Notable Alumni
TRAILBLAZERS IN THE FIELD.
Thomas F. Cone, Sr.
Mr. Cone graduated from the School in 1964. and has served on the NSL Board of Trust since 1993. He is chairman and president of Cone Oil Company Inc. and founder of Cone Solvents Inc., Tennessee Adhesives Co. and B&C Aviation. He graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1960. In 1989, Cone was appointed by Gov. Ned McWherter to the board of directors of the Tennessee-European Economic Alliance, an organization designed to increase Tennessee exports to Europe and strengthen investments in Tennessee. Cone is a Life Trustee of Battle Ground Academy in Franklin. He has been a member of Meharry Medical Board of Trustees, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Governors, and was a director of NationsBank (now Bank of America).
Chief Steve Anderson
Chief Anderson graduated from the School in 1983. He served 45 years with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department before his retirement in 2020. Before joining the Department, he served in the United States Air Force and was employed by the White County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office. After he served as Administrative Assistant to three Chiefs of Police, Mayor Karl Dean appointed him Chief of Police in 2010. Chief Anderson is licensed to practice law in the local, state, and federal courts and is a member of the Nashville and Tennessee Bar Associations.
Robert L. Ballow, Esq.
Mr. Ballow graduated from the School in 1963. He is the founding partner of King & Ballow, a national law firm whose clients include Fortune 500 companies, more than 300 daily newspapers, and 100 radio and televisions stations. Mr. Ballow has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 1982 and one of the best 150 lawyers in Tennessee. He is a member of the Media Law Reporter Advisory Board, the Labor Law Section of the American Bar Association, and the ABA Committee on Antitrust and Labor Relations.
Rep. Carson “Bill” Beck
Rep. Bill Beck graduated from the School in 1989 alongside his mother, Martha Cone Beck. A Democratic State Representative, Beck was elected to office in 2014 and represented House District 51, which includes downtown Nashville, East Nashville, Germantown, Inglewood, Madison, Donelson, and Old Hickory. Beck graduated from Belmont University and served in the Tennessee Air National Guard before attending Nashville School of Law. He practiced law at Beck & Beck law firm with his mom. Beck’s wife, Pamela Evans Beck is also a 1989 Graduate of NSL.
Hon. Frank G. Clement, Jr.
Judge Clement graduated from the School in 1979. He was appointed Judge of the Circuit and Probate Court in Davidson County in 1995, and he served in on that court until 2003 when he was appointed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. He is now serving as the Presiding Judge of the Middle Section of the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Judge Clement is past president of the Nashville Bar Association and the Nashville Kiwanis Club.
Hon. Ross W. Dyer
Judge Dyer (1911-1993) graduated from the School in 1937. He served as a member of the 1953 Constitutional Convention and as a State Senator. He later became Governor Buford Ellington’s Executive Assistant. In 1961, Governor Ellington appointed him to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Justice Dyer became Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1969 and served in that capacity until 1974.
Hon. Timothy L. Easter
Judge Easter graduated from the School in 1989. Following five years in private practice, he served as an Assistant District Attorney and Victim Witness Coordinator in the Twenty-First Judicial District. Judge Easter served as Circuit Judge for the Twenty-First Judicial District from 1998 to 2014 when he joined the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. Judge Easter serves on the Board of Directors of 21st Drug Court, Inc.
Kathryn Reed Edge, Esq.
Ms. Edge graduated from the School in 1983. She served as general counsel and Deputy Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Banking (now Financial Institutions). She retired from Butler Snow where she specialized in the organization of the new banks and bank holding companies and represented financial services companies. Ms. Edge is the past president of the Tennessee Bar Association, the Marion Griffin Chapter of the Lawyers Association for Women, and the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands. She was named to Nashville Business Journal’s 2017 Power 100 Dealmakers and taught the Banking course at the School from 1993 to 2016.
Senator Albert Gore, Sr.
Senator Gore (1907-1998) graduated from the School in 1936. Senator Gore served in the United States House of Representatives from 1945 to 1953. He served as a member of the United States Senate from 1953 to 1971. Senator Gore was a vocal champion of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. He graduated from Gordonsville High School in 1925, earned a history degree from Middle Tennessee State Teachers College (now MTSU) in 1932. Following his career in the Senate, Senator Gore returned to Nashville to practice law and teach at Vanderbilt Law School. He also served on the Board of Directors of Occidental Petroleum Co. and as chairman of the Island Creek Coal Company in Lexington, Kentucky.
Hon. Barbara N. Haynes
Judge Haynes (1937-2022) graduated from the School in 1976. She was elected to the Davidson County General Sessions Court in 1982. Judge Haynes was elected to the Circuit Court of Davidson County in 1990 and served on that court until her retirement in 2011. She served as chair of the Tennessee Sentencing Commission from 1986 to 1994. Judge Haynes is past president of the Tennessee General Sessions Court Judges and the Monroe Carell, Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. She is a founding member of the Marion Griffin Chapter of the Lawyers Association for Women and has received the University of Tennessee Centennial Leader Award, the Tennessee Bar Association’s William M. Leech Public Service Award, the Nashville Bar Association’s John C. Tune Award, and the Tennessee Bar Association’s Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award.
Hon. Irvin H. Kilcrease
Judge Kilcrease (1931-2012) graduated from the School in 1966. He was the School’s first African-American graduate. In 1980, after working in private practice and as an assistant United States Attorney, he became the first African-American to serve as a Chancellor in the State of Tennessee. Chancellor Kilcrease later served as presiding judge of the state trial courts in Nashville and president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference. He was known for his preparation, compassion, and kindness.
Joe C. Kraft, Esq.
Mr. Kraft (1925-1993) graduated from the Nashville School of law in 1958. He founded Kraft CPAs PLLC, one of the largest certified public accounting firms in Nashville. Mr. Kraft chaired the Mayor’s Task Force on Mass Transit, served on the Metropolitan Transit Authority, and help found Nashville Crime Stoppers. He also served on many civic and community boards, including the Easter Seal Society of Tennessee, Leadership Nashville, Jewish Federation Endowment Fund, National Conference of Christians and Jews, Seaton Health Corporation, and WPLN Foundation. In 1993, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee created the Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award which is awarded annually to persons who best exemplify commitment to community, to home and hearth, and to persons in need.
Senator Sara Kyle
Senator Kyle graduated from the School in 1987. She served as an assistant public defender until she was elected to the Memphis City Court in 1991. She was elected to the Tennessee Public Service Commission in 1994 and was appointed to the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, the Commission’s replacement) in 1996. She served on the Authority until 2013. In 2014, she was elected to the Tennessee Senate and was re-elected in 2016. In 2017, the National Women’s Political Caucus presented Senator Kyle with its Women of Courage Award for advocating equal pay, reproductive rights, and health insurance coverage for children with autism.
Congressman J. Carlton Loser
Congressman Loser (1892-1984) attended the School and received his law degree from Cumberland Law School in 1923. He served as assistant city attorney and assistant district attorney and then served as Nashville’s District Attorney General from 1934 to 1956. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1944, 1956, and 1960. In 1956, Congressman Loser was elected to the United States Congress where he served until 1963.
Hon. Joseph C. Loser, Jr.
Judge Loser (1932 – 2014) graduated from the School in 1959. In 1966 he was elected to the Davidson County General Sessions Court. In 1969, Governor Buford Ellington appointed him to the Circuit Court for Davidson County where he was elected three times without opposition. Judge Loser served both as the presiding judge of the Circuit Courts of Davidson County and as presiding judge of the Davidson County trial courts. He also served as special judge on the Tennessee Court of Appeals and the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. He became the Nashville School of Law’s fourth dean in 1986. He also taught Civil Procedure and Worker’s Compensation courses at the School for many years.
Senator Harlan Matthews
Senator Matthews (1927 – 2014) graduated from the School in 1962. He joined Tennessee state government in 1960 where he served on the staffs of Governors Gordon Browning, Frank G. Clement, and Buford Ellington. He also served as Commissioner of Finance and Administration from 1961 to 1971. The Tennessee General Assembly elected him State Treasurer where he served from 1974 until 1987 when he became Deputy to Governor Ned Ray McWherter. In 1993, Governor McWherter appointed him to the United States Senate where he served until 1994.
Phillip Miller, Esq.
Mr. Miller graduated from the School in 1978. He is a nationally recognized lawyer specializing in representing people and families who have experienced serious, catastrophic injuries and death. He also serves as a trial consultant to other attorneys. He is certified as a Civil Trial Specialist and as a Pre-Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has presented programs at the National Judicial College, Harvard Law School, and other law schools. Mr. Miller is a past president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association.
Marlene Eskind Moses, Esq.
Ms. Moses graduated from the School in 1980. She is the founding partner of MTR Family Law PLLC where she specializes in family law litigation, mediation, arbitration, and collaborative law. She is certified as a Family Law Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and she is a certified fellow in and a past president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Ms. Moses is one of the 100 lawyers who have been selected as a Diplomate of the American College of Matrimonial Lawyers, and she also serves as the vice president of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She has also served as a member and president of the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners.
Stephen S. Riven
Mr. Riven graduated from the School in 1965. From 1966 to 1989, he was a general partner of J. C. Bradford & Company. From 1989 to 2001, he was the managing director and member of the board of directors of Equitable Securities Corporation. He is now the senior managing partner of Avondale Partners, a firm providing investment banking and wealth and investment advisory services. He serves on the boards of Vanderbilt Medical Center, Frist Visual Arts Center, and Montgomery Bell Academy.
Mary Frances Rudy, Esq.
Ms. Rudy graduated from the School in 1988. As a youngster, she performed regularly on the Grand Ole Opry as one of the Rudy Sisters. Following a stint as a middle school teacher, Ms. Rudy obtained her law degree and entered private practice in Nashville, eventually founding two law firms. In 1999, Ms. Rudy founded Rudy Title and Escrow Company. Her company now closes more transactions than any other title company or lawyer in Nashville. The company is now the top produced in Tennessee for Fidelity/Chicago Title Life Insurance Company. Ms. Rudy and two of her children operate a multi-million dollar commercial real estate business. She has also served on the boards of Belmont University, Second Base Foundation, and the Trevecca Towers Retirement Center.
Charles E. Sizemore, Esq.
Mr. Sizemore graduated from the School in 1999. He was raised in Kentucky in a musical family. At the age of seventeen, he joined Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys as lead singer. Mr. Sizemore plays multiple instruments and is a literate and thoughtful songwriter. He later moved to Nashville to work as a songwriter. While there, he worked part-time for a law firm and completed law school. He was admitted to practice in Tennessee in 1999 and in Kentucky in 2009. In addition to building successful law practices in Tennessee and Kentucky, Mr. Sizemore continues to write songs, release records, and tour with the Charlie Sizemore Band. In 2010, he released an album titled Heartache Looking for a Home. In 2011, one of the songs on that album, “No Lawyers in Heaven,” reached number one on the Bluegrass Music Profiles Magazine’s Top 30 Hot Singles.
John C. Tune, Esq.
Mr. Tune (1931-1983) graduated from the School in 1962. He served in the United States Air Force and in the Tennessee Air National Guard where he rose to the rank of Brigadier General and Command Pilot of the National Guard’s Jet Aerobatic Team. After opening a successful automobile dealership, Mr. Tune completed law school and began the practice of law. He served as president of the Barristers Club and president of the Tennessee Bar Association and also served on the boards of the Nashville Bar Association and the Legal Aid Society. Mr. Tune was the founder and first chairman of the Nashville Airport Authority, the president of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank in Nashville, and president of the American Cancer Society. In 1983, the Nashville Bar Association named its community service award after Mr. Tune, and Nashville’s general aviation airport also carries his name.