William Arthur (Bill) Simms Suite 2300 First Tennessee Plaza Knoxville, TN 37929-2300 P.O. Box 300 Knoxville, TN 37901-0300 Phone: (865) 546-7000 Fax: (865) 546-0423 E-mail: Bsimms@adhknox.com Curriculum Vitae

Bill Simms is a third generation lawyer. He was born February 18, 1946, in Lebanon, Tennessee, where his father, Arthur E. Simms, Jr., was attending Cumberland School of Law at the time. After graduating from Cumberland his father returned to his hometown of Fayetteville, Tennessee, the county seat of Lincoln County, to practice law with his father and brother, and to become the first General Sessions Judge of Lincoln County. His grandfather, A. E. Simms, was also a lawyer and served as County Judge for Lincoln County for thirty-two years. Bill's uncle, Robert W. Simms, and his son, Bill's cousin, William Edward Simms, currently practice law together in Fayetteville, Tennessee.

Bill was educated in the public schools of Lincoln County. As a boy he was active in the Boy Scouts of America, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout and earning the God and Country Award as well as being inducted into the Order of the Arrow. He served as vice-president of his high school freshman class and president of his sophomore, junior and senior classes.

He entered college at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, in the fall of 1964. There he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, as well as the Order of Gownsmen, an academic society, and other organizations. He graduated from "Sewanee" in June, 1968, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.

He was admitted to the University of Tennessee School of Law in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the fall of 1968. While there he pursued a curriculum with emphasis on trial practice. He participated in the "co-op" program sponsored by the law school in conjunction with the legal office of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This allowed him to pay his way through law school. Additionally, in June, 1971, his third year in law school, he was hired as a law clerk by the firm of Arnett, Draper & Hagood. While attending school and clerking for the firm in the Summer of 1971, Bill was also selected as outstanding moot court attorney in his moot court class.

Upon graduation from law school in December, 1971, Bill accepted an associate's position with the firm. He took the Tennessee bar exam in February, 1972, and received his license to practice law on March 25, 1972.

Bill married Joyce Chappell of Knoxville, Tennessee on May 27, 1973. Joyce and Bill have two daughters, Laura & Christina.

After joining the firm in 1972, Bill has practiced continuously with the firm since that time, focusing his practice on litigation, primarily insurance defense, products liability, personal injury, aviation, construction, trucking and workers' compensation law. He is also certified as a civil mediator pursuant to Rule 31 of the Rules of the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Bill became a partner in the firm in 1977 and currently serves on the managing partners' committee, which is comprised of the five most senior partners.

Bill is an avid hunter and outdoorsman. In addition, he enjoys fishing, camping, photography, archery, gun collecting and the shooting sports.

For a detailed curriculum vitae outlining Bill's professional activities and accomplishments and his membership in various professional organizations please click on "Curriculum Vitae" under his photograph.

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