{"county":"Shelby","description":"","district":"shelby","districtgroup":"county","id":46,"key":"chancellor_part_1","lastchangeby":null,"name":"Melanie Taylor Jefferson","next_election":"2022-11-08","notes":"56","officegroup":"chancery_court","partisan":0,"party":"","qualities":"- Hears equity matters in a Tennessee chancery court: contracts, real-property disputes, divorces (in counties without a separate domestic-relations division), trusts and estates, and other actions traditionally outside the law side of court.\n- Judicial temperament: the willingness to listen, deliberate, and apply the law dispassionately to people whose lives are deeply affected by the outcome.\n- Impartiality and ethics under the Tennessee Rules of Judicial Conduct, including disqualification when conflicts arise.\n- Working knowledge of the substantive and procedural law applied in the assigned court (cited per court below) and the published precedent that controls.\n- Docket management \u2014 moving cases efficiently while honoring due process and the time pressures that fall on litigants and witnesses.\n- Clear written and oral explanation of rulings, so the parties and the public can follow the reasoning.","quantity":1,"source":null,"state":"TN","term_end":"2030-09-01","term_start":"2022-09-01","term_years":8,"terms":[{"current":1,"description":"","electiondate":"2022-08-06","name":"Melanie Taylor Jefferson","person":{"biography":"[https://www.shelbycountytn.gov/3705/Chancellor-Melanie-Taylor-Jefferson](https://www.shelbycountytn.gov/3705/Chancellor-Melanie-Taylor-Jefferson)\n\n[https://ballotpedia.org/Melanie_Taylor_Jefferson](https://ballotpedia.org/Melanie_Taylor_Jefferson)\n\n[https://dailymemphian.com/section/neighborhoods/article/38240/chancery-court-judge-stops-new-brooks-museum-downtown-memphis](https://dailymemphian.com/section/neighborhoods/article/38240/chancery-court-judge-stops-new-brooks-museum-downtown-memphis)\n\n\n[https://wreg.com/news/local/chancery-judge-wants-charges-dropped-in-big-rig-theft-case/](https://wreg.com/news/local/chancery-judge-wants-charges-dropped-in-big-rig-theft-case/)\n\n\n\nChancellor Melanie Taylor Jefferson was elected to the office of Chancellor of Part I Chancery Court for Shelby County in the August 2022 election.\n\nEducation\n\nJ.D., Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, University of Memphis, 1991\nB.A., Rhodes College, 1983\nBar Admission\n\nTennessee, 1991\nLegal and Professional Experience\n\nPrivate Practice of Law, 1991-2022\nDivorce Referee, 2018-2022\nSelected Civic and Professional Affiliations\n\nAlpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated\nYoung Actors Guild (YAG) Board Member\nInternational Curve Optimist Club\nNational Bar Association-Ben F. Jones Chapter\nMemphis Bar Association\nAssociation of Women Attorneys\nBrown Baptist Church\n Selected Honors and Awards\n\nAmerican Inns of Court\nMemphis Bar Foundation Fellow\n","firstname":"Melanie","lastname":"Jefferson","middlename":"Taylor","token":"RtnFtaFgaD"},"term_end":"2030-09-01","term_start":"2022-09-01"}],"title":"Chancellor Part 1","type":"judicial","url":null,"whenchanged":"2026-04-25 19:49:19"}