News & Events
Melvin Malone '89 elected Managing Member of Miller & Martin Nashville office
Melvin J. Malone '89 has been elected Managing Member of the Nashville office of the law firm of Miller & Martin PLLC. As Managing Member, Malone will direct all operations of the Nashville office. He will also serve as a member of the seven-person Policy Committee that manages Miller & Martin, which has more than 200 attorneys in three offices including 58 attorneys in the Nashville office.
Malone, 45, is believed to be the first African-American to serve as the manager of a large Tennessee law firm. He succeeds Robert M. Holland, Jr., who has been Managing Member of the office since 1999 and has decided to return to the full-time practice of real estate law.
“I am humbled by the confidence of my colleagues and excited about the opportunity to serve our firm in this new capacity,” said Malone. “I look forward to working to expand and improve our services to clients. Our firm is fortunate to have a very talented group of lawyers and professionals who are dedicated to providing the highest caliber of legal work.”
Malone has been a Member of Miller & Martin since 2002 and Chairs the Telecommunications & Utilities Practice Group and Co-Chairs the firm’s Diversity Committee. Before joining the firm, he served as a Commissioner of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority and its predecessor the Tennessee Public Service Commission, including service as Chairman of the Authority from 1998 to 2000. He served as Deputy Legal Counsel to the Governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 1996.
While in law school Malone was a member of The Tennessee Law Review. After graduating from law school, he served as a Clerk for the Honorable Julia S. Gibbons, then U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee, and for the Honorable Nathanial R. Jones, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Malone is active in many community organizations and civic groups, though first among such passions is his long-time commitment to serving at-risk youth. He is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of the Youth Life Foundation of Tennessee. He also serves on the Boards of Directors of 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, Inc. and Bridges Academy. Malone is an active volunteer under the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet Mentoring Initiative and also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Tennessee State University Foundation.
He has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Napier-Looby Bar Association, the International Leadership Development Institute and Hospital Hospitality House of Nashville, Inc. He is a Fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation.