Sharon G. Lee
Sharon Gail Lee is a Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. She was appointed to that body in October 2008. She was elected by state-wide vote in 2010 and 2014.
Lee calls Madisonville, Tennessee, her home town. She graduated from Webb School of Knoxville in 1971. After attending Vanderbilt University, she went on to graduate from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in accounting with high honors in 1975. She continued her education at the University of Tennessee College of Law, graduating in 1978.
From 1978 to 2004, Lee was in private practice as an attorney in Madisonville. During her time in private practice, she served as county attorney for Monroe County, Madisonville city judge, and city attorney for Vonore and Madisonville. She is a former Rule 31 listed family mediator. Other activities include: Tennessee Bar Association, Knoxville Bar Foundation, Tennessee Bar Foundation, American Bar Foundation, Tennessee Judicial Conference, Tennessee Lawyers’ Association for Women, East Tennessee Lawyers’ Association for Women, Knoxville Executive Women's Association, Boys and Girls Club of Monroe Area, East Tennessee Historical Society Board of Directors, Knoxville YWCA Board of Directors, Knoxville YWCA Foundation, Monroe County Bar Association, Million Dollar Advocates Forum, American Judicature Society, Scribes, National Association of Women Judges; coauthor of Opening and Closing Arguments.
Before becoming a Tennessee Supreme Court Justice, she served on the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Eastern Section. She was the first woman to serve on the Eastern Section of the Court of Appeals. She was appointed to that position on June 4, 2004. She was subsequently elected to the Court of Appeals on August 2004, then reelected for an eight-year term in August 2006.
She served as Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court from September 1, 2014 to August 31, 2016.
She has two children, Sarah Chermely and Laura Gregg and two grandchildren.
