A former Hamilton County judge and the former CEO of both Erlanger hospital and the Chattanooga Heart Institute are joining together, each at age 73, to embark on a new legal and health care consulting venture.
Neil Thomas III, who stepped down as a Hamilton County Circuit Court judge last month after 20 years on the bench, is joining with his son, attorney Michael Thomas, to form Thomas and Thomas. The new law firm recently opened an office at One Park Place on Lee Highway and will work in conjunction with Healthcare and Legal Consultation LLC, a new business that includes Tom Winston, the former president of Erlanger Health System, Life Care Centers of America and the Chattanooga Heart Institute.
Winston earned his law degree earlier this year from the University of Tennessee because he said he was bored with retirement. Winston, the first member of his family to receive a college degree, has now earned a law degree from UT, a bachelor's degree from Memphis State University, and a master's of health administration from Washington University in St. Louis.
"I tried to retire at 59, 61, and 63 and failed miserably each time," Winston said earlier this year when he became the oldest member of the UT Class of 2017 to earn a law degree. "I don't believe that Type A personalities retire easily, and I feel strongly that life should have purpose; I was not realizing that purpose in retirement."
In their newest venture, Winston and former Judge Thomas will work with Dr. David Ross, a former UC Foundation professor of psychology at the University of Tennessee and president of Ross Trial Consulting, to offer a range of support services and subject matter expertise for the law firm of Thomas and Thomas.
The senior Thomas, who also said he is not ready to retire, said the new law firm will provide traditional consumer litigation but also "will move into new areas of the law which have yet to be explored.
"Our team's commitment to the integrity off the law and the remedy of justice is borne out of our collective decades of experience and success," the elder Thomas said. "We will also provide consultation to and with other lawyers and firms in jury trial preparation."
Neil Thomas had presided over 214 jury trials on the bench since he was appointed to the Circuit Court post by then-Gov. Don Sundquist in 1997.
His son, Michael, who has practiced law since 2010, said the father-son duo will seek to make "the path for our clients as clear and simple as possible," whether in the courtroom or the boardroom.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.