Nashville, Tenn., August 2006 - Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Keta Barnes recently was elected as Municipal Court Judge for the town of Smyrna. Barnes will be sworn in on September 1, 2006, as the judge of the town's full-time Municipal Court.
Barnes has been an attorney with Bass, Berry & Sims since December 2004, where she practiced in the Labor and Employment Practice Area. Barnes also has served on the executive board of the Napier-Looby Bar Association. Barnes intends to remain active with the Nashville Bar Association and Napier-Looby Bar Association and also plans to join the Rutherford/Cannon County Bar.
In a recent interview, Barnes shared her vision of "serving the citizens of Smyrna with fairness and integrity." According to Barnes' former supervisor, Tim K. Garrett, chair of the firm's Labor and Employment Practice Area, Barnes has the "intelligence and temperament to be an excellent judge. Our loss is certainly Smyrna's gain. We will miss Keta but wish her well as she begins a new chapter in her career."
Barnes must resign with the firm because Smyrna's charter states that the town judge may not practice law or perform any of the functions of an attorney or counsel in any court in the state. The judge is expected to devote his/her full working time and attention to the town court.
About Bass, Berry & Sims
Bass, Berry & Sims is a law firm of over 200 attorneys in four Tennessee offices: Nashville, Downtown and Music Row, Memphis and Knoxville. Since its inception in 1922, the firm has been involved with many of the major business transactions and significant litigation matters in the Southeastern region. The firm's clients include a broad range of Fortune 500 companies as well as local and regional businesses. For more information, visit www.bassberry.com
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CONTACT: Eleanor Smith
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