Lapsley Walker Hamblen Jr. (December 25, 1926 – September 10, 2012) was a judge of the

United States Tax Court The United States Tax Court (in case citations, T.C.) is a Federal judiciary of the United States, federal trial court court of record, of record established by US Congress, Congress under Article One of the United States Constitution, Article ...

from 1982 to 1996. Born in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

, Hamblen graduated from

The McCallie School The McCallie School is a boys' college-preparatory school located on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The school was founded in 1905 and now has 322 boarding students in grades 9–12 and 657 day students in grades 6� ...

in Chattanooga in 1943 and served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

towards the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, from 1945 to 1946.
Official Congressional Directory
' (2000), p. 890. He received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

in 1949, and an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the same institution in 1953, where he was president of his senior law class. He was a member of the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif () is an American honor society for law school graduates. The Order was founded in 1902 at the University of Illinois College of Law. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of trial lawyers, the serjeants-at-la ...

Raven Society The Raven Society is an honor society at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1904 by William McCully James who named it in honor of the poem by Edgar Allan Poe, who attended the University of Virginia in 182 ...

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is an American collegiate honor society that recognizes leadership and scholarship. It was founded in 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and has chartered more t ...

Phi Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International ( or P.A.D.) is a North American professional fraternity composed of pre-law and law students, legal educators, attorneys, judges, and government officials. It is one of the largest professional law ...

, and

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...

. He gained

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in West Virginia in 1954. He was a trial attorney in the

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Office of Chief Counsel,

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

from 1955 to 1956, and an attorney-advisor to Tax Court Judge Craig S. Atkins from 1956 to 1957."Appointed", ''Chattanooga Daily Times'' (January 29, 1956), p. 9. He then entered the private practice of law in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

, as a member of the firm of Caskie, Frost, Hobbs and Hamblen and predecessors, where he remained until 1982. He served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Tax Division of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

in 1982, until he was appointed by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

to serve as a judge of the U.S. Tax Court. Hamblen took the oath of office on September 14, 1982, for a 15-year term to succeed Judge Sheldon V. Ekman, who had died. Hamblen was elected chief judge for a 2-year term beginning June 1, 1992. Hamblen attained Senior Status in 1996, and retired from the court entirely in 1999. Hamblen had three sons by his first wife. After their marriage ended, he married Claudia Royster Terrell of Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1971, who survived him. Hamblen died from cardiac disease at his home in

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church City is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is ...

, at the age of 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamblen, Lapsley W., Jr. 1926 births 2012 deaths Lawyers from Chattanooga, Tennessee University of Virginia School of Law alumni Judges of the United States Tax Court United States Article I federal judges appointed by Ronald Reagan United States Navy personnel of World War II