Nashville lawyer Jacqueline B. Dixon took office as the Tennessee Bar Association's president at the association's annual convention in Memphis today. After being sworn into office by Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Connie Clark Dixon laid out her vision for the year, which will include a focus on civics education, civility in the profession, pro bono efforts and helping preserve an impartial judiciary.
News from the YLD Fellows
Springfield lawyer and former TBA president Larry Dean Wilks, who died Aug. 30, 2011, was posthumously presented the William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award by the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) Young Lawyers Division Fellows at the TBA’s annual meeting in Memphis. Wilks was recognized for his service to the practice of law, the bar and the profession. The award was presented by Fellows President Cynthia Richardson Wyrick, a lawyer in Sevierville, and accepted by Wilks' widow Jan and his son John.
News from the TBA Board of Governors
Memphis Circuit Court Judge Robert L. Childers was honored with the Tennessee Bar Association's Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award today at the group’s annual meeting in Memphis. The Drowota Award is given to a judge or judicial branch official of a federal, state or local court in Tennessee who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion and dedication to the improvement of the law, the legal system and the administration of justice as exemplified by the career of former Supreme Court Justice Frank F. Drowota III – the award’s first recipient.
Nashville lawyer Andrée Sophia Blumstein and Knoxville lawyer J. Scott Griswold were each honored with the Justice Joseph W. Henry Award for Outstanding Legal Writing today (June 8) at the Lawyers Luncheon during the Tennessee Bar Association's Annual Convention in Memphis. A panel of three judged their two articles to be the best of all those published in the Tennessee Bar Journal during 2011. The judges this year were TBA President Danny Van Horn, Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Connie Clark and Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Dean Kevin H. Smith. It is the first time in the 31-year-history of the award that two articles have been named.
Blumstein’s winning article is “Bye Bye Hannan? What a Difference Two Little Words, at trial, Will Make in the Formulation of Tennessee’s Summary Judgment Standard,” which was published in the August 2011 issue. She is a partner at Sherrard & Roe PLC in Nashville. Her practice, which concentrates on appellate litigation, includes a special focus on state and federal antitrust counseling and litigation. She received her law degree from Vanderbilt University and is chair of the Tennessee Bar Journal Editorial Board. She also wrote in the February 2009 Journal an article called “Bye, Bye Byrd?” which explores the ramifications of Hannan v. Alltel.
Griswold’s article, “Service of Process After Hall v. Haynes: Practice Tips for Counsel and Advice for Management” was published in the March 2011 Journal. He is an associate with Paine, Tarwater, and Bickers LLP in Knoxville. He received his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2007. During law school, he served as chair of the Moot Court Board and as a member of the Trademark Moot Court Team. He was elected to the Order of the Barristers and received awards for academic excellence in Advanced Property and Trial Practice. After graduation he served as a law clerk to Chief Justice William M. Barker of the Tennessee Supreme Court, and joined the firm in September 2008. Last year, he won the TBA’s Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award.
Two open positions will be filled by the Tennessee Bar Association Board of Governors at its June 9 meeting. The first — 6th District Governor — is an open seat created when no one sought to be considered for it by the deadline. The 6th District covers Giles, Lawrence, Humphreys, Houston, Wayne, Perry, Cheatham, Stewart, Lewis, Hickman, Montgomery, Sumner, Maury, Dickson, Robertson and Williamson counties.
The second position is the unexpired term for the 7th District Governor. This vacancy is being created by Jonathan Steen assuming the vice president position. The 7th District covers Henry, Decatur, Hardeman, McNairy, Carroll, Chester, Hardin, Madison, Henderson, Fayette and Benton counties. The individual who fills this seat will serve for one year. Under the new configuration of the board adopted this year, the 7th and 8th districts will be combined into a new 7th District and a second grand division governor seat will be created.
In accordance with Article 47 of the TBA Bylaws, the board may fill the vacancies, with terms through Spring 2013, by election at its June 2012 meeting. Individuals interested in being considered for either of these positions should email TBA Executive Director Allan F. Ramsaur or call him at (615) 383-7421 by June 4.
Tennessee attorneys who are taking on leadership positions in the Tennessee Bar Association this coming year took part in an orientation program this afternoon. TBA President-Elect Jackie Dixon outlined some of her goals for the coming year, and TBA staff members joined Real Estate Section Chair Brooks Smith and former Labor and Employment Law Section Chair Stan Graham in presentations about the TBA and the resources available to its members.
A reception honoring retired Circuit Court Judge Barbara Haynes will be March 29, 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Davidson County Courthouse. Contributions are also being accepted to procure a portrait of Judge Haynes, to be hung in the Third Circuit Courtroom. Download a reservation card.
Jackson attorney Jonathan Steen will be Tennessee Bar Association president in 2014-2015, according to election-qualifying results released today. No other candidate filed for the vice president position by the Feb. 15 deadline. After serving a year as vice president, Steen will ascend to president-elect in 2013-2014 before taking over the organization's leadership in June 2014.
Others who will be elected without opposition are:
• Grand Division Governor, West Tennessee (one-year term): Michelle Sellers, Jackson.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, House Speaker Beth Harwell and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey today proposed a constitutional amendment that would set in stone the state's merit selection system for appointing appellate judges. Haslam said the amendment is needed to settle once and for all the long dispute over how judges are named and elected. "The uncertainty surrounding the process, the differences on what the constitution means and the effect that these have on the judicial branch are all results that no one wants," Haslam said. "This is the best way to handle it." TBA Executive Director Allan Ramsaur has argued that such a constitutional amendment is unnecessary but said that if the General Assembly decides it is, the association will support it.
Nearly 100 lawyers, friends and family members gathered today to dedicate the Larry Dean Wilks Member Services Center at the Tennessee Bar Center in Nashville. Wilks, a former TBA president and Springfield lawyer, died Aug. 30, 2011. The Member Services Center provides office space, computer access and staff support for members who need a workspace while in downtown Nashville.
