PAINE ON PROCEDURE

Gunfight in the chancery corral
By Donald F. Paine

When I began a trial practice in the hills and valleys of East Tennessee, some lawyers (and a few judges) were reputed to pack heat. But I never witnesssed a pistol drawn or shots fired.

Backtrack to Friday, July 26, 1901, in the Chancery court for Montgomery County at Clarksville. Special Chancellor Thomas Martin heard a motion to dissolve an injunction obtained by Mrs. Dora Dill against R. T. Dill in an acrimonious divorce case. Wife’s counsel Felix Grundy Gilbert (“Grundy”) during oral argument took umbrage at something in a defense pleading, claiming it was a reflection upon him. Husband’s counsel William Madison Daniel Jr. (“Will”)* in his argument criticized the language used by Grundy Gilbert. The Chancellor admonished the solicitors to stick to the law and the facts. After arguments concluded the “papers were handed in.”

Soon Will Daniel and Grundy Gilbert exchanged harsh words across a table. Grundy struck at Will with an umbrella. Will drew his pistol and fired at Grundy, who drew his weapon and fired back. Grundy’s brother George Gilbert began firing at Will. William Madison Daniel Sr., unarmed, rushed in from the Clerk and Master’s office and grabbed George’s pistol, only to suffer a “flesh wound” in the neck.

Where was law enforcement? Sheriff Stafford unsuccessfully called for assistance and bided his time dodging bullets.

When the smoke cleared the two Daniels went to Criminal court Judge Tyler’s chambers for treatment by medicos. Will received a minor wound at the top of his head and a more serious wound in the left shoulder. The two Gilberts went to their law office. A doctor found Grundy Gilbert had two wounds, one to his left arm that he threw up to ward off the initial shot and another to his right hand. George was not wounded.

No one died. Peace warrants were served, but no one was prosecuted. Lawyer friends tell me that bullet holes were visible in the walls of Chancery prior to the tornado of 1999.

Here is Special Chancellor Martin’s commentary to a reporter for the Clarksville Daily Leaf-Chronicle:

At the first shot I gathered up my papers and retired, standing not upon the order of my going but going at once, as I had pressing business elsewhere.

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*Some readers will have known the late Billy Daniel Jr. of the Clarksville Bar. His widow informs me that his name at birth was William Madison Daniel III, but at some stage of life he called himself “Jr.” The Will Daniel in this column was his father.

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Donald F. Paine is a past president of the Tennessee Bar Association and is of counsel to the Knoxville firm of Paine, Tarwater, Bickers, and Tillman LLP. He lectures for the Tennessee Law Institute, BAR/BRI Bar Review, Tennessee Judicial Conference, and University of Tennessee College of Law. He is reporter to the Supreme Court Advisory Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure.