From the Tennessee Bar Association
Memphis Circuit Court Judge Robert L. Childers was honored with the Tennessee Bar Association's Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award today at the group’s annual meeting in Memphis. The Drowota Award is given to a judge or judicial branch official of a federal, state or local court in Tennessee who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion and dedication to the improvement of the law, the legal system and the administration of justice as exemplified by the career of former Supreme Court Justice Frank F. Drowota III – the award’s first recipient.
Judge Childers was recognized for his work with the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) – a confidential service for attorneys struggling with addiction, depression, anxiety, stress and burnout, anger or grief. Childers was one of the first commissioners appointed to the TLAP management board when the Tennessee Supreme Court created the program in 1999, and has been a consistent supporter of the statewide program, as well as local programs administered by bar associations and other legal organizations. He is recognized as a national leader for lawyers' assistance programs, Immediate Past President Danny Van Horn said when he presented the award.
Judge Childers started practicing law in Memphis in April 1975 and was elected Division Nine Circuit Court judge in 1984. He is a former president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference and the Tennessee Trial Judges Association. He also has been involved with community efforts to address the problem of domestic violence, serving as a member of the Shelby County Domestic Violence Council since 1995.
Childers earned his law degree in 1974 from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.
