On August 24, 2019, the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Alumni Chapter at the University of Memphis celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Pillars of Excellence Awards. This event raised a record $160,000.00 towards scholarships for University of Memphis law students. This amount more than doubled what was raised at previous Pillars events. The funds will help create as many as 10 new scholarships awarded to Memphis Law students. The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law is helping to reshape the future of the legal profession each and every day.
The Pillars of Excellence Awards are centered around recognizing outstanding attorneys in the Memphis area who have contributed significantly to the legal profession. The 2019 event was hosted at the FedEx Forum in Downtown Memphis and recognized the following honorees:
- Hon. Robert L. “Butch” Childers, Retired Judge of the Shelby County Circuit Court,
- Hon. Bernice Bouie Donald, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit,
- Richard Glassman, Managing Shareholder, Glassman, Wyatt, Tuttle & Cox, P.C.,
- R. Hunter Humphreys, Member, Glankler Brown PLLC,
- Connie Lewis Lensing, Retired Senior Vice President Legal, FedEx Express,
- Charles T. Tuggle, Jr., Executive Vice President and General Counsel, First Horizon National Corporation.
The Bobango Family was also honored as Friends of the Law School for their contributions to its success. Lisa and John Bobango are both graduates of Memphis Law.
Honorees and guests at the event saw Jimmy Smits, star of NBC legal drama Bluff City Law, make an appearance to support honoree Richard Glassman, who serves as a legal advisor for the show, along with his daughter, Lauran Stimac, a non-equity shareholder at Glassman, Wyatt, Tuttle & Cox, P.C. Bluff City Law has been a tremendous asset to the City of Memphis, Memphis Law, and the University of Memphis by portraying them in a positive light on a national stage. Bluff City Law stars Jimmy Smits, Caitlin McGee, Jayne Atkinson, Michael Luwoye and Barry Sloane were named honorary alumna of the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law as they completed filming the first season of the show.
This is Mr. Glassman’s second award from the University of Memphis, having been the recipient of the University of Memphis 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award on the 100th anniversary of the University, where he was honored along with Dr. Shirley Raines, former President of the University, and Anthony “Penny” Hardaway, current coach of the University of Memphis basketball team and former NBA All Star.
The Firm is pleased to share the following video as released by the University: