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Dwight Tarwater

Dwight Tarwater
Dwight Tarwater

Dwight Tarwater has been appointed to serve on the Tennessee State Supreme Court by Gov. Bill Lee. Tarwater is presently a partner at the Knoxville-based firm of Paine, Tarwater, Bickers, LLP, and will fill the vacancy left on the court by the retirement of Justice Sharon Lee on Aug. 31. Tarwater has more than 40 years of legal background with the Tennessee Supreme Court, including decades of trial and appellate experiences. He also served as chief legal counsel to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, providing advice on legal, financial, political, and governmental issues. A member of the Tennessee Bar Association, Knoxville Bar Association, President of the Knoxville Barristers Young Lawyers Division, East Tennessee Governor of the Tennessee Bar Association, and on the Board of the Tennessee Young Lawyers Conference. He has served many professional associations including the American Bar Association, Tennessee Association for Justice, the Defense Research Institute, the International Association of Defense Counsel, Litigation Counsel of America and the Trial Attorneys of America. He is a fellow in the Knoxville, Tennessee, and American Bar Foundations. In 2006, he became a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. Tarwater earned his bachelor’s degree as well as his law degree from the University of Law. He served as law clerk to the Honorable Houston M. Goddard of the Tennessee Court of Appeals and is one of the cofounders of his law firm in 1987.