Tales from Tennessee Lawyers

Biographies of Storytellers

BIOGRAPHIES OF STORYTELLERS 221
12 BIOGRAPHIES OF STORYTELLERS John Acuff was born July 20, 1940, in Chattanooga. He graduated from Red Bank High School in that city in 1958, then from David Lipscomb College in 1962. He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, 1962–66, then enrolled in Vanderbilt University Law School, graduating in 1969. He was an attorney in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1969; served in an office position in Nashville for a few months; and then moved to Cookeville, where he has been involved in law practice from 1971 to the present time. He has served in numerous official legal positions across the years, including president, Putnam County Association (1984–85), and chairman, House of Delegates (1996–2000). He was a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association. Acuff has reviewed numerous books across the years. Foster Deaver Arnett was born November 25, 1920, in Knoxville. He graduated from Knoxville High School, then served as a parachute infantry officer during the latter years of World War II and was awarded the Silver Star, Purple Heart, and Bronze Star. Subsequently, he graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1946, and from the University of Virginia Law School in 1948. He began practicing law in 1950 in Knoxville but did not retire until 1999. He has been a member of numerous professional and social organizations, serving as president of the Knoxville Bar Association, 1959–60, and as dean and president of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers , 1989 and 1992. Ed Bailey was born in central West Virginia, but his parents moved around the United States when he was a small boy. In 1964, they arrived in Manchester, Tennessee, where Ed graduated from high school. He attended Middle Tennessee State College, subsequently taught school for a brief period, then served in the army for several years. He enrolled in law school at the University of Tennessee, graduating in 1968. Bailey has practiced law since then and has served as assistant district attorney in Maryville since 1974. James H. Bradberry was born in the Gleason area in 1936. At age eighteen, he went to Michigan, where he worked and attended Michigan State University. While visiting his parents back in Tennessee in 1974, he was accidentally shot in the face by a young neighbor boy and lost his eyesight. Bradberry returned to Michigan and enrolled in Cooley Law School, graduating in 1979. Still blind, he returned to Tennessee that fall and has practiced law there since that time, primarily as juvenile judge in Weakley County. Cecil D. Branstetter Sr. was born December 15, 1920, in Morgan County. He attended Sunbright High School, Lincoln Memorial University, Oxford University, and George Washington University, from which he graduated with a B.A. degree in 1947, then graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1949. He has been a member, president, and fellow of many Tennessee 222 Biographies of Storytellers bar associations across the years. He was also recognized in the publication The Best Lawyers in America, with listings under the categories of plaintiff’s work, labor law, automobile collision, criminal defense, medical malpractice, and products liability. He was elected as state representative in 1950 and while in office sponsored and passed a bill allowing women to serve on juries. He is also a past board member of the American Civil Liberties Union. Craig H. Caldwell of Bristol finished law school at the University of Tennessee in 1945, then actively practiced law from that time until 1991. He served as Bristol city attorney for thirtythree years. He is the grandson of a lawyer, son of a lawyer, nephew of a lawyer, and father of a lawyer. John H. Caldwell, lawyer, realtor, and coal operator, was born in Athens in 1856. He attended King College and the University of Tennessee. He attended law school at the University of Tennessee, then practiced law in Bristol. (Information obtained from the book John Trotwood Moore, Tennessee, the Volunteer State, 1769–1923 [Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1923], 903–4.) James W. Chamberlain was born in Lafayette in 1930. His father, James Madison Chamberlain , and his father’s brother were also attorneys. James graduated from Castle Heights Military Academy, then attended David Lipscomb College, Nashville; Western Kentucky State College, Bowling Green; and Cumberland College, Lebanon, Tennessee, from which he earned a law degree in 1954. He practiced law in Nashville, 1954–58, then returned to Lafayette, where he has practiced since...