Longtime Shelby County attorney ROSCOE ADAMS FEILD died on Jan. 17. He was 84. Feild graduated from University of Tennessee College of Law and Southwestern at Memphis. He practiced law for 60 years following service in the United State Army, where he was stationed in Guam. University of Tennessee School of Law Memorials may be sent to Idlewild Presbyterian Church, 1750 Union Ave, Memphis, TN 38104, or the Ellen Feild Todd Fund at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, 60 Perkins Ext., Memphis, TN 38117.

TBA Senior Counselor and Bartlett Municipal Judge FREEMAN MARR died on Dec. 17, 2015. He was 91. Marr was licensed to practice in Tennessee in 1948 and served on the bench for 46 years. He was an accomplished track star and was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997 at Rhodes College. Marr served as the head men’s track coach at Southern in Memphis, and the college later established an award in his name, the Freeman C. Marr Award, which is presented annually to an outstanding track and field athlete.

Crossville attorney ROBERT IRVIN JR. died Aug. 18. He was 88. Irvin, who was born in South Carolina, graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School. Irvin was also an accomplished actor with performances on Broadway, Presidential Augural Balls, the Cumberland County Playhouse, and TV specials. Memorial donations may be made to Cumberland County Playhouse, 221 Tennessee Ave., Crossville, TN 38555.

Chardon, Ohio lawyer JONATHON MEAD YARGER died Aug. 15. He was 58. After earning his law degree from Arizona School of Law, Yarger was a founding partner of his law firm Yarger, Radel and Pentz LLC. He spent 30 years representing clients in local, state and federal courts. Yarger was active in his community and outside of the courtroom, he worked on his farm, created wood furniture and restored cars in his garage. Donations can be made in his honor to the Jonathon Yarger Memorial Scholarship Fund at Hershey Montessori School, 10229 Prouty Rd., Concord, OH 44077.

Former Chattanooga Bar Association President JAMES CALDWELL LEE died July 19 at the age of 90. He served in World War II in the Pacific Theater and was among the first troops to occupy Japan. Post service, Lee completed his undergraduate education at Rhode Island State University and obtained a law degree from Washington and Lee University. Lee practiced law for 50 years in Chattanooga, serving as president of the Chattanooga Bar Association and as a member of the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Rule 42 Committee.

Tennessee Bar Association President Bill Harbison joined attorneys from across Tennessee and other states in honoring Memphis attorney Randy Noel during a reception in his honor during the annual American Bar Association Convention in Chicago in August. Noel, with Butler Snow, is a former TBA president and a former Tennessee delegate to the ABA House of Delegates. Support for the event was provided by the University of Tennessee College of Law, University of Memphis School of Law, Belmont University College of Law and Vanderbilt University Law School.

When Melanie D. Wilson began this summer as the University of Tennessee College of Law’s new dean, she joined the ranks of the 59 women who run American Bar Association-accredited law schools, The National Law Journal reported. Women comprise 30 percent of all law deans, up from under 21 percent in 2008, according to a survey of law faculty by the Association of American Law Schools. And the numbers are growing: 40 percent of deans slated to take office this summer are female.

Judge D’ARMY?BAILEY died July 12 at the age of 73, less than a year after being re-elected to the Shelby County Circuit Court. A native of Memphis, Bailey earned his law degree from Yale Law School in 1974 and practiced civil rights law in New York before moving to California. He later returned to Memphis, where he practiced law until being elected to the bench in 1990. He stepped down from the court in 2009 to return to private practice, but ran for and was re-elected to the court last year. Bailey was a civil rights activist, author and film actor.

The Tennessee Justice Center (TJC) has named Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Holly Kirby as a “Community Mother of the Year” for her dedication to her family and families across Tennessee. The recognition honors Kirby’s efforts on behalf of her son, Scott, who has Asperger’s syndrome but has earned an undergraduate and master’s degree, lived and worked abroad, and participated in autism research and advocacy.

Memphis lawyer WILLIAM H. FISHER III died June 4 after a lengthy illness. He was 83. Fisher received both his undergraduate and law degrees from Vanderbilt University and completed a master of law from NYU School of Law. He spent one year teaching at NYU and then returned to Memphis to practice law and teach part time at Memphis State University Law School. His law practice focused on business litigation and transactional work. His achievements as a trial lawyer earned him membership in ABOTA, a national association of trial lawyers.