Legal Practice: Senior United States District Judge, Western District of Tennessee 2017 - Present; Chief Judge, United States District Court, Western District of Tennessee, 2013 – 2017; United States District Judge, Western District of Tennessee, 2003 – 2013; United States Magistrate Judge, Western District of Tennessee, 1991-2003; Private practice - 1975-1991; Waldrop and Hall (formerly Waldrop, Breen, Bryant, Crews, Taylor and McLeary, P.A.), Jackson, Tennessee

Education: Graduated from Spring Hill College (B.A. History Summa Cum Laude, 1972) (valedictorian; member - Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Sigma Nu Honor Societies); Graduated from University of Tennessee College of Law, 1975 (Research Editor, Tennessee Law Review, Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity)

Bar Related Activities: American Bar Association, Member - Judicial Division, Executive Committee, National Conference of Federal Trial Judges 2007 – 2014, Chair 2013-2014; Tennessee Bar Association, President 1996-97, President-Elect 1995-96, Vice President, 1994-95, Board of Governors West Tennessee 1992-1994, 7th District 1986-1992, House of Delegates - 12th Judicial Circuit, 1983-1987; General Practice Section – Chair 1984-1985, Liaison from TBA Board of Governors; served on the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, the Long Range Planning Committee, the Federal Courts Study Committee, and the Finance Committee; Former Board Member - Law Office Management and Technology Section; Tennessee Bar Foundation, Chair 2002-2003, Board of Directors, 1997 – 2004, Grant Selection and Review Committee 1993-1995, Chair – 1999; Jackson-Madison County Bar Association, President, 1983-84, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, Board of Directors, and various committees

Other Memberships: Sixth Circuit Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions Committee 2021 – , Committee Chair 2022 - ; Committee Member, Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure, 2007-2016; Fellow, American Bar Foundation; Fellow, Memphis-Shelby County Bar Foundation; Emeritus Member, Leo Bearman, Sr. Chapter, American Inn of Court, Memphis, TN; Founder and Master, Howell Jackson Chapter, American Inn of Court, Jackson, TN, President 2019-2020; Federal Judges Association - 6th Circuit Representative, 2008-2014; Federal Bar Association; Former Member: Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division; Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association; International Association of Defense Counsel; Tennessee Court of the Judiciary (1987-1991); National Conference of Bar Presidents; Federal Magistrate Judges Association, Sixth Circuit Director, 2000 – 2003; Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Committee - Western District of Tennessee; Employment Dispute Resolution Coordinator -Western District of Tennessee

Civic Activities: Executive Committee - West Tennessee Council Boy Scouts of America; Lifetime Board Member - West Tennessee Cerebral Palsy Center; Former Director - Jackson Madison County Health Care Foundation; Former Director - Jackson Arts Council; Former Board Member - Ashbury Communities of Tennessee; Jackson Sun Community Service Award (Lawyer) (1987); Member, Madison County Sheriff's Dept. Civil Service Commission (1983-1991); Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity; Former Member, Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, Southwest Tennessee Region; Publications: Article, Mediation and the Magistrate Judge, 26 U. MEM. L. REV. 1014 (Spring 1996)