About Spenser

Spenser Flinn Powell, ESQ

Spenser graduated from Houston High School, the University of Tennessee (’12), and the University of Tennessee College of Law (’17). During law school, he attained the highest grade point averages during his first and second years of study, and was the valedictorian of his law school class. In addition, his classmates and the faculty and staff named Spenser the Outstanding Graduate of the Class of 2017.

Among other activities, Spenser served as an Executive Editor on the Tennessee Law Review and Vice-Chair of the Moot Court Executive Board. He was an active member of many organizations, including the Hamilton Burnett American Inn of Court; UT Pro Bono; American Constitution Society; Student Animal Legal Defense Fund; Environmental Law Organization; and Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.

Spenser competed as a member of the National Moot Court Team during his second and third years of law school. During his third year, Spenser was named Best Oralist at the regional competition. The team went on to compete in the national competition in New York, where the team was recognized for writing the second-best brief in the country.

He was named to Order of the Barristers, an international moot court honorary society with limited membership. He received the Susan Devitt Moot Court Award; he shared the Ogden Sullivan brief-writing award with his moot court team; and he was awarded the McClung Medal, the highest award given by the faculty to the most outstanding member of UT Moot Court.

After graduating from law school, he served as a judicial law clerk to Chief Judge Thomas A. Varlan of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The following year, he was going to begin his judicial clerkship for Judge Carolyn D. King of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Houston, Texas. Once his judicial clerkships were complete, Spenser was set to become an associate in the litigation group of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC in Nashville, Tennessee.

Spenser enjoyed hiking, biking, running, video games, science fiction, and so much more. He was incredibly intelligent, artistic, and kind. He enjoyed being an advocate for those in need, was a friend to all, and a superhero to his brothers and sisters. In the words of Professor Penny White, “He never said no to anything anyone asked of him. Never.”

Spenser died as he lived, striving to reach a goal.