

Hon. Jane Wheatcraft (Ret.) crafted her mediation skills while she was a Judge in Sumner County by presiding over all the settlement conferences in civil cases for her two colleague judges. She successfully mediated cases ranging from slip and fall, to automobile accidents and medical malpractice cases. She was one of the first judges in Tennessee to receive training in from David Strawn of Florida. Her next training was with Nina Meierding, from Pepperdine University Strauss Institute, who specifically taught a civil mediation course for judges in Tennessee. She also plans to mediate family cases in the near future. Her Rule 31 application is pending.
Judge Wheatcraft served as General Sessions Judge, Division I in Sumner County from 1985 to 1994 where she handled all types of civil and criminal disputes. She was then appointed and elected as Criminal Court Judge from 1994 to her retirement in September, 2006. As a judge she served on the Futures Commission of the Supreme Court, which recognized the need for Alternative Dispute Resolution as a way for citizens to access the courts. She also served on the Court of the Judiciary for three years. She was awarded the Leadership Sumner Award in 1995 and 2006 and the “Woman of the Year” by the Gallatin Business and Professional Women.
Prior to her judgeship she was in private practice in Nashville with the firm of Tune, Entrekin and White as a litigator in general practice. She was active in community organizations including the Board of Trustees for Volunteer State Community College, United Way Board, Hendersonville Community Child Care Center Board and Hendersonville Samaritan Center Board. She had a particular interest in domestic violence, serving on the Tennessee Task Force Against Domestic/Sexual Violence, form whom she received a 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award.
She graduated from the Nashville School of Law in 1977 first in her class and a member of the Cooper’s Inn Society.
Judge Wheatcraft is married to Donald Wheatcraft. She has two children, one is a lawyer and three grandchildren ages, 7, 9, & 12 in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. She enjoys gardening, going to the Y, reading for pleasure and traveling to see her grandchildren.
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