Attorney Profile

Mitchell A. Byrd
Member

Email: chattlaw@aol.com

Practice Areas:

• Family Law
• Personal Injury
• Criminal Law
• Juvenile Law

Admitted: 1976, Tennessee and U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee; 1988, U.S. Supreme Court
Law School: University of Memphis, Cecil Humphreys School of Law, J.D., 1976
College: University of Tennessee at Knoxville, B.S., 1973

Member:

• Chattanooga Bar Association (Chairman, Family Law Section, 1989)
• Tennessee Bar Association (Member: Family Law Code Commission, 1991 - present; Chair Elect, Family Law Section, 1992- present; Chair, 2007-2008; Arbitration and Mediation Committee, 1993 - present; Child Support Guidelines Committee, 1987 - 1989)
• American Bar Associations (Member, Litigation, Law Practice Management and Family Law Sections)
• American Association of Justice (Formerly The Association of Trial Lawyers of America) (Member)
• Chattanooga Trial Lawyers Association (President, 1986 - 1987, 1998; Vice President, 1985-1986; Secretary, 1984-1985; Treasurer, 1983 - 1984; Board of Directors, 1983 - 1998); Association of Justice
• Tennessee Association of Justice (Member: Board of Governors; Chair, Family Law Section, 1994 - 1995; 1997 - 2007)
• Christian Education Association

Biography:

• Certified as a Family Law Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy
• Mediator, Supreme Court Rule 31, General and Family Mediation
• Faculty, Family Mediation Training, Private Dispute Resolution Services, 1999 - 2003
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Social and Community Services, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 1994 - 1995
• Guest Lecturer: "Rights of Students - Practical Legal Advice," The Orton Dyslexia Society, Spring Conference, 1993
• "Advance Directives: Organ Donation and the Living Will," Tennessee Donor Services of Chattanooga, 1991
• Head Injury Seminar, 1990 and Domestic Relations, 1987, Tennessee Trial Lawyers
• "Domestic Relations," Chattanooga Bar Association, 1990
• Chattanooga Police Academy, 1986
• Chattanooga Police Department/Hamilton County Sheriff's Department/Federal Bureau of Investigation Training Seminar, 1985
• "Business Law," Edmondson College, Chattanooga, Tennessee
• "Wills, Estates, and Trusts," Hospice of Chattanooga; Greater Chattanooga Area Chapter of CHADD, 2002. Seminar Faculty, Tennessee Divorce Practice Professional Education Systems, Inc., 1988, 1991, 1993
• Mediator, Tennessee Mediation Group, Inc 1990-2008; Partner, Harrison & Byrd, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1986 - 1990
• Partner, Harrison, Bonnington & Byrd, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1981 - 1986
• Associate, Wild & Harrison, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1976 - 1981
• Special Judge, Division I, Circuit Court of Hamilton County
• Special Judge, Chancery Court of Hamilton County, Part I.
• Special Judge, General Sessions Court of Hamilton County, Civil and Criminal
• Special Judge, City Court of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Special Judge, City Court of Red Bank, Tennessee
• Special Judge, City Court of Signal Mountain, Tennessee
• Administrative Law Judge, Tennessee State Board of Educating, 1986 - ?1991
• Fire and Police Commissioner, Signal Mountain, Tennessee, 1987 - 1991
• Member, Steering Committee, Hamilton County Divorce Education and Mediation Pilot Project, 1998
• Member, Advisory Board, Tennessee Donor Services of Chattanooga, 1992 - 1996
• Member, Tennessee Supreme Court Child Support Guidelines Commission, 1989 - 1994
• Member, Board of Directors, Chattanooga National Medal of Honor History Museum, 1994
• Advisory Council on Traffic Safety. Charter Member Historical Society for U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee
• Member, Hamilton County Law Library Committee
• Advisory Board, Chattanooga Legal Secretaries Association, 1986-1987

Born: Kingsport, Tennessee, January 27, 1950

Professional Activities

Mr. Byrd believes in the legal system, and by membership in the following organizations, he is able to stay current on the new court rulings and is able to spot future trends for Tennessee law and his clients.

"Legal Education is a significant expense annually for me, but the preservation of our trial by jury, as well as the protection of individual rights that these organizations promote, require my support. It is a small statement of my belief in and commitment to the courts and trial systems in our country and our state. I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution."

America Bar Association (ABA)
P. O. Box 4745
Carol Stream, IL 60197 4745
(800)285 2221 phone
(312)988 5528 fax
www.abanet.org

Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA)
420 Pioneer Bank Building
801 Broad Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402
(423)756-3222 phone
(423)265-6602 fax
www.chattbar.org

Tennessee Bar Association (TBA)
21 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 400
Nashville, TN 37219
(615)383-7421 phone
(615)297-8058 fax
www.tba.org

American Association of Justice (Formerly-Association of Trial Lawyers of America -ATLA)
The Leonard M. Ring Law Center
1050 31st Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20007
(800) 424-2725 phone
www.atla.org

Chattanooga Trial Lawyers Association (CTLA)
c/o Jesse Farr
323 High Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402
(423)265-1100 phone

Tennessee Association of Justice (Formerly - Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association - TTLA)
1903 Division Street
Nashville, TN 37203
(615)329 8131 fax
(615)329 3000 phone
www.ttla.org

National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA)
200 Stonewall Blvd., Suite 1
P.O. Box 2009
Wrentham, MA 02093
(866) 383-6565 phone
(508) 384-8022 fax
www.nbtanet.org

Lawyers Involved for Tennessee (LIFT)
1903 Division Street
Nashville, TN 37203

Consumer Advocacy Group
http://www.consumer-advocacy.org

Tennessee Commission Continuing Legal Education and Specialization
221 Fourth Avenue North
Suite 300
Nashville, TN 37219

Supreme Court Rule 31 Listed Mediator
http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/GENINFO/programs/ ADR/adrdir.asp

Christian Education Association
Forrest Turpen, President
P.O. Box 50025
Pasadena, CA 91115
(818)798-1124 phone

Each of these major legal organizations promotes access to justice in the courts by all people of every political, religious, or social persuasion.

"Access to the courts is especially important. When court costs and other expenses, including attorney fees, are so great that people cannot have access to our courts of justice because of these costs, then liberty itself is in jeopardy."
- Mitchell A. Byrd, August 2008