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Richard H. Batson

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Practice Areas

  • Real Estate
  • Business/Corporate
  • Industrial Development

Biography

Richard H. Batson was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, and has continuously practiced with the firm since 1957. After years of practice principally in the area of trial work and the defense of various suits involving bodily injury, products liability, libel and slander law, and commercial law, Mr. Batson presently concentrates in General Business/Corporation Law, Land Development, and Industrial Development areas of the law. His past experience includes organizing and serving as counsel for several non-profit corporations and foundations. Mr. Batson has served as hospital counsel and currently serves as counsel for the Industrial Development Board of the County of Montgomery. He has also worked extensively with several land development companies. Mr. Batson is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest peer review rating for professional excellence.

After graduating from Austin Peay State University in 1952, Mr. Batson then received his law degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1954. After receiving his law degree, Mr. Batson served in the United States Army with the 11th Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division before entering private practice with the firm. He is licensed and admitted to practice in all of the Courts in Tennessee and also in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Batson is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association, Montgomery County (Tennessee) Bar Association, and a former member of the International Defense Counsel.

In past years Mr. Batson has served in numerous community organizations and activities including serving as President of the Clarksville-Area Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Clarksville Academy, serving on committees of the Tennessee Bar Association and as former Chairman of the Harriett Cohn Mental Health Center. He also served as the first American Red Cross “Bloodmobile” Chairman in Montgomery County and served as a former Chairman of the Clarksville Chapter of the American Red Cross. Mr. Batson served as legal counsel to the first Clarksville-Montgomery County Charter Commission for the Unification of the City and County governments, and he also served as the first Chairman of the Central Business Improvement District, later named the Downtown District Partnership, which was originally formed after the tornado of 1999. He was active in the creation of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council and also the creation of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Tourist Commission. Mr. Batson was one of the four founders of the Austin Peay State University Foundation and has served as a past president of the Foundation where he still serves on its Board of Trustees and Executive Committee. Mr. Batson continues to serve as counsel for Clarksville Volunteer Health, Inc., the successor to Gateway Health System, Inc., and also as counsel for the Clarksville-Montgomery County Community Health Foundation. He has received recognition and awards throughout the past several years from various community organizations, most recently honored by the Museum Guild. In 2020, Mr. Batson was the awarded the Clarksville-Area Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mr. Batson is a member of the Madison Street United Methodist Church, having served on the Staff Parish Relation Committee. He is married and has three children, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Education

  • Vanderbilt University Law School, Nashville, Tennessee
    • J.D. - 1954
  • Austin Peay State University
    • B.A. - 1951

Pro-Bono Activities

  • President of the Clarksville-Area Chamber of Commerce
  • Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Clarksville Academy
  • Chairman of the Harriett Cohn Mental Health Center
  • American Red Cross “Bloodmobile” Chairman in Montgomery County
  • Chairman of the Clarksville Chapter of the American Red Cross
  • Clarksville Volunteer Health, Inc.
  • Gateway Health System, Inc.
  • Clarksville-Montgomery County Community Health Foundation, Counsel

Professional Associations

  • Montgomery County Bar Association, President, 1965 to 1965
  • Tennessee Bar Association, Member
  • Association of Defense Counsel, Member
  • Defense Research Institute, Member
  • Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association, Member

Current Employment Position

  • Member

Bar Admissions

  • Tennessee, 1954
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1983
  • U.S. District Court Western District of Tennessee, 1957
  • U.S. District Court Middle District of Tennessee, 1957

Honors

  • Clarksville-Area Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award