Mike Keeney biography: 10 things about Memphis, Tennessee lawyer

Thanks to members of the Memphis-Shelby Co Airport Authority, especially my friend & MSCAA Chair Mike Keeney, for meeting with me in Washington. We discussed the recent improvements to @flymemphis & how they will enhance the travel experience for those visiting Memphis & West TN. pic.twitter.com/DTJjDCUeM3

— Rep. David Kustoff (@RepDavidKustoff) April 27, 2022

Who is Mike Keeney?

Michael Eugene “Mike” Keeney is an American lawyer from Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. He and his wife Anne Orgill Keeney have two daughters namely Irene Keeney and Adele Keeney.

Anne is 9 months younger than Mike. Her older sister Adele Orgill Wellford and James Beasley Wellford are Eliza Wellford Fletcher‘s parents.

From 1981 to 2005, Mike’s father in-law Joseph Orgill III served as chairman of the board for Orgill, Inc, which is formerly known as Orgill Brothers & Co. Mike served on the board of directors for Orgill, Inc. and BankTennessee. 

Mike is an alumnus of Lambuth College in Jackson, Tennessee and the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is a Rule 31-listed mediator in general civil mediation for the Supreme Court of Tennessee.

Aside from Memphis, Mike has lived in other parts of Tennessee including Pulaski and Knoxville. Here are 10 more things about him:

1. In 1988, he graduated from Lambuth College with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.
2. In 1992, he graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law.
3. From August 1992 to August 1993, he clerked for Judge W. Frank Crawford in Memphis.
4. In 1993, he started practicing law in Memphis and joined Lewis Thomas Law Firm in Memphis as an associate.
5. Since 2008, he has been named to Best Lawyers in America.
6. In July 2015, he was approved to replace Jack Sammons’ vacated spot on the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority Board of Commissioners. He was already a managing shareholder at Lewis Thomason Law Firm’s Memphis office at the time.
7. In 2021, he and Anne each donated $5,800 to David Kustoff‘s campaign. Kustoff assumed office as the U.S. House of Representatives member from Tennessee’s 8th district.
8. In April 2022, he and other Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority members met with Kustoff in Washington, USA to discuss the recent improvements to the Memphis International Airport in Memphis.
9. On September 3, 2022, he made a video statement to the public about Eliza’s disappearance with her brother Gil Wellford, their parents and her husband Richard Fletcher III by his side.
10. In April 2024, he turned 58.

On May 25, 2000, Cleotha Abston kidnapped and robbed Kemper Durand in Memphis. The latter is a lawyer and a former employee of Lewis Thomas Law Firm, which is formerly called Thomason, Hendrix, Harvey Johnson & Mitchell, PLLC.

On September 2, 2022, Abston abducted Eliza in Memphis where she was founded dead on September 5, 2022. On October 28, 2024, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping.