FUTURE TBA LEADERSHIP

Knoxville attorney Heidi Barcus will serve as president of the Tennessee Bar Association in 2025-2026. She will take office as vice president this summer at the TBA Convention June 14-17 in Knoxville and then automatically advance to president-elect in June 2024 and then president in June 2025. TBA members have also elected three new representatives to the Board of Governors. Knoxville attorney Ben Jones will fill the District 2 seat and Chattanooga attorneys Brittany Faith and David McDowell will fill the two Eastern Grand Division seats. Jones will serve a three-year term, while Faith and McDowell will serve one year terms. All three will take office at the Convention.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Nearly 50 Tennessee lawyers participated in the inaugural “TBA Day on the Hill,” held on March 22. Attendees met with more than 20 state legislators, attending committee meetings and hearing from state government officials. Participants observed proceedings of the House Civil Justice Committee, wrapping up the day with individual meetings with legislators to discuss important issues affecting Tennessee attorneys, including repeal of the professional privilege tax and funding for indigent representation, as well as bills of particular interest to a number of TBA sections.

Day on the Hill participants, state legislators and their staff then made their way to the Nashville City Club for TBA’s Big Shrimp legislative reception. The event gave TBA leaders and members a chance to meet with legislators and continue those conversations in a casual setting.

TBA leaders President Tasha Blakney, President-elect Jim Barry, YLD President Brittany Faith, ABA Resource Committee Chair Jonathan Cole and Interim Executive Director Barry Kolar attended the ABA Day on the Hill in Washington, D.C. March 27-29 to build relationships with new House and Senate members and advocate for legal aid funding and other issues of importance to the legal profession in meetings with five members of the Tennessee congressional delegation and a number of legislative staffers.

A POSTCARD FROM CUBA

The TBA sponsored a CLE trip to Cuba in March.

This reflection is from attendee Sarah Booher.

As the children of the Havana Youth Orchestra held their instruments and awaited conductor instruction, in the seconds before they started playing, there was perfect silence. A moment to take a deep breath before the magic happened. And then, to the delight of all mortals and saints, the most beautiful melody split the silence and filled the former Catholic church turned concert hall with perfect sound.

We listened intently to our private performance of traditional classical music and modern Latin American pieces, but I couldn’t help but notice a woman in the pew in front of us taking copious notes. During the standing ovation at the end, I asked her if she was there to give feedback to the students. “No,” she responded with a thick German accent. “I’m getting my Ph.D. in classical music in Cuba. I dare say you have just heard the most wonderful orchestra on the island.” I didn’t need to hear the others to know she was right.

Shannone Raybon (right) purchased art from Cuban artist Frank David, left.

Our tour buses were notably absent as we filed into the square. To our amazement, Carlos and Lachi (our tour guides) instead led us straight to a row of classic American convertibles, shining in the spotlight of the streetlamps. I sat shotgun in a Ford Fairlane. Off we went, a caravan of 20 cars, cruising down the Malecòn, an eight-kilometer esplanade and sea wall, the wind in our hair and the occasional Dixie horn ringing out a surreal exclamation of our traveling bliss. I sat in amazement.

After a proper ride about town, we arrived at the house of one of our tour leaders, Oscar, for our farewell party. Oscar’s mother still lives at the house in Cuba but, in a story familiar to most Americans, she sent him and his brother to Miami when they were younger, where he is now a tour director and art dealer. Over classic Cuban staples of rice, black beans and ropa vieja, we browsed art and raised our mojitos to toast TBA President Tasha Blakney and TBA staff Barry Kolar and Brooke Leeton for this wildly successful and immersive journey to Cuba. Before we left Oscar’s, I bought a painting called “Girl with Pearl” by artist Martha Beatriz Molina Herrera. Girl stares at the viewer straight on, her face set in determination. Atop her huge black curls, a pearl sits in its open shell. An internet search tells me that “the more numerous the layers in the pearl, the finer the luster. The iridescence … is caused by the overlapping of successive layers, which breaks up light falling on the surface.” A pearl’s value is derived largely from its metallic and reflective luster.

Judge Lee Bussart (middle) poses in Havana Vieja (Old Havana) with traditional Cuban dancers.

On paper we received six CLE hours on a wide range of fascinating topics — Cuban constitutional updates, economic reform, U.S./Cuba relations and more — but in reality, it was a priceless pearl for the 57 Tennesseans who took that journey together. I always knew I needed to see Cuba for myself and meet the people our embargoes have so decisively and unrelentingly punished. I just didn’t know I needed to take that collective breath with new American friends in the magic of the evening.

For more pictures of the trip, visit www.tba.org/cuba_photos.

TBA STAFF NEWS

TBA is pleased to announce new team member Paul Burch as the Digital Media and Leadership Law Coordinator. Burch has more than 20 years’ experience in writing, social media strategy, media relations and music production. He will coordinate the TBA Leadership Law Program (TBALL), as well as work with the TBA Communications Team in writing for the TBA Today e-newsletter and other publications, coordinating TBA social media channels and producing several TBA podcasts.

MOCK TRIAL

Nashville-based Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) was named the 2023 Tennessee State High School Mock Trial champion after two days of preliminary trial rounds. It was the school’s second back-to-back win and sixth win overall. Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey Usman presided over the round while members of the TBA YLD Executive Committee and TBA Board of Governors  served as jurors. Farragut High School of Knoxville was awarded the 2023 Sportsmanship Award, the top 10 teams were announced, individual awards were presented to the best advocates and witnesses, and an MVP for each team was recognized. Special thanks to Mock Trial Committee Chair Judge Zack Walden, Vice Chair Ashley Tipton and members of the committee for organizing this year’s event, which involved 14 teams, close to 200 participants and more than 100 volunteers, including sitting Tennessee judges, lawyers and law students. MBA will represent Tennessee at the National High School Mock Trial Competition in Little Rock, Arkansas, May 18-20. The team is coached by Nashville lawyers Wade Cowan and Tracy Hancock.

ESTATE PLANNING FORUM

February’s TBA Estate Planning & Probate Forum was a huge success. The event saw more than 200 lawyers participating, a record number for in-person attendance.

Sara Barnett, Heather Gavrock, Nancy Choate

The forum featured timely topics such as ethics in engagement letters and planning, franchise and excise taxes, trust administration, and real estate in probate court, along with annual favorites —­ the clerk & masters probate panel and Al Secor’s legislative update.

This forum remains the premier event for Tennessee planners and professionals of related practice areas. The continued growth is a testament to the top-notch programming, presenters and hard work of the TBA Estate Planning Section leadership.

Estate Planning Section Executive Council (Back row, from left) Section Vice Chair Aaron Flinn, Section Chair Ashley Stearns, David Parsons, Jennifer Exum, Michael Goode, Michael Parham, John Billings (Front row, from left) Newman Bankston, Charles Frazier, Robert Malin, Jeffrey Carson

If you missed the forum, you can find individual sessions at cle.tba.org. |||