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.