1. "Part of being an innovator is being
willing to take a chance."
- Lewis R. Donelson III
Name: Lewis R. Donelson III
Position: Shareholder
Company: Baker, Donelson, Bearman,
Caldwell & Berkowitz PC
Basics: Donelson, whose family tree extends
to the founder of Nashville and President
Andrew Jackson, is featured in a new book
called "Memphis Innovations: People, Ideas,
and Innovations That Changed Our World."
Donelson featured in 'Memphis Innovations' For a Lifetime of Visionary
Work
LESLEY J. GUDEHUS | Special to The Daily News
Lewis R. Donelson III, shareholder in the Memphis office of Baker, Donelson,
Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, has been an innovator all his life.
No wonder Donelson recently became the only attorney featured in the book
"Memphis Innovations: People, Ideas, and Innovations That Changed Our
World" by Richard Raichelson. The book, which was published Feb. 1 by
Power House LLC, is a collection of stories of 50 Memphians who have made
an impact on the city and the world.
Donelson not only has made history himself, but also comes
from a family with a rich history. His great-great-great-
grandfather Col. John Donelson (1718-1786), a land
speculator and surveyor, founded Nashville along with James
Robertson (1742-1814), a farmer, explorer and surveyor. The
town was established in 1784. One of Col. Donelson's 11
children, Rachel, married Andrew Jackson, the seventh
president of the United States.
Donelson's great-grandfather Andrew Jackson Donelson
(1799-1871) was born in Nashville and raised by his Aunt
Rachel and his presidential namesake at their famous
Hermitage estate. One of Andrew Jackson Donelson's many achievements included graduating
second in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1820. He later
practiced law and had a turbulent political career. He moved to Memphis in 1857.
A political science major, Donelson of Baker Donelson graduated with distinction from
Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College) in 1938, earning his law degree in 1941 from
Georgetown University Law Center. After law school, Donelson clerked with his cousin, Judge John
Donelson Martin Sr. President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Martin to the judiciary post for U.
S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee in 1935. In 1940, Roosevelt again nominated him,
this time to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Martin served as chief judge until his
death in 1962.
In 1954, Donelson and Ben C. Adams established the firm Donelson & Adams. The result of
numerous mergers and acquisitions between 1888 - when James F. Baker established a law firm in
Huntsville, Tenn. - and 2003, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz has become one of
the 100 largest law firms in the United States. The firm includes more than 450 attorneys and
public policy and international advisers in 11 U.S. markets. Donelson concentrates his practice in
the areas of corporate and tax law.
Donelson was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1964 and 1968 and a member of
the platform committee at the Republican National Convention in 1988. He was commissioner of
finance and administration for the State of Tennessee from 1979 to 1981, and is a charter member
of the Memphis City Council.

2. In 1987, Rhodes College named Donelson an Honorary Doctor of Laws. Born and raised in
Memphis, he is married and has three children and five grandchildren.
Q: How do you feel about being the only attorney profiled in "Memphis Innovators?"
A: Memphis has been a place for innovations, and I think it's an interesting city from that point of
view. I'm very flattered to be included in the book. I started a law firm from scratch about 50 years
ago and built it up. I came up with a good idea, so I've been an innovator in effect. Part of being an
innovator is being willing to take a chance.
Q: What sparked your interest in a law career?
A: We had lots of lawyers in the family on my father's and my mother's side. My cousin Judge John
Donelson Martin took me to court with him once, and after that, I told my father I knew I wanted to
be a lawyer.
Q: You once represented a group of 77 rural school systems in a successful lawsuit to force the state
of Tennessee to fund its public schools in a more equitable manner so children from poorer districts
would have the same opportunity to receive a quality education as children from more privileged
districts. Has education always been important to you?
A: That was known as the Small Schools Case. I've always been very interested in education. I was
blessed - I had a superior education. I was on the Tennessee Higher Education Commission - that's
how I got involved in that case. One day some small-school people were in the room when we were
talking about the importance of equitable education, and they asked me to take the case. It went to
the Supreme Court of Tennessee three times. It was an interesting case. Not one of those schools
had advanced study programs or taught a foreign language. That was in 1988-1990.
Q: You've been active in the Republican Party. What was it like to attend the 1964 and 1968
conventions as a delegate? [Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon, respectively, received the
nominations at those conventions.]
A: Well, 1964 was the last really contested convention and I was a contested delegate, so I got a lot
of publicity for that. In 1968 it was all sewn up, and again in 1990, when I was a member of the
platform committee, it was already all sewn up.
Q: What do you think has contributed to the success of Baker Donelson?
A: When we started our firm, most law firms tended to be based on seniority. I didn't like that, so
we've always paid for performance. I think that's been the secret of our success.