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 trial court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, section 8 of which provides (in part) that the Congress has the power to "constitute Trib ...

from 1982 to 1996. Born in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, Hamblen graduated from The McCallie School in Chattanooga in 1943 and served in the U.S. Navy towards the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

in 1949, and an LL.B. 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 honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

Raven Society The Raven Society is an honor society at the University of Virginia, founded in 1904 by University student William McCully James, and named in honor of the famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe, who attended UVa in 1826. According to its constitution, on ...

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University in ...

, Phi Alpha Delta, and

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...

. 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 capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Office of Chief Counsel,

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

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 John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

, 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 federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

in 1982, until he was appointed by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

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 Sheldon Victor Ekman (March 12, 1920 – January 21, 1982) was an American attorney and tax law expert who served as a judge of the United States Tax Court from 1980 to 1982. Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, Ekman received an A.B. from Harvard ...

, who had died. Hamblen was elected chief judge for a 2-year term beginning June 1, 1992. Hamblen attained

Senior Status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

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

, 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