(Memphis, TN / April 7, 2015) Baker Donelson announces that E. Franklin Childress Jr. and George T. "Buck" Lewis have been named to the University of Tennessee's President's Council.
Shareholders in Baker Donelson's Memphis office, Mr. Childress and Mr. Lewis were invited by Dr. Joe DiPietro, president of the University of Tennessee (UT), to serve a three-year term on the President's Council. The Council, comprised of more than 50 members, meets four times a year to advise Dr. DiPietro on issues impacting the university.
Mr. Childress has extensive experience in the areas of bankruptcy, representing secured and unsecured creditors in reorganization and liquidation cases throughout the United States. He is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and of the Memphis and Tennessee Bar Foundations and has been recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA since 2010. Mr. Childress has also been listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers since 2007, in Best Lawyers in America® since 2001, and was named the Best Lawyers' 2013 Memphis Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law "Lawyer of the Year." He received his Bachelor of Science degree from UT at Martin, where he served on the Alumni Development Council from 2007-2010 and was recognized with the Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 1992. Mr. Childress also previously served on the Board of Governors for the UT's National Alumni Association.
Mr. Lewis serves as chair of Baker Donelson's Appellate Practice Litigation Group where he focuses his practice on complex business, personal injury, insurance coverage, Consumer Protection Act, health care and class action. Mr. Lewis is past president of the Tennessee Bar Association. Mr. Lewis received his Bachelor of Science degree from UT and also completed UT's joint J.D./M.B.A. program. He has been a member of the UT College of Law Alumni Council since 1994, serving as chair from 1994-1998, and is the recipient of the UT College of Law Alumni Leadership Award, Outstanding Service Award and the Alumni Service Award from the National Alumni Association.