Compiled by Sharon Ballinger and Stacey Shrader. Tennessee Bar Association members may send information about job changes, awards and work-related news. Send it to PEOPLE, c/o The Journal at 221 Fourth Ave. N., Suite 400, Nashville, TN 37219-2198, or email to sballinger@tnbar.org. Submissions are subject to editing. Pictures are used on a space-available basis and cannot be returned. Electronic photos must be saved as a tiff or jpeg (with no compression), minimum resolution 200 dpi, and at least 1"x1.5" or they will not be used.

Judge honored by disABILITY Resource Center
Judge Charles D. Susano Jr. received the 2007 Spirit of the ADA Award from the Knoxville disABILITY Resource Center to recognize his success in overcoming physical and attitudinal barriers. Susano, 71, a judge on the Tennessee Court of Appeals, was paralyzed from the chest down in 1992 after falling from a second-story window.

“This award is given to someone who has overcome physical and attitudinal barriers, and as an empowered individual in the community, is an inspiration to other people,” said Lillian Burch, executive director of the Knoxville disABILITY Resource Center, in a Knoxville News Sentinel story. “Judge Susano is a good example of an individual who has continued working in the community, being a contributing member.”

“Nothing but good things have happened to me since the accident,” he said. “God didn’t push me out that window, but he’s sent me many, many things since then, No. 1 of which is the appointment to the judgeship. So I’ve been very blessed.”

Read the News Sentinel’s full story at http://www.tba.org/journal_links

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Byrd & Associates PLC of Franklin announced that three attorneys have joined the firm. Susan C. Castle graduated from the Nashville School of Law in 2006 after many years in the health care field as an obstetrics and gynecology physician assistant. She will focus her practice on family and small business law, medical malpractice, social security disability and general civil litigation. Abigail M. Hammond earned her law degree from the University of South Carolina in 2006 and completed her final year as a visiting student at the Vanderbilt University Law School. Prior to joining the firm, Hammond worked for the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office in the Tobacco Enforcement and Environmental divisions. Lauren M. Spitz joined the firm after serving as clerk to Judge Gilbert S. Merritt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Spitz graduated from the Vanderbilt University Law School in 2005. While in law school, she worked at the Nashville Pro Bono Program, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Bill Haltom, past president of the Tennessee Bar Association and partner in the Memphis law firm of Thomason, Hendrix, Harvey, Johnson & Mitchell PLLC, has been elected a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. Haltom was inducted as a fellow at the college’s spring meeting in La Quinta, Calif., and had the honor of giving the acceptance speech on behalf of all inductees. Haltom has practiced law in Memphis for the past 29 years. When he is not preparing or trying cases, he writes a humor column for the Tennessee Bar Journal.

Tennessee Bar Association President Marcy Eason was honored in July as recipient of the University of Houston Law Alumni Association’s Private Sector Achievement Award. Eason, who practices in Miller & Martin’s Chattanooga office, concentrates her practice on civil litigation with an emphasis on commercial litigation, lender liability, products liability and professional liability, and has been involved in a number of complex cases, including failed banks and class actions.

The Jackson Madison County Bar Association has named new leadership for the 2007-2008 bar year. TBA members serving as officers are: President Jeff Mueller with Mueller & Ellis PLC, Vice President Rick Kendall with Waldrop & Hall PA and Treasurer Todd Siroky with Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell PLC.

Former 21st Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Russ Heldman has joined the Nashville law firm of Hollins, Wagster, Yarbrough, Weatherly and Raybin PC as a member. Heldman served as circuit judge and chancellor of the Williamson, Hickman, Lewis and Perry county courts for eight years, and prior to that, he was a civil and criminal law practitioner for 14 years. He is listed as a Rule 31 civil/family mediator and practices in the fields of civil mediation and civil and appellate litigation.He earned his law degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1982.

A. Gregory Ramos, a member of North, Pursell, Ramos & Jameson PLC in Nashville, has been elected president of the board for Catholic Charities of Tennessee Inc. The non-profit agency provides services each year to more than 30,000 people living in the 38 counties of Middle Tennessee.

Nashville attorney Phillip Miller with the law firm of Phillip Miller & Associates has been appointed to the Board of Trustees of the National College of Advocacy for a three-year term. He earned his law degree from the Nashville School of Law.

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel PC recently announced that Elizabeth L. Kirk and H. Blake Sims have joined the firm’s Chattanooga office. Kirk will practice in the areas of business law and family law. She received her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she was named Torchbearer. Sims rejoins the firm’s business section where he will focus on consumer finance and regulatory compliance, business organizations and planning, commercial transactions, electronic and Internet transactions and privacy policies. He received a law degree and a masters in business administration from the University of Tennessee.

Nathan Horton has joined Rudy, Wood & Winstead PLLC as an associate attorney. Horton earned his law degree from the University of Dayton School of Law in Ohio. Prior to relocating to Tennessee, he served as a clerk in the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court of Dayton. He is admitted to practice law in all Tennessee state courts as well as the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

The Jackson law firm of Teel, McCormack & Maroney PLC has added Alissa York Gay to its roster of attorneys. Gay will focus her practice in the areas of civil litigation, family law, real estate law and estate planning. Prior to joining the firm she practiced in Memphis with Thorp, Fones & Frulla. She is a native of Ripley and a 2005 graduate of the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

The Hawkins County Bar Association has named new leadership for the bar year. TBA members include Vice President Allen Coup with May & Coup in Mount Carmel, and Secretary and Treasurer Daniel Boyd with Boyd & Boyd in Rogersville.

Michael Collins, a shareholder with Nashville-based Manier & Herod, was recently named a certified insolvency and restructuring advisor (CIRA) by the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors. He also received the Kroll Zolfo Cooper/Randy Waits CIRA Bronze Medal for finishing the CIRA certification course with the third-highest examination score in 2006. Before joining Manier & Herod, Collins served as assistant U.S. trustee for the U.S. Department of Justice and as a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He graduated from the Cumberland School of Law in 1993 and the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in 2000.

Manier & Herod also announced the promotion of six-year associate Scott C. Williams to the position of shareholder, and the addition of new associate Matthew Alexander Salada. Williams serves in the firm’s surety and corporate practice groups and focuses his work on acquisition, bankruptcy and collateralization. He earned his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law. Salada joins the firm after practicing labor and employment law with the Zinser Law Firm of Nashville for seven years. In his new role, he will represent management clients in labor and employment-related litigation and provide counseling and training. He is a graduate of the Dickinson School of Law at Pennsylvania State University.

M. Keith Siskin has been appointed by Judge Donna Scott Davenport as the full-time referee of the Rutherford County Juvenile Court. Siskin previously was part time in that position. A graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, he currently serves as president of the Rutherford/ Cannon County Bar Association.

The Kingsport Bar Association has named new officers for the 2007-2008 bar year. They are: President James Michael Billingsley with the City of Kingsport, President-Elect Don Mason with the firm of Shine & Mason, Vice President Jimmie Miller with Hunter Smith & Davis LLP, Secretary Steve Huret with Wilson Worley Moore Gamble & Stout PC, and Treasurer Curt Rose with West & Rose.