Commissioner Van D. Turner, Jr., Esq.

President of NAACP Memphis Branch

Van D. Turner, Jr. is a partner in the law firm of Bruce Turner, PLLC where he practices in the areas of personal injury and civil litigation, business transactions and estate planning.  Before joining Bruce Turner, Attorney Turner practiced law with Butler Snow, PLLC and served as an attorney for the Memphis City Schools.  Mr. Turner also served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Samuel Hardy Mays, Jr., federal judge for the district court in Memphis, Tennessee. Attorney Turner was elected as a Shelby County Commissioner in 2014 and re-elected without opposition in 2018.  His district includes Hickory Hill and Southeast Shelby County, and Commissioner Turner served as Chairman of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners from 2018-2019.

Commissioner Turner has participated and served on the board of several legal organizations, including the Tennessee Bar Association, the Mississippi Bar Association, and the Memphis Bar Association. Additionally, Mr. Turner has been active and served in a number of other professional, civic and community organizations, including the Economic Club of Memphis, the Rotary Club of Memphis, and the Leo Bearman, Sr. American Inns of Court. Attorney Turner currently serves as President of the Memphis Branch of the NAACP.  Mr. Turner’s most notable honors include Memphis Business Journal, “Top Forty Under 40”, Super Lawyer Magazine, “Mid-South Rising Star” and Inside Memphis Business, “Innovation Award Winner”. Commissioner Turner has also served as an adjunct law professor at the University of Memphis, C.C. Humphreys School of Law.

Attorney Turner earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia with Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude honors. After serving as an English teacher in Japan for two years, he returned to the United States and attended the University of Tennessee College of Law where he earned his law degree. Attorney Turner is licensed to practice law in Tennessee and Mississippi.  Commissioner Turner is also President of Memphis Greenspace, Inc., the non-profit corporation, which on December 20, 2017, at exactly 9:01 p.m., removed the Confederate statues of Nathan B. Forrest and Jefferson Davis from Health Sciences and Memphis Parks. He is married to his junior high school sweetheart, Tamara Turner, a guidance counselor with the Shelby County Schools, and they have three wonderful children, Malik, Masai and Malia.

Van D. Turner, Jr. is a partner in the law firm of Bruce Turner, PLLC where he practices in the areas of personal injury and civil litigation, business transactions and estate planning.  Before joining Bruce Turner, Attorney Turner practiced law with Butler Snow, PLLC and served as an attorney for the Memphis City Schools.  Mr. Turner also served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Samuel Hardy Mays, Jr., federal judge for the district court in Memphis, Tennessee. Attorney Turner was elected as a Shelby County Commissioner in 2014 and re-elected without opposition in 2018.  His district includes Hickory Hill and Southeast Shelby County, and Commissioner Turner served as Chairman of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners from 2018-2019.

Commissioner Turner has participated and served on the board of several legal organizations, including the Tennessee Bar Association, the Mississippi Bar Association, and the Memphis Bar Association. Additionally, Mr. Turner has been active and served in a number of other professional, civic and community organizations, including the Economic Club of Memphis, the Rotary Club of Memphis, and the Leo Bearman, Sr. American Inns of Court. Attorney Turner currently serves as President of the Memphis Branch of the NAACP.  Mr. Turner’s most notable honors include Memphis Business Journal, “Top Forty Under 40”, Super Lawyer Magazine, “Mid-South Rising Star” and Inside Memphis Business, “Innovation Award Winner”. Commissioner Turner has also served as an adjunct law professor at the University of Memphis, C.C. Humphreys School of Law.

Attorney Turner earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia with Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude honors. After serving as an English teacher in Japan for two years, he returned to the United States and attended the University of Tennessee College of Law where he earned his law degree. Attorney Turner is licensed to practice law in Tennessee and Mississippi.  Commissioner Turner is also President of Memphis Greenspace, Inc., the non-profit corporation, which on December 20, 2017, at exactly 9:01 p.m., removed the Confederate statues of Nathan B. Forrest and Jefferson Davis from Health Sciences and Memphis Parks. He is married to his junior high school sweetheart, Tamara Turner, a guidance counselor with the Shelby County Schools, and they have three wonderful children, Malik, Masai and Malia.