Siblings Todd and Amy Skelton share both a passion for the law and a passion for running.
This week, both are sprinting toward the graduate school finish line. Todd is graduating in the dual JD/MBA program with concentrations in transaction and finance; Amy is getting her law degree.
The Skelton family is from Rogersville, Tennessee. Their father, Mark Skelton, is a graduate of the UT Colleges of Law and Business Administration, and their mom, Joanna Skelton, is a UT College of Nursing grad. The family founded the Skelton Law Racing Series in 2002 to promote fitness and health in East Tennessee. There are currently eleven road races and trail running events in the series, and both Amy and Todd are avid distance runners. In fact, Todd represented the United States on the junior men’s team at the 2004 World Mountain Running Championships in Italy.
During his senior year, Todd was named a Torchbearer, UT’s highest student honor. He began law school immediately after graduation. Amy graduated with honors from Clemson University in 2010 and then worked for a year in her father’s law firm in Rogersville, Tennessee, before beginning her studies in the UT College of Law.
“I was happy to have the opportunity to stay at UT for the dual degree and enjoy the fact that my sister and I will graduate together,” said Todd. “I know our parents are ready for us to graduate!”
Both were active in campus organizations while in law school.
Todd was elected Graduate Student Senate president in 2011 and received the Chancellor’s Citation for Extraordinary Campus Leadership and Service, while Amy served on the Faculty Senate Research Council. Todd also served as a portfolio manager for the Haslam Torch Fund, an editor for the Tennessee Law Review and Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law, and the graduate assistant for the Neel Corporate Governance Center. He argued before US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan as the 2012 Advocates’ Prize Moot Court Competition runner-up.
Amy will practice with her father’s law office this fall, after having clerked there each summer during college and law school. She will focus on consumer bankruptcy, probate and estate planning, and Social Security disability.
Todd will join the Memphis office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, & Berkowitz PC as an associate attorney in the securities and corporate governance practice group.
It’s only fitting that Todd and Amy took their last law school exam together in a class they shared for their final semester.
“We even sat together,” Amy said, “but that won’t stop a little sibling competition on the exam.”
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C O N T A C T :
Amy Blakely (865-9745034, ablakely@utk.edu)
Roger Hagy, (865-974-6788, rhagy1@utk.edu)