About

Professional Title

Janice M. Holder

Hon. Janice M. Holder

While serving as a Circuit Court judge, Janice Holder began a pilot program in Shelby County, Tennessee, to introduce lawyers and their clients to the benefits of mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. The pilot project predated the adoption of the statewide rules governing alternative dispute resolution in Tennessee. After her appointment to the Tennessee Supreme Court, she served as its liaison to the Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission for more than seven years. In recognition of her work supporting mediation, she received the Grayfred Gray Public Service Mediation Award from the Coalition for Mediation Awareness in Tennessee in 2008. She is a member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, Tennessee Chapter and serves on both the American Arbitration Association’s Roster of Arbitrators and the AAA Master Mediator Panel

Justice Holder served as the Chair of the 2015 Campaign for Equal Justice for Memphis Area Legal Services, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation chartered to provide civil legal services without fee to low-income and elderly residents in Shelby, Fayette, Tipton, and Lauderdale Counties, and currently serves on the board of directors of the Tennessee Justice Center. She serves on the Community Legal Center Advisory Committee.

In addition to her service to the legal profession, Justice Holder has been active in her community. She has served on the board of directors of the Memphis Botanic Garden Foundation, the Memphis Council for International Visitors, and the Memphis in May International Festival, Inc. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Kiwanis Club of Memphis and on the board of trustees of the Metal Museum. She is a Commissioner of the Memphis Area Transit Authority.

Justice Holder has also served as a volunteer tutor for the Memphis Literacy Council, now Literacy Mid-South, and is a graduate of Leadership Memphis Class of 1993. In 2008, she received the Community Service Award from St. Mark Baptist Church and in 2012, the Woman of Courage Award from Dress for Success Memphis. She is a member of the International Women’s Forum and has served as chair of the Memphis Chapter.

In 2015, Janice was inducted into the Tennessee Women’s Hall of Fame. In 2019, she was named to the Memphis Business Journal’s Power 100.

Her acting credits include the portrayal of a federal judge in the motion picture, The People vs Larry Flynt.

Janice Holder is a student of the Patrick Wrenn’s American Combative Arts System and the Tennessee Karate Institute and has been an assistant instructor since 2002. She holds the rank of Sixth Degree Black Belt.