, Ryland &

Griffee P.C., where she practices in the areas of

domestic relations and general civil litigation.

She has served on the board of the law

alumni chapter for five years in many different

capacities such as secretary-treasurer and

president-elect.

MEMPHIS LAW AGAIN LISTED AS A BEST VALUEIN PRELAW MAGAZINEThe law school was ranked 19th by preLaw

magazine on its list of 2014 Best Value Law

Schools. The magazine honored 53 of the

nation’s 200 law schools with only 20 schools

receiving the top “A” rating, and Memphis Law

is the only law school in the nation to receive

this “A” rating while being located in one of the

nation’s 20 largest metropolitan areas.

“WELCOME TO MEMPHIS” PANEL

6

VICKIE HARDY JONES

7

BRIEFS: NEWS + EVENTSHISPANIC LAW STUDENT ASSOCIATION FORMEDStudents at the University of Memphis School

of Law formed a new registered student

organization for Hispanic law students. The

Hispanic Law Students Association (HLSA)

will be led by Memphis Law student Cesar

Arbelaez during its inaugural year.

LAW SCHOOL NAMED ONE OF THETOP 25 MOST IMPRESSIVE LAW BUILDINGS WORLDWIDEMemphis Law was named one of the top 25

most impressive law school buildings in the

world and as the 15th most impressive in the U.S.

by Bestchoiceschools.com.

UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHISLAW SCHOOL HOSTS EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION CONFERENCE The University of Memphis School of Law

recently co-hosted a conference with the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

titled “Remaking America: 50 Years of Title

VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” on Friday,

June 13, 2014.

The impressive slate of panelists, speakers,

and participants included a number of

federal judges, local politicians, White House

appointed administrators, and prominent

attorneys, all speaking about the importance

and commemoration of Title VII. The

keynote speaker for the event was Paulette

Brown, president-elect of the American Bar

Association, who also participated in a panel

focusing on “Issues Arising in Litigating Title

VII Cases.”

A panel composed of several federal judges

focused on “Best Practices for Litigating Title

VII Cases in Federal Court in 2014.” This panel

was moderated by Connie Lewis Lensing,

senior VP of legal for FedEx, and included the

Honorable William J. Haynes, Jr., chief U.S.

district judge, Middle District of Tennessee,

The Honorable Brian S. Miller, chief U.S.

district judge, Eastern District of Tennessee,

and the Honorable S. Thomas Anderson, U.S.

district judge, Western District of Tennessee.

Additionally, the conference was proud to

host David Lopez, the general counsel for

the EEOC out of Washington, D.C., who

participated in a panel alongside Katharine

W. Kores, the EEOC director of the Memphis

office, and Delner Franklin-Thomas, director

of the EEOC Birmingham office. This panel

focused on the “Evolution of Title VII.”

PROFESSOR ANDREW JAY MCCLURG’S SCHOLARSHIP TURNS INTO LAWMemphis Law professor Andrew Jay

McClurg’s proposal for a statutory

presumption of elder financial exploitation,

in his recent Hastings Law Journal article

“Preying on the Graying: A Statutory

Presumption to Prosecute Elder Financial

Exploitation,” was recently enacted into law

in Florida.

McClurg composed the

article after his father was

a victim of exploitation in

Florida shortly before he

passed away last year.

The presumption statute passed

unanimously through each legislative

committee and also the Florida House and

Senate. Florida Governor Rick Scott signed

it into law on June 20, 2014. The law took

effect October 1, 2014.

McClurg’s statute is the only one of its type in

the nation.

To read more about Professor McClurg’s

accomplishment, please read the full story

on page 29.

ENTERING CLASS OF 2014 SHOWS RECORD DIVERSITYThe entering class of 2014, which began

school at Memphis Law in August, has a

minority enrollment of 31 percent.

The same entering class also has a

composition of 53 percent male enrollment

and 47 percent female enrollment, with an

age range of 20 to 61 years of age.

PALS WINS GRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATION AWARDThe Public Action Law Society (PALS) won

the University of Memphis Graduate Student

Organization of the Year Award in the 2013-

2014 academic year.

2014 PILLARS OF EXCELLENCE AWARDSThe 2014 Pillars of Excellence Awards were

held in August 2014. Individuals being

honored included Honorable Arthur T.

Bennett, Honorable David R. Farmer, Albert

C. Harvey, Charles F. Newman, Max Shelton,

and Maurice Wexler. James S. Gilliland was

also named as Friend of the Law School.

Created in 2007 by the Law Chapter of the

University of Memphis Alumni Association,

the Pillars of Excellence are a chosen group

of Memphis-area law professionals who have

made significant contributions to the practice

of law. In addition, these leaders have set

examples for the community through their

involvement in both civic and charitable

organizations.

GIDEON’S ARMY SCREENING Memphis Law hosted a screening of the

award-winning documentary Gideon’s Army

in May 2014. The film follows three young

public defenders fighting for their clients in

the face of staggering caseloads. The Shelby

County Public Defender’s Office hosted the

screening and corresponding panel with the

law school, which was proud to have Gideon’s

Promise founder Jon Rapping speak to the

audience and participate in the panel.

PORTRAIT OF FORMER DEAN KEVIN SMITH UNVEILEDThe portrait of former Memphis Law Dean

Kevin H. Smith was unveiled at a ceremony

at the law school on Oct. 23 in the scenic

Gordon Ball Reading Room. Dean Smith was

dean of the law school from 2009–2012,

while also serving as the interim dean from

2007–2009. He oversaw the monumental

transitioning of the law school to its new

home downtown in the historic former U.S.

Custom House, Federal Courthouse and U.S.

Post Office. A number of alumni, faculty, staff,

students, and community members attended

the portrait unveiling, with several notable

speakers taking part in the program honoring

Dean Smith.

NEW FACULTY MEMBERAT MEMPHIS LAWThe law school welcomedJohn Newman to the facultythis fall. John Newman washired as a visiting assistantprofessor of law. Professor Newman will teach conflicts of laws and civil procedure during the 2014-15 academic year. Prior to joining the Memphis Law faculty, Newman practiced as an Honors Program trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, in Washington, D.C. He also maintained an active pro bono practice in D.C., representing D.C. tenants pursuing claims for housing-code violations and advising a startup regarding intellectual-property issues. Newman received his Bachelor of Arts from Iowa State University of Science & Technology and his law degree

from the University of Iowa College of Law.

8

2014 PILLARS OF EXCELLENCE

NE

WM

AN

BRIEFS: NEWS + EVENTSJUDGE LIPMAN INVESTITUREThe investiture ceremony for the Honorable

Sheryl Lipman, recently appointed district

judge for the Western District of Tennessee,

was held at the law school in August 2014.

The ceremony was attended by her fellow

district judges in the Western District of

Tennessee, with Judges Breen, Fowlkes, Mays,

and McCalla all attending and sitting on the

bench in the law school’s historic courtroom.

Judge Lipman was sworn in by the Honorable

Julia Gibbons, of the United States Court of

Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

BLSA CHAPTER HONORS 11 GRADUATES FROM CLASS OF 2014 AT KENNETH MAURICE COX RECEPTION The Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Black

Law Students Association (BLSA) honored

law students at The Kenneth Maurice Cox

Donning of the Kente Ceremony. This

Ceremony recognizes each graduating BLSA

member for their contribution to the law

school’s academic, cultural, and professional

environments.

The Donning of the Kente ceremony is

named in honor of one of the law school’s

first African-American graduates, Kenneth

Maurice Cox.

The honorees are from left, Jacob Dennis,

II, Jayniece Higgins, Patrick Hendricks,

Rebekka Freeman, Cameron Watson, Tracy

Richard, Anthony Adewumi, Jerry Ivery, and

Corey Strong. Not pictured are law school

graduates Kezia Mills and Michael Kendrick.

Each of these students graduated May

10th, 2014, at the Cannon Center for the

Performing Arts.

MEMPHIS LAW ANNOUNCES STREETLAW PROGRAMThe Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law is

excited to bring StreetLaw to Memphis. For

more than four decades, StreetLaw has put

law students in community schools to teach

schoolchildren basics of American law in

innovative and impactful ways. Memphis Law

has teamed up with the Soulsville Charter

has teamed up with the Soulsville Charter

School and Freedom Preparatory Academy

to provide opportunities for engagement

and hands-on skills training for both groups

of students. Seven students from Memphis

Law (Courtney Sharp, Catrina Bulloch, Brian

Burns, Erica Perry, Shrushti Kothari, Suzanne

Lamb, and Sydney VanWinkle) will participate

over the course of this academic year. They

will develop interactive curricula and lead

weekly classes, as well as lead discussions on

legal aspects of major current events.

BLSA GRADUATES

9

10

Five Memphis Law students received some

memorable, real-life legal experiences through the

Honors Prosecution Externship Program at the Shelby

County District Attorney’s Office in 2014.

One student, Paige Munn, even found herself sitting

second chair in a murder trial that later resulted in a

guilty verdict.

“I hope they benefit half as much by being here as

we do from having them here,” said Shelby County

District Attorney General Amy Weirich. “They provide

invaluable assistance to our office, to the public we serve

and to the justice system.”

Daniel M. Schaffzin, assistant professor of law and

director of experiential learning at the University of

Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, said the

externship offers students an opportunity to learn from

some of the most skilled prosecutors in the country.

“Building on years of partnership, the Shelby County

District Attorney General’s Office and the University

of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law have

created a course that allows the Honors Externs to live

the life of a prosecutor,” Professor Schaffzin said.

He said the combination of supervised practice and

classroom training — also at 201 Poplar — has created

an environment that is “experiential learning at its

absolute finest.”

The externs – Paige Munn, Kevin Brown, Christopher McKnight, Brad Reasonover and Megan Welton –

recently took turns working on their direct examination

skills in simulated preliminary hearings with prosecutors

as their tutors and Memphis Police Department Vice

Squad officers as their witnesses.

“Most law-student training usually comes from mock

trials where law students play the part of witnesses and

‘testify’ about made-up facts,” said Assistant District

Attorney Steve Jones, the DA’s training director who

served as judge in the courtroom exercise. “This was an

incredible exercise because the students got to question

real police officers about their actual cases.”

The setting was a General Sessions Criminal Court

courtroom after work hours and the facts were drawn

from actual cases involving prostitution and criminal

simulation. Playing the role of defense attorneys were

prosecutor Austin Scofield and Deputy District Attorney

General Jennifer Nichols, an adjunct professor whose

“classroom” is the Criminal Justice Center at 201

Poplar.

Deputy District Attorney Nichols’ externship

seminar course complements the students’ hands-

on externship by addressing procedural, ethical and

practical issues that prosecutors face. “My goal is

twofold,” said Nichols. “Number one, don’t bore the

externs, and number two, show them what we do in a

realistic way.”

That has meant practicing in a courtroom setting

with real officers or learning how to “pretrial”

a witness, as they did when Nichols had them

participate in pretrial interviews with the state’s star

witness – veteran police detective Tony Mullins – in a

triple-murder case.

The students also reviewed actual crime-scene photos,

diagrams and other evidence that would be used

in the trial. (The defendant later was convicted as

charged and was given three death sentences.)

Nichols also took the externs on a field trip, two

blocks away at the offices of the Ballin Law Firm, to

hear a defense perspective on what makes a good

prosecutor.

Megan Welton, one of the externs, said the program

serves as an important bridge between the classroom

and the courtroom. “Law school teaches its students

issue spotting, procedural and evidentiary rules,

and how to analyze cases,” Welton said. The Honors

Prosecution Externship at the Shelby County DA’s

Office provided all of us externs with an opportunity

to gain practical experience with the support and

guidance of supervising attorneys.”

MEMPHIS LAW STUDENTINTERNS AND EXTERNSRECOGNIZED BY THE DISTRICTATTORNEY’S OFFICEBy: Steve Jones

11

STUDENT PROFILE: CESAR ARBELAEZ

Cesar Arbelaez is a third-year student at Memphis Law and the current president of the newly formed Hispanic Law Students Association (HLSA). Arbelaez took a circuitous route to Memphis. He was born in Columbia, moved with his family to Miami, spent his teenage years in Nashville, and ultimately landed in Memphis, where he attended the University of Memphis for his undergraduate degree. He is a past member of the Student Diversity Committee and the University of Memphis Mock Trial Team and has spent numerous hours working with Public Action Law Society (PALS) and its AlternativeSpring Break Program.

ML: How did you first become interested in law school? Cesar Arbelaez: I have been interested in law

school ever since I was a little boy. Although I

can’t pinpoint an exact moment when I first

became interested in the idea, there are several

aspects of my life that eventually grew into an

interest in becoming a lawyer. My family in

Colombia was involved in local politics, and

often prominent lawyers and politicians would

come visit my grandfather. Also, when my family

moved to the United States, we were involved

with immigration attorneys and immigration

court, which is how I became a legal alien and

eventually a naturalized citizen through political

asylum. Finally, my favorite part about becoming

an American citizen was to learn about the rule

of law. Eventually all of these factors culminated

into an interest to study law, and be part of the

mechanism that makes this country so great.

ML: What advantages does being able to speak Spanish give you as a student and future attorney?CA: I think the biggest advantage doesn’t necessarily

come from simply being able to speak Spanish. To

me, the greater advantages of being fluent in Spanish

come from the reasons why you learn the language,

or how you come to be fluent, in the first place. I was

born in Colombia, so Spanish is my native language.

This gave me the advantage of being multi-cultural

and taught me to be compassionate and accepting of

other cultures. I can think in two different languages,

and though I rarely think in Spanish, I’m used to

thinking from different perspectives.

ML: What made you decide to attend Memphis Law?CA: Quite simply, it was the building. I felt such a

sense of empowerment when I first visited the law

school. My first thought when I walked the halls of

Memphis Law was, “I could accomplish something

in this place.” I had never felt so excited about the

future like I felt the first couple of times I went

into the law building. The location in downtown

Memphis is perfect. My heart has a very special

place for the city of Memphis. I’ve moved many

times throughout my life — I can’t even tell you

my hometown because I don’t know if I have one.

I came to Memphis for college and law school, but

since day one, Memphis has gotten into my blood.

I think it’s inevitable that Memphis is going to

become my hometown. After six years of living in

Memphis for school, I’m planning for life after law

school in this city. I chose Memphis Law because it

gave me the best opportunity to stay in Memphis

and practice law.

ML: What is your favorite thing about Memphis?CA: The food and the people. If I had to pick one

over the other, I would pick the people that call

Memphis home. Notice that I’m including people

that may not necessarily have been born here, but

everyone that is here and calls Memphis home.

There’s something special about people that love

Memphis. It’s the people that look past the negatives

and focus on the positives about this town that I

truly admire, and Memphis has a ton of these

very positive folks.

ML: How do you see yourself making an impact after law school? CA: Learning the law is a blessing and a curse. I

get to learn about the many ways to bring about

change through the law, but unfortunately I also

get to learn that there’s a lot of change needed

in the law. It can be overwhelming, to the point

where making an impact after law school may

seem impossible. I think that trying to accomplish

smaller things within our community may be a

better approach than trying to accomplish a very

ambitious degree of change, at least initially.

Though I hope to one day be able to influence

people across the country, I want to start my

impact in Memphis. I want to get more involved

with the Hispanic community in Memphis,

but ultimately, my goal is to get the Hispanic

community more involved with the rest of the

Memphis community.

ML: What have your experiences working within the Hispanic/immigrant community in Memphis taught you? CA: The main thing I’ve learned is that there’s a lot of

work to be done. I had the opportunity to work with

the Community Legal Center and their immigration

lawyers last semester during our Alternative Spring

Break (ASB) Program. We had a total of 22 clients

for our immigration track, which gave us at least two

clients per student. This track had by far the most

workload for the amount of students in the track. We

worked hard that week, but it was the most rewarding

work I’ve done in law school. No grade will ever give

me the feeling of appreciation and gratitude that I felt

from my clients that week. I learned that a client may

have an issue that will require you to work hard and

long, but the reward of helping that client in need

makes the whole ordeal worth it.

My first thoughtwhen I walked the

halls of Memphis Law was, “I could accomplish

something inthis place.”

12

13

Memphis has a history of bucking the trend

when it comes to urban planning and design.

The landmark 1971 U.S. Supreme Court case

Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe focused

on one of Memphis’ most iconic parks and

stands as one of the most notable examples of

the power of grassroots citizens’ movements.

Memphis Heritage and other citizen-led groups

have also successfully banded together on

numerous occasions to save and preserve such

landmarks as the Nineteenth Century Club, the

Four Flames Restaurant, Central Station, and

Overton Square. In these classic cases, citizens

used the courts and governmental processes

to achieve their goals. But now Memphis is

on the cutting edge of an emerging form of

citizen activism – tactical urbanism – where

citizens achieve their goals or focus attention

on their objectives, not through the courts or

governmental action, but through direct citizen

action.

The Tennessee Brewery serves as a prime

example of this new form of citizen

engagement. For six weeks from April to June,

uncounted thousands found themselves inside

the old Tennessee Brewery building close to the

South Main District. Beers were flowing. The

weather was perfect. The setting sun painted

a pink and purple sky. Globe lights strung

across the uncovered hall cast a warm glow on

the crowds of people enjoying themselves at

Tennessee Brewery Untapped. They walked

the cobblestoned walkway and lifted their eyes

in all directions as they entered the building’s

uncovered atrium. They all wanted a look at the

new life breathed into a very old building.

That initial yearning curiosity may have faded

somewhat by the time visitors had ordered beers

inside and found a seat. But people still scanned

the building, the food trucks, and makeshift

furniture with marveled

By: Toby Sells

Punk RockPlanningThe Art of the Possible

by: toby sells

14

eyes saying, simply, “This is really cool.” Whether

they knew it or not, they were sitting right in the

middle of an example of tactical urbanism.

“Something like Untapped worked because the

space was really cool and people were curious

about getting inside to see what it looked like,”

said Kerry Hayes, director of public relations for

Doug Carpenter & Associates. “It was beer. It

was tacos. It was pretty idiot-proof, right? But it

could’ve not worked. We could’ve just sat there for

six weeks and not had anyone come out.”

All of that — all of it — fits nicely inside Thomas

Pacello’s definition of a tactical urbanism project.

“It’s a citizen, organizational, or city led effort,”

says Pacello, a University of Memphis Law School

graduate and now senior project manager for

the Mayor’s Innovation Delivery Team. “It is a

short-term, low-risk, scaleable intervention within

a neighborhood with the intent of creating long-

term change.”

But it’s more than that, and Pacello knows it.

And less than that, and he knows that, too. It’s

about caring about your neighborhood without

caring (so much) about the rules. It’s a little bit

of homespun goodness mixed with a little bit of

punk rock snarl. It’s planned chaos with hopes of

change. It’s thoughtfully flipping a middle finger

at the system. But hoping those in the system (like

the local government) understand your problem

or see your neighborhood’s

potential as you do.

If you’re confused,

you’re not alone

Maybe some examples

from around Memphis

will help.

Small project: Crosswalk at McLean and GallowayThe problem - The wide crosswalk along the

busy Midtown artery could be dangerous for

pedestrians. The chaos of zoo traffic and the

corner’s wide curbs made it especially challenging

for pedestrians to be seen by sometimes speeding

motorists.

The tactical urbanism solution - Sarah Newstok,

a mother of three who lives close to the crosswalk,

stapled a bucket filled with homemade, orange

flags to electrical poles on both sides of the

crosswalk. Pedestrians could hold the flags as they

crossed to give them more visibility to motorists.

The bucket came with these instructions: “Take a

flag as you cross. Deposit flag on the other side so

someone else can use it on the way back.”

The long-term change - Stripes have now been

painted along the crosswalk to make it more

visible to motorists.

Medium-sized project: Tennessee Brewery UntappedThe problem - The historic Tennessee Brewery

was set for the wrecking ball earlier this year

because the building had sat vacant and unused

for years.

The tactical urbanism solution - Memphis

businessmen, including Memphis Law alum

Taylor Berger, installed a beer garden inside the

old building for six weeks. The temporary time

frame translated to a DIY and temporary feel

of the place with food trucks, port-o-johns, and

furniture made from pallets and large wooden

spools from industrial cabling.

The investors wanted to raise awareness of the

building’s fate and to show its (ahem) “untapped”

potential, of course, but they also really wanted to

have fun. They did both.

Thousands of people came through the building

to eat, drink, dance, see, be seen, and to see the

building. Untapped showed that something —

“It’s a little bit of homespun goodness mixed with a little bit of punk rock snarl. It’s planned chaos with hopes of change. It’s thoughtfully flipping a middle finger at the system. But hoping those in the system (like the local government) understand your problem or see your neighborhood’s potential as you do.”

CROSSWALK

TENNESSEE BREWERY PLANS

15

some kind of money-making venture — could

work at the old, massive brewery building.

The long-term change - The building is now

under contract by Memphis businessman Billy

Orgel. Though he’s said he won’t likely turn it

into another beer garden, he does plan to develop

it. So, in many ways, Untapped (and tactical

urbanism) saved the building.

Big project - Broad AvenueThe problem - The area around the once-viable

commercial district was mostly vacant for decades.

Inactivity meant the area was prone to crime and

its buildings were not performing up to their tax

potential or highest and best uses.

City leaders met with Broad Avenue stakeholders

in 2006 and they devised a plan to get the area

back on its feet. But no movement was really

made.

The tactical urbanism solution - With a $20,000

Better Block grant, stakeholders striped the street

with bike lanes and on-street parking, filled the

vacant storefronts with temporary retail shops

and restaurants, and converted an empty parking

lot into a temporary skate park.

This event, called a New Face for an Old Broad,

was held in 2010 and brought thousands of

shoppers and curious onlookers to Broad Avenue.

They saw a “pre-vitalized” version of the street.

That is, they saw the potential of Broad Avenue,

what could be there with a bit of effort and very

little investment.

The long-term change - The event set the first

link in what would become a long chain of small

investments, each one sparking many more. Now,

more than $25 million in private investment has

poured into Broad Avenue since a New Face for

an Old Broad. The street is home to a score of

restaurants, Wiseacre Brewery, Victory Bicycle

Studios, upscale retailers, and more good things

are on the way for the area.

A new idea for an “old” city Tactical urbanism was not created in a research

lab of a university or some Washington think

tank. Many cite city planner Mike Lydon with

coining the phrase back in 2010. He’s even written

several books on the subject, “Tactical Urbanism:

Short-Term Action, Long-Term Change” But he

didn’t set out to coin a phrase; tactical urbanism was

just the name he gave to things he saw going on all

around the country.

Lydon spoke in Memphis during the Strong

Towns Boot Camp here in May. He said he was

inspired by the work of some crafty planners in

New York City who re-claimed part of Broadway

and Times Square with some creative street

striping and cheap lawn chairs.

Lydon read a blog post about the project and blog

author Brian Davis said they were “inexpensive

hacks, tactical interventions producing great

effects.” So Lydon went straight to the dictionary

and looked up “tactical.” It read, “small-scale

actions serving a larger purpose.” A light went on

and the movement he saw had a name.

Anyone who pays attention to this kind of stuff

knows tactical urbanism has been happening

in Memphis for a while. But why? Are we just

following another national trend? Do we need

it here? Josh Whitehead, a U of M Law School

graduate and current planning director for the

Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning

“An urban renaissance of unanticipated proportions.”

TENNESSEE BREWERY

BROAD AVENUE BIKE LANE

BROAD AVE.

16

and Development, says tactical urbanism is taking

hold in Memphis maybe more than in other cities

because there’s perhaps a greater need for it.

Why? The city was built for automobiles and we’re

in pedestrian-friendly times.

“Historically, many cities have the urban

infrastructure built in because they were

developed at a time largely before the

automobile,” Whitehead says. “So, here we are

in Memphis, a largely post-automobile city, and

it almost takes tactical urbanism to address the

movement of younger people, and some older

people to a degree, (back to urban spaces).”

People left the core of Memphis in droves. Pacello

says the city’s population grew by 4 percent in the

four decades between 1970 and 2010. The city’s

footprint grew by 55 percent during that same

time, he says.

“We hollowed out the core,” he says. “Now that

we’ve got all this extra infrastructure we have

to pay for and maintain, the city’s budgets are

strapped.”

That’s changing. When Time magazine looked at

national housing data in April, reporters found

a dramatic fall in suburban housing starts and

an unparalleled climb in multi-unit construction

projects. The magazine called it “an urban

renaissance of unanticipated proportions.”

People, especially younger people out of college,

are moving back to the inner cores of cities

across the country. If you need solid evidence in

Memphis, drive around the dozens of brand-new-

and-already-full condos and apartments called

South End in the South Main District.

But when these people arrive in these downtown

spaces in Memphis, they’ll mostly find places

better suited for an automobile, not a pedestrian.

“We’ve engineered the roadways so even though

we do what we can, there’s still only so much

you can achieve without fully obliterating the

roadway, which is never going to happen,”

Whitehead said. “So, it’s almost like tactical

urbanism that has to force the issue.”

ioby: Fueling the flameEllen Roberds has a great professional title. If

she’s not the only “creative placemaker” in the

country, she’s one of a few. Roberds does her work

with Livable Memphis and ioby, a group which

describes itself as “a crowd-resourcing platform

for citizen-led neighbor-funded projects.”

The website is a portal for those who want to

get involved. The name is a response to project

objectors who say “not in my backyard,” or NIMBY

for short. Instead, ioby prefers projects “In Our

Backyard.”

Think of ioby as a Kickstarter for neighborhood

projects, a place to organize the resources for, say,

a tactical urbanism campaign. Someone posts a

project they’re interested in. Others either donate

money or get involved in the campaign. Money is

raised and, hopefully, the project is completed.

Memphis ioby projects include the new underpass

mural at Cooper and Higbee, the Overton Park

Shuttle, several Little Free Libraries, the Women’s

Theatre Festival of Memphis, and more.

Roberds’ job is to connect those who want to see a

change in their neighborhood with the resources

to get them done. She helps project leaders refine

their projects and get any necessary permissions

for them, helps make budgets, and build teams to

see the projects through.

“The super-fun part of it is going around and

hearing people’s ideas for what they hope for our

city,” Roberds said. “(Their project idea) is

usually only a couple of blocks of where they live,

“An urban renaissance of unanticipated proportions.”

COOPER AND HIGBY MURAL

LITTLE FREE LIBRARIES

Cont’d on pg 31

17

By: Ryan Jones and Michael Waddell

Hedgingour BETSPENSIONS IN PERSPECTIVE

America has a debt problem. Even more specifically,

cities across America have a debt problem directly

related to pensions. According to the Census

of Governments, pension liabilities now exceed

outstanding debt as the largest type of state and

local government liability.

Cities like Memphis, Chicago and Detroit are

all dealing with the fallout from pension funding

issues. With current data suggesting that the issues

surrounding pension funding are likely to continue

and even intensify, ML thought it would be helpful

to put Memphis’ pension problems in perspective by

comparing Memphis’ experience with that of other

large American cities.

The state of pensions in MemphisWhen Memphis Mayor A C Wharton conducted his

State of the City Address at the University of Memphis

School of Law in January, he stated that there was no

single “bad guy” to blame for the $709 million gap in

the city’s pension plan. The city was just an unfortunate

victim of outside factors, many of which were out of our

hands. “As I say each time I discuss this, there’s no need

to go out and find a bad person who did something

wrong,” the mayor explained to a packed room at the

law school. “We’re where we are because of forces far

beyond our control.”

This is a common refrain amongst many cities across

the country facing this same issue and it is hotly

debated in most municipalities, including Memphis. As

the Memphis Flyer reported earlier this year, the city’s

pension fund was full and even had a bit of a surplus

before the recession. Valued at more than $2.1 billion,

it was invested across the country and around the

world in stocks, bonds, real estate, and more. But as a

result of the Great Recession of 2008, the city’s pension

fund lost about $544 million, converting a $94 million

surplus into a $450 million deficit.

Most agree that the recession was the single biggest

factor in the decline of the city’s pension

In an effort to provide a wide range of informed research, portions of this article were also contributed by Next City Urban Economics Fellow Alexis Stephens and Memphis Flyer reporter Toby Sells.

18

fund and the same is probably true for other

municipalities across the country. But there

is little consensus on the extent of the funding

shortfall today.

The numbers in question: the city believes the

shortfall amount is $682 million; the firefighters

think it is only $301 million. The difference is due

to differing assumptions about the pension fund’s

future obligations to retirees, the amount that the

city and employees will contribute to the fund in

the years ahead, and rate of return on pension

fund assets.

“We’ve alleged all along that there is nothing

wrong with the pension other than the fact that

the stock market went south [in 2009], but the

thing is: the city never put in any more money so

we’ve been slow to accrete back up to where we

were,” says Thomas Malone, union president for

the Memphis Firefighters Association, who points

out that the fund is now 87 percent funded — an

improvement from the prior year’s figure of 78

percent. “Our pension fund’s doing great; it’s

growing. We’ve seen an upward trend since 2011.”

Today there is $2.2 billion in the fund, which has

historically been one of the most conservatively

managed in the country. From June of 2013

to June of 2014, it made a bit more than $200

million. But this growth has not been enough,

by itself, to meet the pension fund’s growing

obligations.

The problem: For the past several years, Memphis

contributed less than the recommended amount

to compensate for pension fund losses suffered in

the immediate aftermath of the Great Recession.

In 2012, the city contributed $20 million of the

$101 million that was recommended, and last year

it put in about $20 million of a recommended $70

million.

“Financial pressures each year caused the City

Council to pass budgets that did not pay the

full amount,” says City of Memphis Finance

Director Brian Collins. “It would have required

either substantial service cuts or substantial tax

increases to pay the full ARC in the past. In the

future, the option to not pay will no longer exist.”

Earlier this year, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam

signed The Public Employee Defined Benefit

Financial Security Act of 2014. Cities now must

pay their annual required contribution (ARC).

Memphis has up to six years to ramp up to the

full annual payment of $70 million. If it does not,

the state can withhold its sales taxes to pay the

amount.

“The state requires that we pay our full ARC

in 2020,” says Collins. “Under the law, 2015 is

considered a base year. Whatever percentage of the

ARC that is paid in 2015 is considered the base, and

municipalities will have to increase (in percentage

terms) in a straight line from 2016 to 2020, when it

must reach 100 percent. Therefore, there will be a

minimum ARC every year beginning in 2016.”

So if the city pays 50 percent of its ARC in 2015,

it will be required to pay at least 60 percent in

2016, 70 percent in 2017, etc., until it pays 100

percent in 2020. Collins points out that for 2016,

the adopted budget amount is approximately $47

million, and the payments will increase in the

years ahead based on the formula noted above.

What does it look like out there?As a result of the recession, interest rates have

fallen, forcing cities to take another look at

their pension formulas and the actuarial

workings of their funds. Many projections about

the future performance of stocks and other

investments are coming out as less optimistic

than previously hoped for and expected funding

ratios for pension investments are being lowered

accordingly. In Memphis, and other cities such as

Chicago and Detroit, citizens are going to have

to take on more of the funding burden by way

of new taxes, most politicians’ nightmare, unless

new funding sources can be found.

BRIAN COLLINS

19

“Circumstances are different in each case, but

the overarching theme is the same: Old style,

guaranteed post-employment benefits must be

reformed,” Collins says.

Alexis Stephens, an urban economics fellow

with Next City (a non-profit organization geared

towards social, economic, and environmental

change in cities) spoke with three experts — Josh

McGee, vice president of public accountability

at the Laura and John Arnold Foundation; Kim

Rueben, senior fellow of the Tax Policy Center at

the Urban Institute; and Amanda Kass, budget

director and pensions specialist at the Center for

Tax and Budget Accountability — and asked for

their opinions about which cities are facing the

biggest uphill battles in keeping their pension

systems funded, so that public service workers will

be supported by their promised pension income

in the years to come.

ChicagoMcGee: “Chicago continues to delay responsible

payments. At some point they are going to have

to put more money in their pension funds. They

were scheduled in the next couple of years to

come up with more than a billion dollars in

additional payments to its pension plans on an

annual basis. To give you a sense of how large an

increase that is, Chicago’s proposed 2014 local

funds budget was only about seven

billion dollars.”

Kass: “In the city of Chicago, there are four

pension systems. There’s one for police, one

for fire, one for labor and one for municipal

employees. All of them are abysmally

underfunded. What’s unique about this city’s

pension systems is that until very recently the

way that the city determined the amount of

money they should put into their pension systems

has not been based on any actuarial science or

math at all. It wasn’t based on cost of benefits

being earned or unfunded liabilities; it was tied

to contributions of current employees. In 2010,

Illinois legislation was passed that changed

the funding plans for police and fire pensions

throughout the state. Starting in 2015, local

governments had to put in enough money that

by the end of fiscal year 2040, the police and fire

pension funds are each 90 percent funded. It’s a

change from a funding plan that’s underfunded

to one that is somewhat funded, which for

Chicago, is a huge jump.”

McGee: “In 2010 [Illinois] enacted what’s called

a ‘Tier 2’ legislation [that cut employee benefits

across the state], but Chicago left in place the

terrible funding practices that got them into the

mess that they’re in today. There was no change

in funding policies, but there were significant

cuts in their benefits for new employees. They did

recent reforms to their municipal employee and

laborers’ pension funds — their smallest funds

— and there is some doubt now whether that will

hold up in the Illinois Supreme Court, because

it included approved modifications for current

employees. Illinois has pretty strong protections

for employees and the Supreme Court has very

broadly defined those protections, so those are

going to be challenged. They are saying the

right things. They’re saying, ‘This is a big deal.

We should be making responsible payments.

This should be a shared responsibility between

interested parties, including workers, the city and

taxpayers.’ But when they went to do reform,

there wasn’t a full-throated, strong commitment

to responsible funding.”

DetroitIn Detroit, city infrastructure crumbled while

the surrounding cities flourished, as residents

made a mass exodus out of the Motor City. The

result: the city declared bankruptcy earlier this

year, and retirees with a public pension were

forced to accept terms of an unfavorable deal

before a possible worse deal could be imposed

by the courts.

“We are really on the ground floor of

understanding this type of non-consensual

pension reform,” says Memphis Law alum and

attorney Charles Bullock. He represents the

actuaries for the retirement systems, both police

& fire and the general retirement system, for the

city of Detroit.

“Detroit had some underfunding problems for a

variety of reasons,” says Bullock.

Police and fire personnel do not pay into Social

Security in Detroit, just as in Memphis.

“So if you take their pension away from them

and they can’t get Social Security, you better

have some very good long-term plans in place.

Otherwise, you’ve just increased the homeless

population,” he says. “Memphis, I have to think

has some very similar problems.”

“This should be a shared responsibility between interested parties, including workers, the city, and the taxpayers.”

20

He estimates Detroit’s population has decreased

from 1 million people to roughly 700,000 in the

past decade.

“One of things that happened in Detroit is we

lost a substantial amount of tax revenue for a

variety of reasons, not the least of which is a large

percentage of our citizens in Detroit picked up

and moved to the suburbs,” says Bullock.

He describes the public pension situation in

Detroit as not only time-consuming, but litigious.

“People get emotional when they talk about

retirement issues. What’s happened in Detroit

is the best of a bad situation, and I’m hoping

Memphis can find its way in the right direction,”

he says.

In remarks to Next City, Kim Rueben, senior

fellow at the Urban Institute, summarized the

situation in Detroit as well. “I would put a lot of

the cities in Michigan on the list, and that has a

lot to do with the way that the pension systems are

set up,” stated Rueben. “The fact that Michigan

pension systems are set up locally means the state

would have to be much more explicit in taking

over some of the responsibility.

Detroit is the largest example of that, but there

are also cities like Flint that are also in trouble

that are being taken over. Part of this has to do

with whether local pensions are aggregated up to

a state system, like in California or New York, or

whether pension programs are being left at the

city or local government level, which is the case in

Michigan and Pennsylvania.

She went on to say, “Part of why I think some

of the Midwestern places are in worse shape is

because you end up having populations that are

moving out and more older people living there.

You end up paying for pensions of a declining

population. These are essentially payments on

services that have already been received, but you

have less people paying the taxes to fund them.”

Are we the next Detroit?Some Memphis citizens fear we are heading down

the same road as Detroit. There may be some

similarities, but there are many more differences.

Judge David Kennedy, chief judge of the U.S.

Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of

Tennessee and a Memphis Law alum, sees no

indication that Memphis is in any way headed

for a Chapter 9 bankruptcy situation like in

Detroit. “Pension plans can play a big role in the

world of bankruptcy,” says Judge Kennedy. He

believes pensions are a little bit like valid spend-

thrift trusts.

“Spend-thrift trusts are recognized in bankruptcy

under Section 541C2 of the Bankruptcy Code as

being a pension,” he says. “If it is a valid ERISA

[Employee Retirement Income Security Act of

1974]-qualified spend-thrift trust, the Bankruptcy

Code and the Supreme Court case law in a case

Patterson v. Shumate tell us that an IRA or a Keogh

plan that are ERISA-qualified are simply not

property of the bankruptcy estate, so creditors

and the bankruptcy trustee cannot seize upon

those assets.”

Kennedy believes the fears about a Detroit

bankruptcy scenario playing out in Memphis are

a bit of an overreaction.

“I would like to lessen the anxiety about that.

Circumstances certainly can change, but I see

no reason for Memphis or its citizens to push

any panic buttons about pushing a Chapter 9

petition,” he says.

He points out that during the 1970s several large

cities, including New York City and Cleveland,

courted the possibility of filing Chapter 9 cases,

and it turned out they were all able to work out

their problems.

“Once a big case is filed like that it can really get

complicated and involved. Who gets paid first:

The firemen, the teachers, the garbage collectors,

police? It’s a difficult issue trying to balance

those competing and countervailing interests,”

Kennedy says.

The Memphis pension board voted unanimously

in August to move hundreds of millions of

dollars in retirement assets out of the traditional

portfolio of U.S. stocks and bonds and into

the higher risk and potentially higher return

international stocks.

CHUCK BULLOCK

Cont’d on pg 32

TRUE BLUEALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

KAREN CLARKKaren Clark (JD ’87) is the vice president

for Global Legal Division and Global Business Services at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she has worked

for 27 years in various capacities.

ML: Why did you go to law school?Karen Clark: I like to work on complex problems and

find solutions to multi-faceted issues. I always liked

to analyze a complicated situation and break it down

into more simple concepts and improve the original

circumstance. I particularly like to help people solve

complicated business problems and simplify things that

bothered them or troubled them.

“I like towork on complexproblems and find

solutions tomulti-faceted

issues.”

ML: What drew you to the areas of digital law and patent litigation?KC: My undergraduate degrees are in biology

and chemistry and my scientific and technical

background was a big help in enabling me to

learn quickly from experts in digital technology,

and to play a key role in developing policies and

procedures in this ever-growing, ever-changing

area of importance to Procter & Gamble.

When I was hired by the Procter & Gamble

Company in Cincinnati in 1987, I began my

career there as a patent attorney. In 1990, I

moved to New York with P&G to head the

Intellectual Property Department in a newly

acquired pharmaceutical company, Norwich

Eaton Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Patents are an

extremely important asset in the prescription

drug business, and for many years I handled

the patent litigation in P&G’s prescription drug

business — leading multi-million dollar trials

globally. When we divested the prescription drug

business in 2009, the age of digital advertising

was dawning, and every year we spent more

and more advertising dollars on the Internet

and with mobile applications. We were able to

move, store, and analyze more consumer and

customer data, and it was important for our

company to be mindful of the ever-evolving laws

impacting the digital space: privacy laws, cyber-

security standards, antitrust and anti-competition

regulations, labor and employment law, and to

assure our practices in the digital arena complied

with all areas of the law.

ML: What lessons have you learned working for a large corporation like Proctor & Gamble?KC: I have been working as an attorney at

Procter & Gamble for 27 years and I can

honestly say that I have been fortunate to have

a challenging and stimulating career here. I

have learned the value of teamwork and I have

learned that successful lawyers in a corporate

environment need to be solution-oriented and

work with their corporate colleagues toward the

common mission to accomplish shared

goals. Also most important, I have learned to

trust my judgment.

ML: Who has been your greatest inspiration, both personal and professional? What did you learnfrom them? KC: My greatest professional inspiration has been

my father and grandfathers. My father and my

grandfather worked for DuPont and my paternal

grandfather worked for Combustion Engineering

—all corporate environments. All three helped

to boost my confidence and they always gave me

advice on how to handle complicated political

issues and assess cultural and/or mangement

expectations. My mother and two grandmothers

were my greatest personal inspirations — they

taught me that girls could do anything they

want. They taught me about the importance

of a balanced and enriching life outside of my

professional life, and they equipped me with

the courage and conviction to set my own goals,

determine my own limits, and to always be my

authentic self.

“Most important, I have learned to

trust my judgment.”

Karen (JD ’87) and Kathy (JD ’86)) Clark were

born in Chattanooga, Tenn. and attended law

school at the University of Memphis Cecil C.

Humphreys School of Law together, being

separated by only one year while in law school.

Both cite strong family members as powerful

and positive influences throughout their lives,

both professionally and personally, and both

Clark sisters have gone on to find a great degree

of success in their legal careers. Karen is the

vice president for the Global Legal Division and

Global Business Services at Procter & Gamble in

Cincinnati, Ohio, where she has worked for 27

years in various capacities. Kathy is in her 28th

year as a Juvenile Court Child Support magistrate

in Hamilton County, Tenn. The competitive

nature of law school never got in the way of their

relationship and rather than let the stress come

between them, they encouraged each other and

learned from one another in order to achieve

their goals, managing to come away with some

great memories along the way.

Cont’d on pg 33

22

A SIBLING SUCCESSKaren and Kathy Clark

ATTORNEYSATTIRE

SETTING THE BAR IN FASHION

Memphis has had its share of colorful characters. It’s

seen the likes of E.H. “Boss” Crump, Robert “Prince

Mongo” Hodges, Isaac Hayes, Elvis Presley, Willie

Herenton, Justin Timberlake and Jerry Lawler (just

to name a few) grace the Bluff City with their larger-

than-life personalities over the years. There is one

common thread that tends to tie all of these great

representatives together though and that is their style,

their sense of flair, their “ je ne sais quoi.”

The legal community in this city has also always had its

share of individuals that took their fashion just a little

bit further than was conventional and in turn, became

associated with that stylistic extra “something,”

defining that element of fashion just as much as it

defined them. That these attorneys, law professors

and judges also happen to have been some of the most

well-known and successful members in their respective

fields is no accident. Passion for your fashion often

translates into a signature style across the board and

these are just a few of the Memphis legal community

members that exhibit that special flair for style.

23

Socks. Lots of socks. Over 50 different pairs of special, hand-made socks. That’s Richard Glassman’s best guess as to how many pairs of socks he owns by designer VK Nagrani. Glassman takes his socks seriously. He also has a passion for helping Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Memphis and when he discovered that this high-end designer was donating 100 percent of his sock sales from his annual trunk show at Oak Hall to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Memphis, Glassman was sold. He now gives them as gifts to his close friends and associates, as well as attorneys at his firm for certain worthy accomplishments or if they’ve reached what he calls a certain “sock status.”

Judge Goldin has been a pillar of style in the Memphis legal community before some current law students were born, so he knows a thing or two about the timeless nature of having good style. Ask any of the multitudes of Memphians that see him walking downtown every day and they will tell you that his name is synonymous with bowties and a wide collection of hats. In fact, Judge Goldin has not worn, or even owned, a standard tie in 35 years. He notes that to wear a bowtie fulltime requires a good deal of confidence and is not something you can do unless you genuinely feel good about yourself. It’s a classic piece of style that he’s adopted as his own.

Hats aren’t as prominently worn by men as they used to be, but Judge Goldin feels that they are timeless and incredibly practical. He’s been wearing them as part of his professional (and casual) wardrobe for more than 40 years, at all times, in all seasons. Straw hats are a big part of his summer wardrobe and wool hats make prominent appearances all winter, while a collection of ball caps don his head throughout the year. In his opinion, a good hat just “completes” the outfit of a well-put together man.

Richard Glassman

The HonorableArnold Goldin

(JD ’72) – Senior shareholder and president, Glassman, Wyatt, Tuttle & Cox, P.C.

(JD ’74) – Judge, Tennessee Court of Appeals, Western Section

24

Bill Haltom. Seersucker. Memphis. The three are tied together so closely that it would be difficult to define one without the other, at least in the legal community in Memphis. Haltom is known for his seersucker expertise, leading the organization of the annual seersucker flash mob in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel every September and even authoring an upcoming book about the history of the iconic Southern suit. He bought his first seersucker suit in 1978 from the well-regarded (but now closed) Memphis store, Alfred’s. At the time, the owner told him “Son, you just bought yourself a Memphis summer tuxedo,” and Mr. Haltom never looked back. The short season for this particular piece of style is part of the beauty of seersucker according to him, but when it’s 90 degrees in Memphis in September, he often thinks twice about the temptation to wear it year-round.

Linda Warren Seely has been a relentless champion for children and families who are unable to access legal representation. The Access to Justice initiative is one that is particularly close to her heart and is symbolized on a daily basis by a beautiful gold necklace she wears featuring the Access to Justice logo. At the Memphis Bar Association’s Annual Meeting, this necklace (for women) or a lapel pin (for men) serves as the J. Michael Cody Award, and is presented to the most outstanding Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year in Memphis. Linda was given this award during its inaugural award year by former MBA president David Cook, and it has become a permanent piece of her wardrobe and something she is incredibly passionate about and proud to display on a daily basis.

Bill HALTOM Linda Warren Seely

The Steve Mulroy uniform consists of a blue blazer, a “wacky” tie, and Velcro shoes. Specifically, Reebok brand Velcro shoes. In fact, he is prepared for all occasions with a black (formal) pair and a white (casual) pair. The ties started off as gifts from individuals over the years. Professor Mulroy accumulated such a stockpile of funny ones, that they became part of his regular wardrobe. The Dogs Playing Poker tie that you see pictured here is his favorite of his collection and is in fact the same tie that he is sporting in his official portrait in the Shelby County Commissioners Office. The shoes though—everyone knows about the Velcro shoes. It’s akin to Samson and his flowing locks of hair. Would Steve Mulroy be as powerful without his Velcro shoes? We’ll probably never know because Mulroy not only wears these as part of his well-known repertoire but also because they are extremely comfortable. Worn by him at every level of the federal court system, one federal judge even remarked to Mulroy while he was a practicing attorney, “Mr. Mulroy, I see you’re wearing your formal Reeboks today.”

Steve MulroyProfessor of law, University of MemphisCecil C. Humphreys School of Law

Partner, Lewis Thomason, P.C. (JD ’81) – Director of pro bono projects at Memphis Area Legal Services (MALS)

U.S. Administrative Law Judge Richard P. McCully was recently elected international chief tribune of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity at the Fraternity’s Biennial Convention in Scottsdale, Ariz. Judge McCully serves in the Northern District of Georgia and resides in Dunwoody, Ga.

Judge Byron D. Luber, associate judge of the 34th Judicial Circuit sat with the Supreme Court of Missouri by special designation. Luber sat in place of Judge Patricia Breckenridge, who was recused from the case.

Thaddeus (Thad) S. Rodda, Jr., from the firm Burch, Porter & Johnson, was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2015 edition) in the area of corporate law.

David J. Harris from the firm Burch, Porter & Johnson, was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2015 edition) in the areas of bet-the-company litigation, commercial litigation, litigation - banking and finance, litigation – bankruptcy, bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights / insolvency and reorganization law. Mr. Harris was also named 2015 Best Lawyer’s “Lawyer of the Year” in Memphis. Judge C. Creed McGinley, of Savannah, was recently installed as the 33rd chair of the Tennessee Bar Foundation at its annual meeting held in Gatlinburg, Tenn. McGinley’s term will run until June 2015. He has served on the Foundation’s board of trustees since 2008.

Jim Summers, of the firm Allen Summers, was selected for inclusion in the listing of Mid-South Super Lawyers by Thompson Reuters for 2014 in the area of construction litigation. Mr. Summers was also selected as Best Lawyer’s “Lawyer of the Year” in construction litigation for 2014 in Memphis.

Judge Robert Wedemeyer was retained for a third term as an appellate judge on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Middle Division, in Nashville. Judge Wedemeyer previously served as a circuit judge in Clarksville and Springfield, Tenn. in the 19th Judicial District from 1990-2000, when Governor Don Sundquist appointed him to the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Lancelot L. Minor, III was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2015 edition). He was also selected one of the Mid-South Super Lawyers for the current year by Thomson Reuters.

Karl A Schledwitz, chairman and chief executive officer of Memphis-based Monogram Food Solutions, LLC, has been named an Entrepreneur of the Year for the Southeast Region by Ernst & Young (EY), one of the world’s largest multinational professional services organizations.

Richard Alan Bunch authored several books in 2013-2014, including a novel titled “Plato’s Cave” and a collection of poems called “Zen Sight and Tangerine Butterflies.”

Paul Prather was included in the 2015 edition of Best Lawyers in America and was named “Lawyer of the Year” in the labor law-management category for the Memphis region.

Wallace L. Duncan was recently honored by the Missouri Municipal Attorneys Association, with the Lou Czech Award at their annual conference.

Laurie M. Thornton has been promoted to member of the firm, Glankler Brown, PLLC. She will concentrate her practice in the areas of residential and commercial real estate.

Lt. Col. Tom W. Murrey, Jr. retired from the Air Force Reserves as a lieutenant colonel after 28 years as a judge advocate.

LeeAnne Marshall Cox, from the firm Burch, Porter & Johnson, was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2015 edition) in the area of real estate law.

Harold “Buddy” Speer was elected Coffee County Commissioner- District 10 in the August 2014 elections.

Les Jones, from the firm Burch, Porter & Johnson, was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2015 edition) in the areas of medical malpractice law – plaintiffs, personal injury litigation – plaintiffs, and professional malpractice law – plaintiffs.

Mr. Jones was also named to the 2015 Best Lawyer’s “Lawyer of the Year” list in Memphis.

J. Gregory Grisham has rejoined Leitner Williams in its Nashville office from Jackson Lewis, P.C. where he was a shareholder in the Memphis office.

Jim Simpson, of the firm Allen Summers, was selected for inclusion in the listing of Mid-South Super Lawyers by Thompson Reuters for 2014 in the area of employment and labor.

Brian J. Willett completed and published the third edition of his book “Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse.”

Lara Butler, partner and Rule 31 Mediator at Butler, Sevier, Hinsley & Reid, PLLC, was named one of the Who’s Who of Power Players in family law in the Memphis Business Quarterly section in the August 2014 edition of Memphis Magazine. Butler also completed the 12-hour course required to receive the additional Rule 31 Mediator certification for domestic violence.

Glynna Christian has joined the firm Kaye Scholer as a partner in New York with a focus on technology, media, and financial services.

Shea Wellford was recently elected to secretary/treasurer of the Memphis Bar Association, which means she will be vice president in 2015 and president in 2016. Wellford was also named Construction Lawyer of the Year for the Memphis area by Super Lawyers. She was also named to The Best Lawyers in America in the area of commercial litigation and construction law in 2014, named as a Mid-South Super Lawyer in the area of business litigation, named as one of Top 50 Attorneys in Memphis by Super Lawyers, named as one of the Top 100 Attorneys in Tennessee by Super Lawyers, and named as one of the Top 50 Women Attorneys in the Mid-South by Super Lawyers. Wellford was also inducted as a fellow of the American Bar Association in 2014.

ALUMNI: SETTING THE BAR

1968

1970

1975

1988

1991

1994

1989

1993

1976

1977

1980

19831982

1984

25

1985

Kirk Caraway, of the firm Allen Summers, was selected for inclusion in the listing of Mid-South Super Lawyers by Thompson Reuters for 2014 in the area of employment and labor.

Tanja Thompson was named co-chair of the Little firm’s traditional labor law practice. She will head the group with existing co-chairs Mark W. Schneider (Minneapolis) and John M. Skonberg (San Francisco).

Ronald T. Catelli was voted in as president-elect of the Monmouth County Bar Association, Monmouth County, N.J., and will become president in May, 2015. He practices complex commercial litigation and community association law at The Reussille Law Firm, LLC.

Susan Hinsley, a Rule 31 Mediator at Butler, Sevier, Hinsley & Reid PLLC, completed the 12-hour course required to receive the additional Rule 31 Mediator certification for domestic violence.

Paula Johnson was one of eight lawyers appointed to serve as a workers compensation judge in the new Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims. The Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims (CWCC) was established by the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Reform Act of 2013.

Matthew Kirby joined the firm of Harris, Shelton, Hanover, Walsh in 2014 and will focus his practice areas in health care law, labor and employment law, medical malpractice defense, personal injury, and professional liability defense.

Bradley Owens became a named partner for the firm of Hardee, Martin, Donahoe, Owens & Wright, P.A.

Eric Plumley was recognized for his efforts to get a Shelby County historical marker erected for the site of the former American Recording Studio at 827 Thomas Street in Memphis.

Jennifer S. Harrison, of the Hardison Law Firm, P.C., recently graduated from Temple University, James E. Beasley School of Law, in Philadelphia, Pa. with a Master’s of Law in trial advocacy (LL.M.).

Stacie Winkler has joined Kindred Healthcare, Inc’s law department as divisional vice president and associate chief counsel for the Hospital Division. Kindred Healthcare, with headquarters in Louisville, Ky., is the largest diversified provider of post-acute care services in the United States.

Chandley Crawford-May began work as operations officer of TexBel Agricultural Investments, Ltd. in Belize in July of 2014.

Mason Wilson was named a shareholder at the firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C.

Matt Brinner was named a member of the firm, Glankler Brown, PLLC. He will concentrate his practice in the areas of corporate and business transactions, real estate and secured lending, as well as commercial property tax appeals.

Anne Johnson Mead, a Rule 31 Mediator at Butler, Sevier, Hinsley & Reid PLLC, completed the 12-hour course required to receive the additional Rule 31 Mediator certification for domestic violence.

Jessica Benton, of the firm Allen, Summers, Simpson, Lillie & Gresham, PLLC, was selected as a Mid-South Rising Star in the area of construction litigation.

Meredith Hamsher was named the chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Children and the Law Committee.

Harry Lebair, IV, of the firm Allen, Summers, Simpson, Lillie & Gresham, PLLC, was selected as a Mid-South Rising Star in the area of construction litigation.

Christopher Ingram Jr. was named to the advisory board of the United Athletes Foundation as legal advisor. The United Athletes Foundation was co-founded by former Carolina Panthers Defensive Back Reggie Howard and former Baltimore Ravens All-Pro Linebacker and current ESPN analyst Ray Lewis, with the mission of empowering athletes to impact communities through education and social development. To date, there are over 90 professional athletes associated with the United Athletes Foundation including members of the NFL, NBA, MLB, and WNBA.

Lisa Gill, associate at Butler, Sevier, Hinsley & Reid, PLLC, has been elected to serve as vice president of the Association of Women Attorneys and is currently the Memphis Bar Association representative on the board of the Association of Women Attorneys. Reginald Shelton has opened his solo practice at the Candy Factory Suites in downtown Memphis. Mr. Shelton also employs Aayuanna Nash, a May 2014 University of Memphis paralegal studies graduate. The main areas of practice include family law, juvenile delinquency, child custody, criminal law, and personal injury.

Anne B. Davis, associate at Butler, Sevier, Hinsley & Reid, PLLC, has been elected to serve as vice president for the Memphis Bar Association Family Law Section.

Mandy Strickland Floyd joined the firm of Bone, McAllester, Norton, PLLC. Mrs. Floyd served as the senior judicial clerk for the Honorable Richard H. Dinkins on the Tennessee Court of Appeals. She focuses her practice in litigation and dispute resolution, intellectual property and labor and employment law.

Abigail Hall joined the firm of Butler, Sevier, Hinsley & Reid, PLLC as an associate attorney.

2008

2010

2014

200619981997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2000

2007

2009

2012

2002

2004

26

LYNDA WRAY BLACKProfessor Black’s article “The Birth of a Parent: Defining Parentage for Lenders of Genetic Material” was published in the Nebraska Law Review June 2014 edition. She also spoke at the Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER) Law Research Conference hosted in Athens, Greece, with a presentation on how the practices of assisted reproductive technology and surrogacy leave open many questions regarding legal parentage, particularly when couples engage in these practices abroad and then return to their home country with the child. Professor Black was also a workshop discussant at the 2014 Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools, where she spoke on the topic of “Innovations in Trusts and Estates.”

JEREMY BOCKProfessor Bock’s article “Restructuring the Federal Circuit” was published in the NYU Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law.

His article “Neutral Litigants in Patent Cases” was published in the North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology in 2014.

AMY CAMPBELLProfessor Amy Campbell, director of the University of Memphis Institute for Health Law & Policy, was selected as one of 10 faculty fellows chosen to participate in the Future of Public Health Law Education: Faculty Fellowship Program. The program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to foster innovations and build a learning community among those who teach public health law at professional and graduate schools.

DONNA HARKNESSProfessor Harkness participated in the 21st Belle R. & Joseph H. Braun Memorial Symposium/2014 International Elder Law and Policy Conference, jointly sponsored by John Marshall Law School, Roosevelt University and East China University of Political Science and Law, held in Chicago during July. Professor Harkness presented remarks as part of the Panel 2 discussion – “Health Care, Caregiving for Older Persons, and Legal Decision Making.” Professor Harkness’ recently published article “What Are Families For? Re-evaluating Return to Filial Responsibility Laws” was also featured in Professor Katherine Pearson’s (Penn State Dickinson Law) March 18, 2014, post to the Elder Law Prof Blog. 

D.R. JONESProfessor Jones was named as the recipient of the 2014 American Association of Law Libraries Law Library Journal Article of the Year Award. This national award, which is one of AALL’s highest honors, is given for outstanding achievement in research and writing. The award is for Professor Jones’ article entitled “Locked Collections: Copyright and the Future of Research Support.” Professor Jones received the award at the AALL annual meeting in July.

Professor Jones currently serves as the chair of the American Association of Law Libraries Copyright Committee. This is a national committee that represents, promotes and advocates AALL’s interests regarding copyright and other intellectual property issues.

Professor Jones presented a paper on “Law Firm Copying and Fair Use” at the Works in Progress Intellectual Property (WIPIP) Colloquium held at Santa Clara University School of Law, Santa Clara, Calif., in February and at the 15th Annual Intellectual Property Scholars’ Conference held at UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Calif., in August.

Professor Jones was the moderator and a speaker for the program “Emerging Issues in Copyright: What You Need to Know” at the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting in July 2014. DANIEL KIELProfessor Kiel’s documentary The Memphis 13 has continued to screen at universities and other events throughout the country. This spring, the film was shown at a film festival in Honolulu as well as at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, the film and the 13 students whose stories it portrays were honored in the Congressional record by Rep. Steve Cohen in May. More information is available at www.thememphis13.com.

Professor Kiel made two presentations at the Education & Civil Rights Conference at Penn State School of Law in June 2014. One paper offered the merger and demerger of school districts in Shelby County as a case study of contemporary educational reform, while the other made a broad structural critique of the American education system as one of inherent inequality.

Professor Kiel also served on the scholar review committee for the renovations to the National Civil Rights Museum, which reopened in April. He consulted on the completely reconfigured exhibition on Brown v. Board of Education and contributed footage that is now featured in the museum.

BORIS MAMLYUKProfessor Mamlyuk published an article titled “Regionalizing Multilateralism: The Effect of Russia’s Accession to the WTO on Existing Regional Integration Schemes in the Former Soviet Space” in the UCLA Journal of International Law & Foreign Affairs.  

STEVE MULROYFlorida State University Law Review published Professor Mulroy’s article “Raising The Floor Of Company Conduct: Deriving Public Policy From The Constitution In An Employment-At-Will Arena,” co-authored by Elon University Professor (and former Memphis law professor) Amy Moorman in the fall of 2014. Professor Mulroy has authored another law review article “Sunshine’s Shadow: Overbroad

IN THESE HALLS: FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

27

Open Meetings Acts As Content-Based And Distinct From Finance Disclosure” which has been accepted for publication in several law journals and is currently being evaluated by others. He made a presentation on this article at St. Mary’s Law School in San Antonio, Texas in the fall of 2014.

JOHN NEWMANVisiting Assistant Professor John Newman’s article “Cloud-Computing Contracts and Innovation Policy” was accepted for publication in the Handbook of Research on Digital Transformations for a forthcoming 2015 issue.

DANNY SCHAFFZINProfessor Schaffzin’s latest article “Warning! Lawyer Advertising May Be Hazardous to Your Health: A Call to Limit Commercial Solicitation of Clients in Pharmaceutical Litigation” was published in the winter 2013-14 volume of the Charleston Law Review. The article has been reprinted in the latest Volume 63 of the Defense Law Journal.

Professor Schaffzin served on the planning committee for the Externships 7 Conference, which was held in February 2014 at The University of Denver Sturm College of Law. At the conference, he moderated a plenary session entitled “How Can We Answer the Call to Reform Legal Education When We Agree on Nothing? Developing Principles and Ranges of Acceptability & Excellence.” As part of the conference’s New Clinicians Track, he was also a co-presenter for a concurrent session entitled “Seizing on the Opportunities and Challenges of the Field Supervisor Relationship.”

In April 2014, Professor Schaffzin co-presented a concurrent session entitled “Educating Money (and Other Motivators): Teaching Social Justice and Life Balance to Future For-Profit Attorneys” at the annual AALS Conference on Clinical Education in Chicago, Ill.

In June 2014, Professor Schaffzin moderated a panel entitled “Evolution of Title VII” at the Remaking America: 50 Years of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Program sponsored by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Memphis Office and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.Schaffzin presented a poster entitled “Clinic Student as Teacher: Developing Professionalism and Transferrable Skills Through Student-Led Community Workshops” at the AALS Clinical Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in April 2013.

KATHERINE TRAYLOR SCHAFFZINProfessor Schaffzin has been named as a Provost’s Fellow by the University of Memphis and will serve in this role in the Provost’s office in spring 2015.

Professor Schaffzin also had her article “Beyond Bobby Jo Clary: The Unavailability of Same-Sex Marital Privileges Infringes the Rights of So Many More than Criminal Defendants” in the October 2014 issue of the Kansas Law Review.

28

PREYINGON THE

GRAYING

29

Faculty Accomplishments Cont’d from pg 28

FIGHTING ELDERFINANCIAL EXPLOITATION

By: Andrew Jay McClurg

Professor McClurg holds the Herff Chair of Excellence

in Law and teaches in the areas of tort law, privacy law,

and gun violence. His recent article in the Hastings Law

Journal proposed a statute creating a presumption of

elder financial exploitation under specified circumstances.

The statute was introduced in the Florida legislature as

part of H.B. 409, passed through the House and Senate

unanimously, and was signed into law in June 2014.

McClurg is the author of numerous books and articles,

including the bestselling law school prep book “1L of a

Ride: A Well-Traveled Professor’s Roadmap to Success in

the First Year of Law School.”

KEVIN SMITHProfessor Kevin Smith published his article “25 années de problem-solving courts aux Etats-Unis” in the French publication Cahiers de la sécurité intérieure (Journal of Safety). Professor Smith also continues his service on the Tennessee Access to Justice Commission – Education Advisory Committee and the Tennessee Access to Justice Commission – Pro Bono Committee.

JODI WILSONDuring the Legal Writing Institute’s 2014 Biennial Conference, Professor Wilson gave a poster presentation entitled “Wikipedia on the Rise: Teaching Legal Writers to Assess Non-Traditional Sources.” In June 2014, Professor Wilson gave a joint presentation with Robert B. Vandiver, Jr., entitled “Joint Representation in Bankruptcy - Ethical Considerations” at the American Bankruptcy Institute’s 2014 Memphis Consumer Bankruptcy Conference. Professor Wilson has been appointed to serve as the chair of the Listserv Committee of the Legal Writing Institute and the co-chair of the Survey Committee of the Association of Legal Writing Directors.

CHRIS ZAWISZA In April 2014, Professor Zawisza presented a seminar on “Hot Topics in Education Law” to over 100 student teachers in the University of Memphis Department of Education student teaching seminar. In June 2014, she presented a CLE on “Ethics and Professionalism: Integrity in the Courtroom” in Nashville on behalf of the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts Dependency Court Improvement Program (AOC). The session has been videotaped for viewing on the AOC website.During the past year, Professor Zawisza served on the Supreme Court Dependency Court Improvement Project Workgroup, which undertook a complete revision of the Tennessee Rules of Juvenile Practice and Procedure. She was responsible for drafting the rule on “Children as Witnesses.” In June 2014, the Supreme Court Law Committee, on which she serves, reviewed and approved the draft rules and submitted them to the Supreme Court Rules Commission.

In July 2014, Professor Zawisza represented two children as Guardian ad Litem in a highly contested termination of parental rights trial, which took place over three days and involved 16 hours of testimony. The issue in the case was abandonment by failure to visit and pay child support and abandonment by wanton disregard of the children’s welfare. The children are in local pre-adoptive homes. The Shelby County Chancery Court granted the termination petition.

ANDREW JAY McCLURGProfessor McClurg was a featured speaker at numerous events in 2014. He was the keynote speaker at the Tennessee Vulnerable Adult Coalition Annual Meeting, Memphis, March 2014; the keynote speaker at the Open House for Admitted Students and Families, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, March 2014; and panelist on “The Silent Epidemic: Elder Maltreatment and Victimization—A Community Response,” for Plough Foundation, Memphis, Tenn., January 2014.

With seventy-eight million baby boomers

retiring or approaching retirement, elder financial

exploitation has been called “the crime of the

twenty-first century.” Annual losses are estimated to

be $3 billion. Getting a firm grip on the problem

is difficult because of underreporting. A New York

study found only one in forty-four cases is reported.

Elder fraud is also a notoriously under-prosecuted

crime. Persons reporting suspected incidents to

authorities are often turned away, told they are

family or civil matters. The reasons are varied.

As economic crimes, elder fraud cases require

resources and expertise many police departments

lack. Victims often make poor witnesses due to

cognitive impairments. Sadly, a large percentage

of cases are indeed “family matters” in that the

perpetrator is a family member, making them

difficult to sort out.

Like most people, I knew little about the nature

or scope of elder financial exploitation, until my

93-year-old dad became a victim. A repeat elder

predator stole half his life savings. Thanks to an

aggressive detective and determined prosecutor,

she was successfully prosecuted, a rare result.

The case opened my eyes to the lack of attention

we have given to protecting elders. While

states and the federal government have passed

hundreds of laws protecting children based on

the assumption they are vulnerable and unable to

protect themselves, older at-risk adults have been

comparatively ignored despite extensive research

showing they too are vulnerable. The federal

Elder Justice Act of 2010, hailed as a milestone

achievement in elder abuse protection, amounted

to little more than setting up councils and advisory

boards to study the problem. The law has no teeth.

Much needs to be done. As with many pervasive

social ills, lack of resources is a big obstacle.

Experts agree we need more and better-trained

people in every relevant area, including adult

protective services, law enforcement, healthcare,

and consumer protection. But the resource issue is

not going to go away and elders cannot wait.

Action is needed now.

One preventative measure would be nationwide

laws requiring financial institutions to report

suspected exploitation. Financial institutions are

often in the best, most efficient position to detect

and disrupt elder financial abuse because of

their existing duties to safeguard customer assets,

technology for identifying patterns of fraud, and

ability to train employees to spot exploitation.

Half of states have such statutes. (Tennessee’s

reporting statute applies only to improper use by

a caretaker of government funds and does not

specifically include financial institutions.) Another

needed step, in place in some states, is a statutory

procedure allowing authorities to step in and

quickly freeze the assets of suspected victims to stop

the bleeding. But prosecutors also need more tools to prosecute

offenders, both to achieve individual justice and

deter criminals. Many elder exploiters are repeat

offenders, in large part because they know the

chances of being caught and prosecuted are

minimal.

Exploiters target elders who show signs of

impairment. (Studies show declining memory

alone is enough to make an elder vulnerable to

exploitation.) They ensure their dealings with

victims occur in secret. They frequently disguise

transactions as gifts or loans. Thus, even when

pursued, cases often hinge on the testimony of

a cognitively impaired victim against a typically

much-younger defendant. It’s not a fair fight.

And that’s assuming the victim cooperates. Many

do not, because of shame or dependency on the

exploiter.

In June 2014, Florida passed a powerful package

of tools for prosecuting elder financial exploiters.

One of the new provisions is a statute I composed

for a law review article in the aftermath of my

father’s case (“Preying on the Graying: A Statutory

Presumption to Prosecute Elder Financial

Exploitation,” Hastings Law Journal). The statute

creates a presumption of financial exploitation

when certain foundational facts are proved.

Summarized, those facts are: (1) a transfer of

money or property in excess of $10,000; (2) by a

person sixty-five or older; (3) to a non-relative;

(4) whom the transferor has known less than two

years; (5) for which the transferor did not receive

reasonably equivalent value in goods or services.

Defenses exist for valid loans and charitable

contributions. The presumption is permissive

rather than mandatory, meaning the jury is free to

accept or reject it after hearing all of the evidence.

The law also includes the nation’s only elder

exception to the hearsay rule, which will allow

reliable out-of-court statements made by victims

to be admitted as evidence if the elder dies or

becomes incapacitated prior to trial. Florida also

eliminated the requirement that the state prove

“deception or intimidation,” an obstacle in cases

involving outwardly “voluntary” transactions that

were, in fact, the result of undue influence and

psychological manipulation.

Other states would benefit from studying Florida’s

new laws.

In the meantime, keep a close watch on your

elders. My sister and I would have voted our

dad—intelligent, frugal and college-educated—as

the world’s most unlikely victim. In hindsight,

research shows he was actually a perfect victim

living in a perfect storm of practical, cognitive, and

psychological risk factors. He lived alone, recently

lost his wife to cancer, showed signs of declining

memory and reasoning capacity, and suffered

depression and low social-needs fulfillment—all

indicators of vulnerability. His story is a cautionary

tale for all.

30

31

Punk Rock Planning Cont’d from pg 16

usually only a couple of blocks of where they live,

or where they work, or where their children go to

school.”

Roberds said ioby gives these passionate people

a platform to not only ask for money or help, but

also an empowerment that makes them feel like

it’s OK to ask for money or help. With all of that

in hand, ioby becomes the flame to ignite the

energy of those who want to see a change where

they live.

For example, Roberds said the project leader for

the new mural close to Peabody Park was not an

artist. But she frequently took her child to the

park and was tired of looking at the dark, drab

underpass and, through ioby, did something

about it.

Projects have a way of creating energy as they’re

underway or even after they’re completed,

Roberds said. Neighbors recently kicked off an

ioby campaign for a fruit tree orchard (called

the Nettleton Community Orchard) downtown,

which spurred more love for the area with more

clean-up and a mural. More neighbors have

been seen cleaning up trash in an area around

Midtown’s Idlewild Elementary School after a

series of dog waste bag dispensers were installed

there thanks to an ioby campaign.

“I don’t know which came first but it makes me

feel like there’s something building through these

small, little acts that makes us all feel differently

about that particular space,” Roberds said.

A tactical urbanism“How To” guideThose who believe in tactical urbanism are the

first to tell you that it’s not a silver bullet for any

city’s major woes. It’s a tool, says Pacello, not the

tool. They’ll remind you, also, that there’s an

etiquette about it for anyone looking to put it in

action.

“There are more silver bullets in this town than

you can shake a stick at,” Pacello says, “and the

point is that (tactical urbanism) isn’t one.”

But Pacello says it is a helpful tool for forging

change in a neighborhood. And that the change

can come from the people in the neighborhood,

not from city hall. He points to the Hampline as

an example.

The Hampline is a two-way cycle track that will

eventually connect Overton Park with the Shelby

Farms Greenline. It was started as an idea at

the New Face for an Old Broad event and was

kept after it. Later, stakeholders raised nearly

$69,000 for the project on the website ioby. Final

construction on the project is set to start later this

year.

As punk rock and DIY as some of the especially

smaller tactical urbanism projects can be, certain

basic rules apply (or at least they should). Don’t

trespass. Get permission if you’re working in a

public space. Try to make your event friendly

enough to work permit free. But if you need

one, get a permit. Be polite. Be positive. Be

professional. Know your rights. If you decide to

get serious about a tactical urbanism project, be

sure to visit the ioby page for Livable Memphis

and download the group’s very helpful pamphlet

“Starting Small. How to Get Permission to Get

Good Done in Memphis.”

But more than anything, Hayes says just get out

there and make something.

“What we don’t want is for tactical urbanism to

end up like another process,” Hayes says. “I have

to have someone show me how to do this or I

need to take a class or go to a conference or read

something. This is exactly the opposite, man.

It’s like people making makeshift benches, or

shelters, or bus stops. Quit asking permission. It’s

punk rock. Just go do something.”

The future of the trendThe very small, chaotic, and sometimes personal

nature of tactical urbanism projects makes it hard

to predict what’s coming next for the movement.

But it has spread and is spreading. From planters

in the roadways of St. Louis, and spray-painted

weeds in Miami, to impromptu street takeovers in

The Nations neighborhood of Nashville, this stuff

is real and is not stopping soon.

What’s likely next, though, is a more formalized

brand of tactical urbanism that will at least see

some agreement on projects from community

leaders and city officials. That doesn’t mean the

door will close on the projects completely, at

least it didn’t seem that way in a January news

release from Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr.

“Like so many U.S. cities, many neighborhoods

in the Memphis urban core suffer from a lack of

economic vitality. Addressing blight and crime,

attracting small businesses and incentivizing

“Quit asking permission. It’s punk rock. Just go do something.”

KERRY HAYES

32

Headging Our Bets Cont’d from pg 20

The new investment strategy for the pension fund

fund parallels that of other cities that have sought

higher returns by investing heavily in foreign

bonds, private equity and most notably, hedge

funds. This change marks one of the more

significant shifts in investment strategy for the

pension fund in years; it could result in stronger

performance for the city’s pension funds, but it

also exposes the city and its budget to new risks.

The hope is that these higher risk/higher reward

investments will yield greater returns than the

traditional stocks and bonds and that the city

will therefore have to contribute smaller amounts

of taxpayer money to fully fund its pension

obligations. According to the Commercial Appeal,

the new changes to the pension funding strategy

include the following:

The city will sell some U.S. stocks, reducing their

proportion of the portfolio from 34 percent

to 21.9 percent. It will also buy foreign stocks,

increasing their proportion from 22 percent of the

portfolio to 31.7 percent; drop its proportion of

U.S. bonds from 39 percent of the portfolio to 14.4

percent; and invest 13.4 percent of the portfolio

in foreign bonds and 4.4 percent in private equity

firms, which often specialize in buying troubled

companies, turning them around and reselling

them for a profit.

It would also invest 4.2 percent of its holdings in

hedge funds, which are private investment groups

run by money managers who pursue a wide range

of strategies. Both private equity and hedge funds

typically carry higher fees than other types of

investments.

These numbers are “targets” — the actual

percentage of investments in each class can

change depending on various factors, such as

investment performance. A single percentage

point represents roughly $22.1 million.

But even if this new investment strategy does not

immediately solve Memphis’ pension funding

problem, Memphians still have far less to fear

than their counterparts in other cities across the

country. According to a report by investment

research firm Morningstar Municipal Credit

Research, Memphis is one of the three best cities,

on a list of the 25 largest U.S. cities, when it comes

to the amount of money taxpayers would have to

pay to make their public pension funds sound.

The report calculates the amount of money,

or the burden, of underfunded pensions in

the country’s 25 most populous cities, using a

“median aggregate unfunded actuarial accrued

liability (UAAL) per capita” formula to deduce

the amount each citizen of those respective cities

would owe towards the pension fund. The number

includes not only the direct pension liability for

the city, but also the pension debts for the state,

county, and other overlapping jurisdictions.

According to the report, this UAAL number, per

capita, allows us to see the true magnitude of the

burden faced by citizens.

revitalization doesn’t have to wait for intervention

by government or by a large company,” Wharton

said at the time. “Individuals and neighborhoods

have always and must continue to play a critical

role in revitalizing Memphis, and I want local

government to work with them to make this

happen.”

Pacello says the mayor’s office has asked every

city division director to nominate a sort of point

person for locals so they’ll know who to call if they

want to do a project on a publicly owned piece of

property. This is “exciting,” he says, and could spur

more understanding between citizen groups and

city hall.

Whitehead says, though, that as good as many tactical

urbanism projects are, they may still need more

government oversight. “(Tactical urbanism) is good

and it helps us conceptualize what our city could

look like,” Whitehead says. “But I think as we move

forward we may need some sort of a more formal

process — maybe some official group associated

with the city — to rubber stamp requests.”

Punk rock doesn’t normally do well with the

official rubber stamping of things, but there is a

collective group of minds at work in Memphis that

seems to be heading in the right direction. Tactical

urbanism may have found a good middle ground

in the Bluff City, gaining enough momentum to

tip the scales in the favor of the guerrilla planners

with enough city cooperation to move things

forward permanently.

TOMMY PACELLO

Headging Our Bets Cont’d from pg 32

Three cities, Washington, D.C., Charlotte,

N.C., and Memphis have UAALs per capita

of less than $1,000, making them the three

cities with the lowest amounts on this list. This

means that despite the city’s struggles with the

pension funding issue, Memphians are actually

responsible for far less money ($893 per person,

to be exact) to help restore balance to the fund.

In comparison, Chicago has a UAAL per capita of

$18,596 and New York’s UAAL per capita rating

is $9,842.

Where do we go from here?The unions in Memphis will continue to negotiate

with the city over pension issues, as well as health

insurance matters related to pension funding.

The state mandate to fix the underfunded

pension fund led the city to administer health

care cuts for current and retired city employees

earlier this year. These cuts were intended to help

close the funding gap for the pension fund and

keep the city property tax rate from going up.

However, the tensions over these retirement and

medical benefit cuts are beginning to take a toll

and Malone has seen 38 of the city’s front line

firefighters quit since January and 50 more retire,

and the Memphis Police Department’s numbers

are even higher. In July, the MFFA held its annual

orientation and only 500 job seekers attended,

compared to a normal year with as many as 3,000

people.

“We never want good employees to leave.

Turnover is always an issue. But, as other cities

grapple with this issue, the playing field is

leveling,” says Collins. “We believe that we still

have competitive benefits, pay, and a great city

with a very low cost of living. All this taken

together, Memphis has a great package to offer

employees — current and future.”

Sibling Success Cont’d from pg 22

ML: What was it like having your sister in law school with you? Were there any advantages to having a sibling enrolled at the same time?Karen: It was great being in law school with Kathy.

We lived together in Midtown and when I started

law school, I had an already established group

of friends through Kathy. I knew what to expect

and got lots of advice about teachers and studying

from all those “seasoned second-years.” I think

it was also easier because I had a little piece of

home with me always. I did not suffer the same

level of adjustment and isolation that many

students probably do, mainly getting used to a

new roommate, missing family, no one to talk to,

etc. Kathy and I had adjusted to sharing the same

space long before law school and I had my best

friend and trusted confidante right there, under

the same roof, sharing the experience with me.

Kathy: Well, having Karen finally behind me in a

true life event was really different. It was fun to

set the pace, but I knew she could keep up. I hope

she had a better vision of what her first year would

involve. We had both worked hard to get where

we were, so being in the class ahead of her just

allowed us additional time to share the challenge.

ML: Did the competitive nature of law school bring you closer together? Please, explain.Karen: Law school was a life experience that was

exciting, challenging and a little scary — all at

once. Kathy and I always looked out for each

other and wanted the best for each other. I don’t

think we ever felt in competition with each other.

But I do think just living through that experience

together — the seemingly endless study, the

living on a budget in the Cabana apartments,

the pressure of finals, the six-hour drive home

together to go home for the holidays — it served

to bond us even more closely as sisters and

friends. It is a time and experience that I will

cherish forever.

Kathy: As to the competition, we have always

wanted the best for each other, so nothing keeps

us from cheering the other on. Amongst our

classmates though, we were both referred to as

“gunners.” However, ask anyone who knows us

and they will tell you that the sisters had balance

and, most importantly, each other! We are very

proud of each other and our accomplishments.

ML: Who were your favorite professors while at Memphis Law and why?Kathy: Janet Richards, whom I had for contracts

during my first year. She set the tone for hard

work and preparation. Also, Toby Sides, my civil

procedure professor during my first year, because

he offered practical examples using memorable

stories to illustrate the use of pleadings, motions

and discovery techniques. Finally, Claude

Coffman, the guru of legal reasoning. He

taught professionalism and theory. He was the

gentleman lawyer, always showing appreciation of

the rule of law.

Karen: I had many fantastic teachers in law school

and they all made a lasting impression on me. If

forced to pick favorites, I would pick Dean Dan

Wanat, Barbara Kritchevsky, Toby Sides, and

Claude Coffman. Dean Wanat’s class helped set

the pace for the rigors of classes taught in the

Socratic method. In that class, I learned to see

both sides of a legal issue, how to think on my

feet and not be intimidated when grasping for

the answer in front of 100-plus of your new best

friends when all eyes were upon you. Professor

Kritchevsky opened my eyes to constitutional law

and its development, and how it meshed with

our history and morphed with the evolution of

society’s thinking. Professor Sides made a dry,

regulation-replete and statute-laden subject like

U.S. Income Tax law always fun and relevant

to the everyday lives of people we know, and

Claude Coffman deftly made administrative law

and regulatory law come to life. He was always

respectful and always the epitome of a true

Southern gentleman — he was class, all the way.

33

34

“We give because we want to create opportunities for those who give back to their communities by allowing them the opportunity to realize their dream.”

J.W. and Kathy Gibsongave $100,000 to establish the Kathy and J.W. Gibson Scholarship Fund.

When you make a gift to Memphis Law, you

MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY.

Contact Holly Hazlett at (901) 678-4726 to see how you can make an impact.

“My courtroom interpreting and legal translation experience helped draw me to law school; in many ways, the law itself is a language, which as an attorney I hope to help the community understand and use to seek justice.”

-Pablo J. Davis, PhD, CT, JD ‘17 (1L)Herbert Herff Presidential Law Scholarship Recipient

Mem

phi

s La

w M

agaz

ine

| Fal

l 20

14

Punk RockPlanningHEDGING OUR BETS:PENSIONS IN PERSPECTIVE

ATTORNEYS ATTIRE:SETTING THE BAR IN FASHION

The Art of the Possible

A publication of the University of MemphisCecil C. Humphreys School of Law

1 North Front Street Memphis, TN 38103-2189

PRESORTED Non-Profit Org

U.S. POSTAGE PAIDMEMPHIS, TN

PERMIT NO. 207

FirstName LastName

Address1

Address2

City, State Zip