David M. Eldridge, of Knoxville, was recently installed as the 38th Chair of the Tennessee Bar Foundation at its annual membership meeting in Nashville. He was first elected to the Board of Trustees in 2012, as an East Tennessee Trustee. He previously served as a member and later as Chair of the organization’s Grant Review Committee and membership selection committee.
The Foundation is a philanthropic organization with a two-fold purpose: to honor attorneys who have distinguished themselves in the profession by selecting them for membership and to administer a grant-making program, on behalf of the Tennessee Supreme Court, which supports law-related public projects. The program, known by the acronym “IOLTA” (Interest On Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) has awarded in excess of $22,000,000 over 31 years to Tennessee organizations that assist victims of domestic violence, that promote child advocacy or alternative dispute resolution or rehabilitation of offenders and to legal aid clinics for the indigent. Twenty-one organizations will share in $500,000 in IOLTA grants during 2019.
Attorney Eldridge is a native of Knoxville. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee and JD from Wake Forest University School of Law. He has been in private practice since 1987, currently with the firm of Eldridge and Cravens, PC, P.C., which he founded in 2003. His practice is devoted to the representation of individuals and organizations facing criminal investigation and prosecution.
David M. Eldridge will serve until June 2020.
