| Tennessee Bar Association

November, 2012

Cover Story

Background

Under the 1796 Tennessee Constitution, the state’s highest court had no home. The legislature created the court and determined where it met. A commentator, known only as Madison, observed in the Nashville Whig that the judges were “run from Nashville to Jackson — from Jackson to Centerville — from Centerville to Jonesboro — from...

Feature Story

Year-End Gifts at All-Time Low Price! Shop Now to Avoid the Holiday Rush!

For estate planning attorneys, T.S. Eliot had it all wrong. April isn’t the cruelest month; it’s December. [1] No time for Christmas caroling. No wassail punch. Just Ebenezer Scrooge, ordering his staff to work the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, scrambling to help clients make year-end gifts. And this year-end promises to be even busier than...

President's Perspective

Thankful for the Profession, Pro Bono, Mentors ... and Cornbread

As lawyers, we have much for which we can be thankful. We live in the greatest country in the world. We are well educated, employed or employable. Many of us operate in a world of privilege with career satisfaction, financial rewards and prestige that others only dream about. As Thanksgiving approaches, I wanted to reflect on a few of the things I am...

People

Kevin Balkwill, disciplinary counsel in the Litigation Division of the Board of Professional Responsibility, is the new president of the Tennessee CASA Association. He replaces Meagan Frazier Grosvenor, who served in the position for two years. She will continue to serve as immediate past president.

But Seriously, Folks

Cornbread at Thanksgiving ... and on Joy Street

On the third Thursday of this month, I will be in beautiful Franklin, Tenn., attending the annual Swafford family Thanksgiving dinner.

I get to attend this wonderful dinner each November because thirty-one years ago I played a very small role in a wedding at the Holly Avenue Methodist Church in South Pittsburg, Tenn. I was the groom.

This...

Book Review

The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Passage of Power

By Robert A. Caro | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group | $35 | 712 pages | 2012

News

Celebrate Pro Bono

More than 300 Tennessee lawyers gave free legal services at more than 50 events to those unable to afford a lawyer throughout the month of October as part of the national Celebrate Pro Bono initiative. Activities included legal advice clinics, education programs, public presentations and other events.

Disciplinary Actions

Licensure & Discipline

CORRECTION

The October 2012 issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal listed Sally Jo Helm of Knoxville as being suspended for failure to comply with continuing legal education requirements. Helm died in November 2011 and was inadvertently included on the list by the CLE Commission.

Paine on Procedure

The Trial of Robert Miller: Are Statements “Other Acts”?

Two fishermen in Carter County at Elizabethton found a body beside the Watauga River on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004. It was Kristal Gale Dubuque, age 22, the single mother of a son. Recently she had made the mistake of working for bounty hunter Bob Miller. He brutally raped and murdered Kristal during the night of Feb. 15.

At trial during the first...