Leo
Edward Bearman was born November 29, 1902, in St. Louis, Missouri,
the son of shopkeepers.
After graduating from Central High School in Memphis,
Tennessee, he enrolled directly into the Vanderbilt University
School of Law in Nashville where he graduated in 1923, receiving
the honor of Order of the Coif.
He began his law practice in Memphis with two of his
brothers, Joseph Bearman and A.D. Bearman, and shortly thereafter
formed a partnership with Lee Winchester, Sr., with whom he
practiced for many years in the Commerce Title Building in downtown
Memphis.
When his son, Leo Bearman Jr., passed the Bar, they
formed the Law Firm of Leo Bearman in
1960. That firm eventually merged
with the Heiskell, Donelson firm to form Baker, Donelson, Bearman,
Caldwell & Berkowitz.
Mr. Bearman was married to Dorothy Folz Bearman and had
two children, his son Leo and his daughter Kay, as well as 3
grandchildren, David Bearman (an attorney), Edward Bearman (an
attorney) and Amy Bearman Dorsey (a teacher at Ridgeway High
School).
He held several positions of prominence, including
President of the Memphis and Shelby County Bar Association,
President of Temple Israel Synagogue, and President of the B'nai
B'rith Home and Hospital, the predecessor to the present Memphis
Jewish Home. He was a member of the
Memphis Park Commission and a founder of the National Conference of
Christians & Jews Chapter in Memphis, later becoming one of its
medal recipients.
Mr. Bearman died in 1990.
He was considered one of the finest trial lawyers in
Tennessee, having been elected to the American College of Trial
Lawyers.