The Tennessee Supreme Court recently appointed Nancy S. Jones as Chief Disciplinary Counsel for the Board of Professional Responsibility, to replace retiring Chief Lance B. Bracy.

Ms. Jones is uniquely qualified to serve as Chief Counsel. A graduate of Syracuse University College of Law, she comes to the Board from Bass, Berry and Sims, Nashville, Tennessee, where her practice focused on government and internal investigations. She is listed in Best Lawyers in America in 2007. She served on the faculty of DRI Preeminent Lawyer-Superstars of Trial in 2006. The previous legal career of Ms. Jones has been equally divided between being a Federal Prosecutor and being a partner in large law firms in their litigation departments.

In her eleven years at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis in Nashville, Tennessee, she focused on complex federal court commercial litigation. From 2002 to 2004 she managed more than 30 lawyers throughout the firm’s three practice locations.

Prior to being in private practice Ms. Jones served as Assistant U. S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee in the white collar fraud unit of the criminal section. She came to Tennessee from Oklahoma where she also was an Assistant U. S. Attorney prosecuting white collar fraud, after serving as Assistant U. S. Attorney in the Northern District of New York.

Ms. Jones feels that the dichotomy between these two sides of her legal career on the one hand gives her the knowledge and understanding of the investigatory process and how to marshall the facts that will carry the burden of proof, and on the other hand gives her the experience in managing other lawyers and in knowing how to use technology to handle voluminous caseloads.

A highly successful federal prosecutor, Ms. Jones recognizes the analytical, investigative and presentation skills which are necessary to succeed. She focused on complex “white collar” fraud and prosecuted lawyers, accountants and politicians.

She recognizes and appreciates the difficulty in prosecuting those with excellent legal counsel who have a great deal to lose, sometimes the sole source of their livelihood, and that such prosecution requires a high level of skill to be successful.

Highly involved in community service, Ms. Jones for the past ten years has been affiliated with the Board of Directors of the Nashville YWCA and now chairs that Board. She feels that she has gained perspective from that experience on how a large organization runs and the communication which is necessary when such an organization reports to a multiple member board.

On a personal level, Ms. Jones has been married to her high school sweetheart, Pete, for forty-three years and they have a daughter who is a prosecutor with the Organized Crime Strike Force in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Flower gardening is Ms. Jones’ hobby and she says it’s also her mental health strategy. “When a planting project is finished you can see what you have accomplished.” She credits her mother with steering her interest to flowers. Her mother was very involved in rose gardening when Ms. Jones was growing up.

Ms. Jones has one sibling, a sister, who she is very proud of, and who is a survivor of two different kinds of breast cancer. Ms. Jones and her sister are currently participating in a sister study done by the National Institute of Health which follows 50,000 pairs of sisters, for ten years, one who has had breast cancer and one who has not, in order to track environmental indicators.

The legal community is fortunate to have such a highly diversified and qualified lawyer as its Chief Disciplinary Counsel.