William “Bill” Killian, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, will be the guest speaker at the next Community Think Tank hosted by the Hamilton County Coalition and the U.S. Department of Justice. The event will take place at the Coalition, located in Chattanooga at 804 Central Avenue, on Thursday, Feb. 20 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Topics will include arrest, prosecution and sentencing at the federal level; prescription drug abuse and designer drugs; victims’ rights; and being proactive citizens in the community. Killian will identify community problems that lead to criminal and drug activity, and provide strategies to reduce drug activity and availability.
Seating is limited. RSV by calling (423) 305-1449 or emailing the coalition at hugh.reece@hccoalition.org.
Killian is responsible for representing the legal interest of the United States and prosecuting federal criminal violations throughout the district’s 41 counties, which extend from Johnson County in northeastern Tennessee to Lincoln County in the middle of the state. The Eastern District is the largest federal district in Tennessee and serves approximately 2.6 million citizens.
Prior to being sworn in as U. S. Attorney on October 4, 2010, Killian was a sole practitioner in his law firm in Jasper, Tennessee. He served as the City Attorney for the Town of Monteagle, Tenn., for 21 years. Until his appointment, Killian held positions on the Tennessee Court Reporting Board, Tennessee Bar Association House of Delegates, and the Board of Directors of the Chattanooga area Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Killian is a master member of the Brock-Cooper Inns of Court in Chattanooga and the Hamilton Burnett Inns of Court in Knoxville. He was certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and the Tennessee Commission on Legal Specialization as a civil and criminal trial advocate from 1995 until 2010. He has tried civil and criminal cases in several states and several federal jurisdictions.
Since becoming U.S. Attorney, Killian has spoken and made presentations at various seminars and conferences, including the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud and the European Union Office of Harmonization in the Internal Market regarding intellectual property rights prosecutions.
Killian graduated from the University of Tennessee School of Law in 1974 after receiving a B.S. degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in April 1975. From 1976 through 1979, he was employed as an Assistant District Attorney with the Twelfth Judicial District, serving seven counties in southeast Tennessee and returned to this position part-time from 1988 through 1990. Through the years, he has held various teaching positions with colleges in east Tennessee as well as the University of Tennessee College of Law.
He served in the Tennessee National Guard from December 1970 through January 1973.
Sources: Some information obtained from the United States Attorney’s Office - Eastern District of Tennessee website