Marya L. Schalk
Biography
Marya L. Schalk’s career has focused on providing the assistance of counsel to the criminally accused and ensuring that the constitutional rights of every person she represents are not infringed upon by the powers of the state and federal governments. She has represented people from all walks of life and aggressively defends them using the law and the facts of the individual case – because no two cases are the same.
Marya began her legal career as a law clerk on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals to the Honorable Joseph M. Tipton before joining the law firm of Summers, Rufolo, & Rodgers, P.C. (formerly known as Summers & Wyatt, P.C.) in 2006. During her legal career at SRR, Marya has defended the criminally accused in both state and federal courts. In her early career at the law firm, she worked on all federal criminal cases with Mr. Summers that came into the firm. During her career, she has represented clients in federal court ranging from small misdemeanor park offenses to serious fraud and drug cases. Marya has also handled state criminal matters from misdemeanors to felonies and often works with Jerry Summers or Ben McGowan on serious criminal matters that have complex legal issues or that are heading to trial.
Marya’s experience as a former appellate law clerk and her focus on appellate work is something used in cases from the beginning of a case to the end, working to preserve appellate issues that may become important in the event of an appeal. Marya has brought and successfully argued appeals before the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, the Tennessee Court of Appeals, the Tennessee Supreme Court, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. She has also filed petitions for certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. Appellate work has given Marya a chance to get clients a second chance at review of their cases or to change the law when it needed to be changed. Changing the law through appellate work is something that she and Mr. Summers have done multiple times over the years she has been with SRR.
Past Positions
- Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Law Clerk, 2005 to 2006
Education
- University of Tennessee College of Law, Knoxville, Tennessee
- J.D. – May 2005
- Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
- B.A. – May 2002
- Honors: cum laude
- Major: Sociology
- Major: Psychology
- Father Ryan High School, Nashville, TN
- May 1998
Professional Associations
- Chattanooga Bar Association, 2006 to Present
- Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2006 to Present
- Federal Bar Association, Member, 2009 to Present
- SETLAW (Southeast Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women) 2017 to present
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Member, 2009 to 2012
- American Inn of Court, 2009 to 2011
- American Bar Association, 2005 to 2012
- Tennessee Bar Association, 2005 to 2012
Practice Areas
- Criminal Defense
- Criminal Law
- DUI/DWI
- Federal Criminal Law
- Appellate Law
Bar Admissions
- Tennessee, 2005
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Tennessee, 2006
- U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 2007
- Supreme Court of the United States of America, 2018
Honors
- Tennessee Law Review
- 2005 Robert E. Pryor Award of Excellence in Advocacy
- named to the 2011 Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars
- named to the 2012 Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars
- named to the 2013 Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars
- named to the 2014 Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars
- named to the 2015 Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars
- named to the 2016 Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars
- named to the 2017 Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars
- named to the 2018 Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars
- named to the 2019 Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars
- named to the 2020 Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars
- named to the 2022 Mid-South Super Lawyers list in the area of Criminal Defense
- named to the 2023 Mid-South Super Lawyers list in the area of Criminal Defense
Fraternities / Sororities
- Alpha Omicron Pi
- Alpha Omicron Pi Alumni Group – Chattanooga Chapter
Pro-Bono Activities
- Board of Northside Learning Center (2013-2016)
- Board of Chattanooga Football Club Academy (2022-present)
- Fundraiser/Team Captain for Arthritis Foundation (2013-present)
Representative Cases
- United States v. McElheney, 310 Fed. Appx. 857 (6th Cir. 2009) – federal sentencing issue; reversed and remanded for new sentencing
- United States v. Jerry Cooper, No. 1:06-cr-92 (E.D. Tenn) – acquitted of Bank Fraud charges, 2007
- United States v. Long, 457 Fed. Appx. 534 (6th Cir. 2012) – federal sentencing issue; reversed and remanded for new sentencing hearing
- State of Tennessee v. Rosemary Decosimo, 555 S.W.3d 494 (Tenn. 2018) – won appeal in the TN CCA; Tennessee Supreme Court later reversed the decision of the TN CCA but only after the Tennessee Legislature had amended the statute which was challenged as being unconstitutional
- In re Estate of Brock, 536 S.W.3d 409 (Tenn. 2017) – won appeal in TN Supreme Court
- State v. Robert Franklin, 2018 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 640 (Tenn. Crim. App. Aug. 21, 2018) – won appeal to TN CCA