Chancellor J. Steven Stafford of Dyersburg has been named Trial Judge of the Year by members of the Tennessee Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
“ABOTA is an invitation-only organization of plaintiff and defense lawyers which seeks to promote professionalism, courtesy and the preservation of the Seventh Amendment right to trial by jury,” President W. Gary Blackburn of Nashville wrote in a letter to Stafford. “I have been uniformly advised that you are a fine example of all of those qualities and very deserving of this award.”
Stafford’s award will be presented Aug. 17 during an ABOTA dinner at the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall in Nashville. The organization also will present a lifetime achievement award to retired Tennessee Supreme Court Justice E. Riley Anderson.
“To say I am honored by being selected Judge of the Year is not adequate,” Stafford said. “Tennessee has so many outstanding judges in courts across the state. All of them are judges of the year.”
Stafford has served the 29th Judicial District, including Dyer and Lake counties, since 1993. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin and his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Cumberland School of Law.
He is presiding judge of the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary and was president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference in 2002-2003. He serves as dean of the Tennessee Judicial Academy for newly elected and appointed judges. Stafford is 2007-08 chairman elect of the Board of Trustees for the Tennessee Bar Foundation and was a Foundation Fellow in 1994.
He is married to Tempe Collins Stafford and has two daughters, Lynlee and Sydnee.