John Davis (J.D.) Lee, age 91, passed away on September 7, 2020.
"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
J.D. was born at home with a midwife to Emma Hunt Lee and Clement Lee on May 3, 1929, in Tellico Plains, Tennessee. J.D. grew up working on the family farm with his seven siblings.
After World War 2, thanks to the G.I. Bill and a teaching job, J.D. attended Stetson University in Florida and graduated from East Tennessee State University (ETSU), where he was student body president. He graduated from the University of Tennessee (UT) College of Law, where he was president of the student bar association, and tapped for membership in the Scarabbean Senior Secret Society at UTK. J.D. liked to joke, “I graduated second in my law school class… of three students!” In 1954, while still a law student, J.D. was elected as a delegate to the Tennessee Constitutional Convention.
Always a hard worker and someone who genuinely liked people, J.D. opened a law office in Madisonville and made a success of himself, representing people injured or killed due to the negligence of others. Before I-75 was built, U.S. Highway 411 was known as “Bloody 411,” a narrow two-lane road that ran through J.D.’s home base of Madisonville and resulted in many automobile and tractor-trailer wrecks that J.D. acquired as clients.
Early in his career, J.D. successfully sued railroad companies on behalf of people injured or killed by trains. He developed a national reputation as a skillful litigator who won record-setting verdicts for his clients in medical malpractice and product liability cases.
J.D. was a great storyteller. Once in Knoxville, a motion was being heard before Judge Taylor, who was sharing his disdain to those present for the amount demanded in the case, when J.D. walked into the courtroom. Judge Taylor looked up and loudly stated, "And it's all your fault, Mr. Lee!" J.D. had no idea what the judge was talking about, but smiling, he responded, "Yes, your Honor."
As early as the 1960s, J.D. was a pioneer in bringing lawsuits against big tobacco companies on behalf of people injured or killed by cigarette smoke. On the first day of jury selection in federal court on a tobacco case, the Knoxville News Sentinel named J.D. a "draft dodger" to sabotage his case. His three brothers were drafted in World War 2.
At age 17, J.D. enlisted in the Army by forging his mother’s signature. With four sons in the military, his mom had to hire German POWs to work their farm. She always gave the prisoners all the food they could eat. That was because one of her sons was a POW, Charles, shot down on his B17 over Nazi Germany, filled with shrapnel from cannon flak, eating rat stew. She wanted God to have mercy on her POW son. J.D.’s brother survived a Death March behind Russian Communist lines; his niece became a state supreme court chief justice. J.D. also enlisted in the Navy and Air Force, attaining the rank of Lt. Colonel in the USAF Reserves, Judge Advocate General Corps.
As a plaintiff’s attorney in Ellis ex rel. California vs. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company et al., JD was one of 65 law firms of the Castano Group representing the State of California in this historic tobacco settlement, the largest in the nation’s history. JD won a verdict for $26 billion and perhaps helped save millions of lives.
In 1978, J.D. ran for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. A natural leader, J.D. was president of the 1977 Tennessee Constitutional Convention, president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA), president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), and a founder/president of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, a public interest law firm that fights for consumer rights and environmental protections. J.D. was chosen as a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, an association of the 100 best trial lawyers in America. J.D. received many professional awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from TTLA and the Champion of Justice Award from ATLA. J.D. was a member of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry and the Shriners.
He grew a reputation as a feared and highly competent trial lawyer who was always willing to share his knowledge and expertise with young and old lawyers. He conducted the annual Lee Seminar, sponsored by the Lee Foundation, and wrote and edited several law books, including Preparation and Trial, Winning Techniques in the Courtroom, and his autobiography, Testament of Intent, when disgruntled local attorneys and politicians sought to disbar him for advertising his law business, paying his employees a Christmas bonus, and advicating for affordable legal help for the public. "The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind," was the opening sentence of J.D.'s autobiography, quoted from General Joe Stilwell. This book is the full transcript and news reporting of his disbarment trial (which he won).
J.D. was part of a group of lawyers who represented the victims in lawsuits against Osama bin Laden, the Taliban government of Afghanistan, Iran, and Guantanamo Bay detainees who allegedly assisted the perpetrators of the September 11 terror attacks. The default judgment in that case was $ 11 billion for the 2,977 homicides on 9/11, plus the injuries and deaths of approximately 10,000 more plaintiffs afterwards. Havlish v. Bin-Laden, No. 1:2003cv09848 - Document 316 (S.D.N.Y. 2012).
In 1961, J.D. married Sarah Snively, a “Vol Beauty” and National Merit Scholar from Chicago who graduated from UT. Their first date was flying his small plane to Washington, DC, for the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. They raised their children, John, David, and Allison, in Madisonville. In 1992, J.D. married Patrice Bell, an ETSU graduate and lawyer, and raised their son James in Knoxville. J.D. loved being a lawyer for over 50 years and was proud of his family of attorneys who worked alongside him: his son David, his wife Patrice, and his niece Sharon Lee, a Tennessee Supreme Court Justice.
Always adventurous, J.D. was an accomplished jet-rated pilot with 10,000 hours of flight time. J.D. built his own Lancair IV Turbine aircraft with his son John, a pilot and Air Force veteran, nuclear bomb loader on supersonic jets, explosive demolition expert, Hollywood awards winner, and TV journalist. Aboard his twin-engine Beechcraft Baron, J.D. flew his family to circle the launch pad at Cape Kennedy for the nighttime launch of Apollo 17 to the Moon.
A lifetime hunter, farmer, and horseman, he took his family through the Appalachian mountains on a wagon train. J.D. began running marathons in his 70s. At age 70, he hiked the Appalachian Trail straight through from Georgia to Maine. At age 75, he was hired by Levi Strauss & Company to model its jeans. J.D. lived life to the fullest and will be missed by his friends and family.
He was preceded in death by his brothers Charles Lee and Norman Lee and his sisters Jane Lee, Louise Lee, and Sue McWaters.
He was survived by his brother Ernest Lee of Jonesboro, Georgia (deceased in 2024 at age 97); his sister Dr. Kathern Plenge of Paradise Valley, Arizona; his sons John Lee, David Lee and James Lee of Knoxville; his daughters Allison Lee of Tucson, Arizona, and Diane Kingery-Roth of Palm Springs, California; his grandson Alexander Lee of Knoxville; and his granddaughters Fiona van Haren and Nadine van Haren of Tucson. J.D. struggled with dementia in his last years but received help from many Good Samaritans to whom J.D.’s younger self would say, Thank you!
An outdoor memorial service was held at First Presbyterian Church in Knoxville because funerals were banned during the COVID-19 lockdown. The Click Funeral Home website has information about how to view the recorded service online.
J.D.’s family requested that people make a donation to the J. D. Lee Scholarship Fund for a UT College of Law student instead of sending flowers, c/o Tennessee Judicial Conference Foundation, 629 Woodland Street, Nashville TN 37206.
In Memoriam: J.D. Lee - remarks by David Lee
https://youtube.com/watch?v=gpIHWBp10ME
"After watching the Hollywood movie, 'The Martian,' my dad said he was an astronaut on Mars with Matt Damon. Celestis does not yet sell tickets to Mars, so I chose Earth orbit for my dad’s mission to outer space, thus proving to naysayers that he really is a NASA astronaut. It’s very affordable for anyone, a fun-filled vacation for everyone, and a memento for future generations. As a kid, our family toured Cape Kennedy and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. I watched the night launch of Apollo 17 to the Moon, while my dad flew his airplane circling the launch pad at Cape Kennedy. My dad met and greeted Apollo 17 Command Module Pilot, astronaut Ronald Evans, and got his autograph. I wish we had watched the Firefly TV series and its movie, Serenity, together. He would have loved the dream of being a space cowboy, for real, aboard Celestis' Serenity."
--John Lee
