A $50,000 gift from a former Tennessee Court of Appeals judge will help improve and sustain a Memphis law library used for legal research by state appellate court judges.
“We are grateful for the generosity of Judge Robert Love Taylor, who was a beloved and respected member of the Tennessee judiciary on the trial and appellate benches,” said Court of Appeals Judge Frank Crawford of Memphis, presiding judge for the western section. “The Hillsman Taylor Memorial Law Library was named for Judge Taylor’s father, who was an attorney and speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1901 to 1911. He later also served as a district attorney general. The library endowed by his son is a valuable resource for appellate judges with offices in Memphis and, as such, benefits all Tennesseans.”
The library’s benefactor died in 1996 in Texas, where he lived. His bequest establishes the Hillsman Taylor Memorial Library Fund.
Taylor was a trial lawyer in Memphis when he was elected chancellor in 1966. In 1968, he was appointed to the Court of Appeals where he served until 1970 when he resigned to seek the Democratic nomination for governor.