Handel Durham Jr. Esquire is a longtime son of Memphis, TN. He is a graduate of Central High School, Shelby State Community College --- now called Southwest Community College, with an Associates of Science Degree and LeMoyne-Owen College, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He attended Memphis State University where he received his Juris Doctorate in 1983.

He began practicing law in 1983 with law partners Alan Bryant Chambers and James F. Kyle. Kyle, who was a State Senator, is now Chancellor in the Chancery Court in Memphis, TN.

Handel’s primary area of practice has been Criminal Defense, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury and Collections Law.  Handel was admitted to practice before the Tennessee Supreme Court, Circuit, Chancery, and Criminal Courts of Shelby County, TN. He was admitted to practice in United States District Court, the Western District of Tennessee, Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, Southern District of Georgia, Brunswick Division, Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Sixth Circuits.

In 1982, While a second-year law student, Handel and with his future law partner, Alan Chambers, filed a civil rights lawsuit based on the Civil Rights Act of 1871, Which is referred to as the Klan Act, against a prominent hotel corporation for discrimination act against Handel.  He and his future law partner won that case and were awarded compensatory and punitive damages by an evenly split jury, consisting of four blacks and four whites.  This was the first law suite of this kind brought in the Western District of Tennessee. Congressman Benny Thompson along with other congressional members have filed this same lawsuit in the Capital Hill incident January 6, 2021.

Handel is currently a Divorce Referee for Shelby County, TN.  He is a lifelong advocate for the Humane Society.  He has been a catalyst for change in a racially charged environment and has built a career, along with his former law partners, Alan Chambers and Jim Kyle, fighting for those who cannot fight and protect themselves.

Handel is married to Billene Durham, they have two adult children Handel, III, and Miracle, alone with two cats, Casablanca and Sebastian, and a German Shepard named Pluto.