James S. Wilder, III
Mr. Wilder is a graduate of Lambuth College and Memphis State University School of Law. He commenced his law practice in 1974 in Somerville, Tennessee, with a partner, the former Lt. Governor John S. Wilder, Sr., where he engaged in a general practice for eleven years. In 1984, Mr. Wilder was elected General Sessions judge and Juvenile Judge of Fayette County, Tennessee, where he served until 1990. He has also served as a city judge in several towns in Fayette County from 1975 until 1990. He practiced with a well-regarded insurance defense firm in Memphis Tennessee from 1995 to 2000. In 2002, he became an associate with the Law Firm of John M. Lannom, then with Lannom Coronado PLLC when it was formed in 2012. Mr. Wilder is an Eagle Scout and has been active with the Boy Scouts as a Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster for many years in Somerville. He was the Charter President of the Somerville Rotary Club in 1976-1978, and was the Rotary representative on the local Scout Committee. In 1995, He became a certified Mediator and was admitted as a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 listed Mediator on May 5, 2009. On September 26, 2014, he was added to the Federal Court Mediation Panel for the U.S. District Court, Tennessee, Western District.
Areas of Practice
- Arbitration
- Construction
- Estate Litigation
- Estate Planning
- Litigation
- Municipal Law
- Mediation
- Personal Injury
- Probate
Education & Credentials
College Attended: Lambuth College, B.S., 1971
Law School Attended: Memphis State Univeristy, J.D., 1974
Admissions: 1974, Tennessee: 1976, U.S. District Court, Western District Tennessee; 1986, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit; 1981, U.S. Supreme Court
Certifications: Certified Mediator, 1995; Rule 31 Certified Tennessee; Supreme Court Civil Mediator, 2009; Appointed in 2014 to the Mediation Panel for the U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee.
Offices Held: General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge for Fayette County, Tennessee, 19851990;City Judge of Mason, Tennessee, 1975-1980; City Judge of Moscow, Tennessee, 1985-1990; City Judge of Oakland, Tennessee, 1985-1990.
Memberships: Dyer County Bar Association; Tennessee Bar Association.
Honors & Distinctions
Rated AV Preeminent, peer reviewed, highest level of professional excellence, by Martindale–Hubbell.
Reported Cases:
Sterling, et al. v. Velsicol Chemical Company, 647 F.Supp.303 (Dist. Ct., W.D. Tenn. 1986), 855 F.2d 1188 (6th Cir. 1988), ($10,000,000.00 settlement); Naifeh v. Valley Forge Life Ins. Co., 204 S.W. 3d 758 (Tenn. 2006), ($1,600,000.00 judgment); McKinney, et al. v. Opryland USA, Davidson County Circuit Court, 97C2349, ($3,000,000.00 settlement).