{"county":"Shelby","description":null,"district":"shelby","districtgroup":"county","id":57,"key":"criminal_court_div_7","lastchangeby":null,"name":"Lee V. Coffee ","next_election":"2022-11-08","notes":"67","officegroup":"criminal_court","partisan":null,"party":null,"qualities":"- Trial-court judge in Tennessee criminal court: presides over felony cases \u2014 indictments, pretrial motions, jury trials, sentencing under TCA Title 40.\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":null,"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":"Lee V. Coffee ","person":{"biography":"Criminal Court Judge\nYear Elected/Appointed\n2006\nPrevious Employment\nAssistant District Attorney General for Shelby County, Assistant United State's Attorney for Western District of Tennesee, Assistant Public Defender for Shelby County, Assistant District Attorney for Harris County (Houston, TX.)\n\nEducation\nHarvard Law School, 1981\nNorthwestern University, Evanston, IL. 1978\nHonors\nTennessee Judicial Council, Executive Committee Tennessee Judicial Conference, Fellow of the Memphis Bar Foundation\n\nMembership(s)\nTennessee Bar Association, Texas Bar Association, National Bar Association, Memphis Bar Association, National College of District Attorney's, Faculty Member of the National College of District Attorney's, Leo Bearman, Sr. American Inns of Court, College of the State of Texas\n\nCommunity Involvement\nStop Killing Foundation, Multiple appearances at area Schools to promote and speak on the administration of justice","firstname":"Lee","lastname":"Coffee","middlename":"V.","token":"TEdVelJKBz"},"term_end":"2030-09-01","term_start":"2022-09-01"}],"title":"Criminal Court Div 7","type":null,"url":null,"whenchanged":"2026-04-25 19:49:19"}