I am writing this letter on behalf of the Memphis Bar Association to correct what we believe to be a misperception created by the headline, “Six-Year Divorce Case Picture of Judicial Ineptness.”

This headline would lead one to believe that the judicial system or the judges presiding over the divorce case in some way failed in their respective duties.

Having read the 39-page Court of Appeals decision, the obvious conclusion is that the parties themselves, particularly Danielle Malmquist, created and perpetuated all of the problems associated with this case.

The parties filed, as stated in the article, numerous pleadings “which contained alarming but ultimately unproven accusations.”

We believe that the opinion of the Court of Appeals accurately sets out that the trial judges, James F. Russell and Jerry B. Stokes, consistently and competently conducted this litigation.

This is supported by the fact that the Court of Appeals ultimately upheld all of the rulings made by the trial court. In fact, the Court of Appeals stated that the actions of the trial court were prudent under the facts of the case and that the parties offered no suggestion to the contrary.

John R. Cannon Jr.

President, Memphis Bar Association