Faculty Profile: Ann Short

Ann Short, a graduate of The Webb School of Bell Buckle, Tennessee, settled in Knoxville after receiving dual bachelor degrees in political science and economics from Centre College of Kentucky in 1977. She received her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1981 from the University of Tennessee College of Law where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Tennessee Law Review, a member of the Moot Court Board, and a student instructor in legal research and writing.

Ms. Short is a former Senior Judicial Clerk to the Honorable James Curwood Witt, Jr., Judge of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. She was the first female elected in 1992 to serve as President of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a statewide organization of defense attorneys and affiliates. She was appointed and served as a member of the Indigent Defense Commission created by the Tennessee Supreme Court to identify problems and make recommendations regarding the delivery of indigent defense services in Tennessee.

Ms. Short has lectured extensively about state and federal appellate practice, Fourth Amendment matters, recent developments in criminal law, legal issues in the death penalty arena, and Tennessee rules of evidence and procedure. She has authored briefs and represented clients in civil and criminal matters at all levels in Tennessee’s appellate system and in federal appellate courts. She has authored articles for the Tennessee Law Review, the Knoxville Bar Association, and the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In addition, by request she has authored Amicus Curiae (“Friend of the Court”) briefs in several Tennessee appellate cases and for the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

From 1996 until 2009, Ms. Short was an Assistant Law Examiner for the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Board of Law Examiners. She is an active member of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section and a member of the Hamilton Burnett American Inn of Court. As Past-President, she devotes time and her services to the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and its various committees. She also remains involved with The Webb School as the parent of a recent graduate and a Trustee on The Webb School Board of Directors.

Ms. Short is licensed and admitted to practice law in Tennessee, and by virtue of her trial and appellate practice, she is also admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and the United States Supreme Court. Her practice focuses on state and federal criminal defense representation, with an emphasis on search and seizure matters, complex trial and appellate issues, and post-conviction proceedings.