| August 2009 YLD wins 3 first-place awards from ABA The TBA YLD received three first-place awards of achievement for outstanding activities during the 2008-2009 bar year at the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division meeting in Chicago this month. The division won first place in the "Service to the Bar" category for its mentoring program, first place in the "Service to the Public" category for its role in the TBA's 4All public service day, and first place in the comprehensive category, which recognizes all of the division's activities and projects. In addition, the YLD won an honorable mention for its electronic newsletter, E-DICT. Special thanks goes to Immediate Past YLD President Michelle Sellers of Jackson and President-elect Tasha Blakney of Knoxville for spearheading the award application process, and to Lewisburg lawyer Lee Bowles and Jackson attorney Mary Petrinjak for drafting two of the applications. Law school visits on tap for fall The TBA YLD will be back on campus this fall with its annual law school outreach program. This year the visits will include the new Duncan School of Law in Knoxville, which opened with its first class of part-time students this month. Tentative dates are listed below: Sept. 15 -- University of Memphis (day on campus and evening event) Look for a special issue of E-DICT in early September with confirmed dates and times. For questions about the YLD's law school outreach initiative, please contact Membership and Law School Outreach Chair Nathan Shelby at nshelby@raineykizer.com. Young lawyers nominated for judicial commissions The TBA has recommended 36 lawyers -- 12 in each grand division -- to serve on the newly created Judicial Nominating Commission. The recommendations are widely diverse as to practice type, gender, race and urban/rural residency. Among them are young lawyers Mary Beard with FedEx Corp. in Memphis; Barbara Deans with Linebarger Googan Blair & Sampson LLP in Memphis; and Carmen Ware with Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan PLLC in Chattanooga. The board also recommended two other attorneys who have been active in YLD leadership in the past: Jason Long with London & Amburn PC in Knoxville, and W. Scott Sims of Walker Tipps & Malone in Nashville. The nominations now will be considered by the speakers of the state House and Senate, who will make appointments. When the commission is fully formed, it will have a minimum of 10 and maximum of 14 attorney members. See the list of all lawyers recommended For the new Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, the TBA Board of Governors recommended six lawyers, including two former TBA YLD leaders: Stan Graham of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP in Nashville and David Johnson of Miller & Martin PLLC in Nashville. Long, Graham, Johnson and Sims are all members of the TBA YLD Fellows. Wills for Heroes gears up again The YLD Wills for Heroes Committee has been busy scheduling legal clinics across the state for the fall. The effort builds on last year's work, which served more than 400 firefighters, law enforcement officers and other emergency personnel. The first event of the year will take place Saturday, Sept. 26, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Germantown Public Library in Shelby County. Volunteers are needed for both morning and afternoon sessions to draft wills and serve as notaries and witnesses. Sponsors also are needed to provide breakfast or lunch for the volunteers. For those with limited experience in estate planning, don't worry! We provide you with a computer and software that automates the process, and complicated cases are screened out. If you are interested in volunteering for either the morning or afternoon session, please contact Asa Baker at asabaker@me.com. Learn more about Wills for Heroes here.
Additional programs are being scheduled in the following cities: Leadership class forming for 2010 The Tennessee Bar Association is now taking nominations for the upcoming 2010 class of its award winning Leadership Law program. If you know of a candidate or candidates who fit the requirements for this program, and believe they would benefit from participation, please nominate them by Sept. 1. This six-month program was established in 2003 to equip attorneys with the vision, knowledge and skills necessary to serve as leaders in the profession and in the community as a whole. Since that time, nearly 200 attorneys - including scores of young lawyers - from across the state have taken part. To be eligible, nominees should have between five and 15 years of practice experience and have shown themselves to be emerging leaders at their firm, in the profession or in their community. Find out more or make your nomination online Cumberland young lawyers to gather The Upper Cumberland Young Lawyers Association has several activities planned for the fall. On Aug. 27 at 5 p.m., the group will gather for a reception and presentation by the Genesis House Domestic Violence Shelter in Cookeville. On Sept. 17, the group will have a dinner meeting at Crawdaddy's Restaurant in Cookeville at 5:30 p.m. Graham Swafford of the Capital Financial Group, who manages the membership benefits program for the Tennessee Bar Association, will provide an overview of benefits offered to TBA members. On Oct. 10, the association will host a Wills for Heroes event in Crossville. For more information on any of these activities, please contact Rachel Moses at the Legal Aid Society in Cookeville at (931) 528-7436 or rmoses@las.org. Social Networking Series -- In case you missed any of TennBarU's recent series of CLE webcasts on social networking, they are all now available as online video courses. The four courses were all produced by YLD members. Look for Intro to Social Networking presented by Matt Potempa, attorney at law in Nashville; Social Networking and Civil Law Issues presented by Jason Pannu of Lewis, King, Krieg & Waldrop PC in Nashville; Social Networks and IP Law Issues presented by Ryan Levy of Waddey & Patterson PC in Nashville; and Social Networks and Criminal Law Issues presented by Stephen R. Johnson of Ritchie, Dillard & Davies PC in Knoxville. Transactional Practice -- The Young Lawyers Division and TennBarU present the 5th annual Transactional Practice CLE Oct. 22 in Nashville. The six-hour seminar will provide business attorneys with the information, tools and tips they need to successfully handle the formation of business entities. The seminar will offer an overview of different business entities, with an emphasis on what entities are best for various clients and business plans. The course also will feature a taxation attorney discussing the tax implications associated with various business entities. The afternoon session will feature a presentation on mergers and acquisitions, including the ethical considerations that arise in M&A work. The day will wrap up with a panel discussion about the conflicts of interests business attorneys may face, and an overview of new developments in the transactional field. Register online now The Tennessee Bar Association is launching a new social networking platform for members called TBA Connect. The site provides many of the same features of mainstream sites such as Linked In or Facebook, but access is limited to TBA members and approved guests. We hope TBA Connect will grow to be a valuable resource for members across the state to share information and network. |
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Vol. 8, No. 2 IN THIS ISSUE FROM THE EDITOR You are receiving E-DICT as a member benefit of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. E-DICT features information about upcoming YLD events and ways to get involved, while at the same time showing that we do not take ourselves too seriously. E-DICT is sent monthly to all TBA young lawyer members, law student members, affiliate representatives and TBA YLD Fellows. If you have comments or suggestions regarding the newsletter, please contact the editor at htipton@watsonroach.com Hanson Tipton Knoxville ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION Statements or opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Tennessee Bar Association, its officers, board or staff. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION |
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