ABA report: Women of color leaving profession

Women of color are leaving the legal profession at “an alarming rate,” according to a report released today by the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession. The report says 44 percent of women lawyers of color working in a large law firm reported that they had been passed over for desirable assignments, compared to 39 percent of white women, 25 percent of men of color and only two percent of white men.

According to “Visible Invisibility: Women of Color in Law Firms,” a report by The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, women of color experience unique disadvantages based on race in addition to gender. White women experience such events based on gender alone, men of color experience such events based on race alone, and white men have virtually no first-hand or personal experience with discrimination.

Despite the efforts of law firms to expand diversity efforts, Hispanic, African-American, Native American and Asian-American women lawyers in law firms nationwide report a lack of networking and access to significant billable hours, being skipped over for client development opportunities and desirable assignments, and being subjected to demeaning comments or harassment and unfair performance evaluations.

For more information about the report, go to http://www.abanet.org/media/releases/news080306.html

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Tennessee’s top court authorizes e-filing pilot

The Tennessee Supreme Court will launch a pilot project to introduce electronic filing to Tennessee appellate courts, it announced this summer. The order establishing the pilot project authorized the Supreme Court clerk to request proposals from vendors and implement the project. Read the details at http://www.tba2.org/tbatoday/news/2006/efiling_072106.pdf

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A match made in CLE heaven

The Tennessee Bar Association Continuing Legal Education department is accommodating, but it can’t promise a new bride to everyone who attends its seminars. But that’s what Nashville lawyer Russell Stair got after seeking help from then-CLE Assistant Sarah Hendrickson. This is what happened: After Russell attended the TBA-sponsored Bankruptcy Forum in Gatlinburg in Spring 2004, he apparently neglected to submit the CLE form after the seminar. This put him in a bind at the end of the year when he realized it, and that his hours were lacking. So Russell called the TBA for help. No problem for Sarah, who quickly confirmed his Bankruptcy Forum attendance and took care of the paperwork for Russell to be in compliance with CLE requirements for the year. Official records of ensuing events are fuzzy through this period, but it wasn’t too long before Sarah had agreed to marry Russell, which they did on July 29.

Russell is an associate in the Nashville office of Bass, Berry and Sims PLC, and is the son of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Richard S. Stair Jr. of Knoxville. Sarah is now the TBA’s director of membership — and Mrs. Stair.

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PDs must refuse new cases if they have too many, ABA says

Public defenders have an ethical duty to refuse new cases if they believe their workloads are so excessive they cannot competently represent their clients, according to a new ethics opinion issued by the American Bar Association. Read it at http://www.abanet.org/media/releases/news072006.html

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Read the latest
issue of The Volunteer Attorney newsletter, now on TBALink. Download a copy at http://www.tba.org/committees/ AcctoJus/accessmain.html

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Freedom’s Foundation, YLD Joblink, TBA Today, Executive of the Year and more
A hot run: TBA wins state and national awards

ABA honors TBA for ‘Freedom’s Foundation’ and YLD projects
At the American Bar Association annual meeting this year, the Tennessee Bar Association won two awards.

The TBA was given the 2006 LexisNexis Community & Educational Outreach Award for its Stand Up & Deliver initiative, “Freedom’s Foundation: The American Legal System,” spearheaded by then-President Bill Haltom. This award carries with it $25,000 worth of Lexis/Nexis research time to be used by the bar for pro bono activities.

TBA JobLink, a project of the TBA Young Lawyers Division, won “Outstanding Service to the Bar” for the entire ABA-YLD. In its division for YLDs with 3,000 or fewer members, the TBA YLD also won second places in comprehensive; public service projects, for Building Healthy Relationships; and newsletters, for the Tennessee Young Lawyer.

TBA Today, YLD program win top honors
Two Tennessee Bar Association programs were honored recently with top awards from the Tennessee Society of Association Executives. TBA Today, the daily electronic newsletter incorporating daily legal news and opinions from the state’s appellate courts, was recognized as the best newsletter produced by the state’s largest associations. Also honored at the group’s annual awards luncheon was the YLD’s educational series for lawyers in the early years of their practice. The 4L/Skills Enhancement program was named the best educational series for large associations.

Ramsaur named state’s top association exec
TBA Executive Director Allan F. Ramsaur was named Tennessee Association Executive of the Year in August by the the Tennessee Society of Association Executives. The group recognized Ramsaur for his innovative work in developing new programs and building the TBA into the state’s largest professional association. A University of Tennessee College of Law graduate, Ramsaur has led the TBA since 1998 and before that served as executive director of the Nashville Bar Association and the Tennessee Association of Legal Services.

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UT law students face 4.6 percent tuition increase

Students at the University of Tennessee College of Law will see a 4.6 percent increase in tuition and fees this year, with the total for Tennessee residents rising to $9,934 for two semesters. Out-of-state students will pay $25,290.