Each year the Tennessee Bar Association recognizes outstanding service by attorneys, law students and legal advocates who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to increasing access to justice for underserved individuals and communities in Tennessee. This year, TBA will honor public service award recipients at the Public Service Breakfast set for Thursday as part of the TBA’s Annual Convention in Franklin.

The Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award will be presented to a group of private attorneys who are serving as the legal team representing families from Nashville's Covenant School related to writings left behind by a former student who shot and killed three students and three adults before being killed by the police. Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison member Eric Osborne assembled and continues to lead the team, which has contributed over 1,350 hours to date. The Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year Award will be presented to the executive directors of the state's three Legal Services Corporation (LSC) funded organizations: Ashley Holliday with West Tennessee Legal Services, DarKenya W. Waller with Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands and Deb House with Legal Aid of East Tennessee. The Law Student of the Year Award will be presented to Belmont University College of Law graduate David "Lee" Myers for his extensive pro bono service and dedication to housing justice. Finally, the TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) has selected Amy Dorman as the 2025 CASA Volunteer of the Year. Dorman has served CASA Works Inc. in Tullahoma for the past 10 years, working tirelessly with 55 families and advocated for over 113 children. Read more about these award winners in the TBA's press release and in an upcoming issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal. Watch a video of the awards breakfast.

A Chattanooga attorney pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to sexually exploiting a 14-year-old Pennsylvania girl. Patrick Bryant Hawley, 43, coerced the girl into engaging in sexually explicit acts for the purpose of producing images and videos from September to November 2024, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The move comes after Hawley reached a plea deal that includes registering as a sex offender. The charge carries a minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. Prosecutors dismissed six other criminal counts involving animal crushing, coercion, enticement and child pornography. Hawley was temporarily suspended from the practice of law in November 2024.

Maury County’s 9th Annual Juneteenth Celebration will take place June 21 at Riverwalk Park, 102 Riverside Dr., Columbia. The free event will include live music, food and local vendors. The same day, Cultural Arts Murfreesboro will hold an event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT at Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center along South Academy Street. This year’s festival will include a Kids’ Zone with free games and activities, food vendors, artists and live music with dancing. Get details in this article from Williamson Source.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on June 9 issued an order granting permission for the Board of Professional Responsibility to file a response to Brian Kirk Kelsey’s filing seeking immediate reinstatement. It also allowed Kelsey to file a response to the board’s response if he chooses to do so. The court suspended Kelsey from the practice of law in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to an illegal campaign finance scheme. President Donald Trump pardoned Kelsey in March.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on June 3 directed Davidson County attorney Carrie Archie Russell to complete outstanding requirements with the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education (CLE) after she filed a petition for reinstatement. The court ruled that if the outstanding obligations are not satisfied by July 17, it will dismiss the petition for reinstatement.

The Rutherford County Library Board has reversed its decision to ban books on transgender topics, according to the Daily News Journal. The change comes after board members were counseled they likely would lose any First Amendment-based legal challenges. Board member Cody York, who had presented the ban as a way of protecting children, said he will make it a priority to craft new policies on the issue when he assumes the board chair position next month. In 2023, the board voted to remove four young adult books. The Rutherford County Board of Education also has taken action against certain books in 2024 and 2025.

Knoxville lawyer Donald Eugene Ray, 89, died June 2 after a lengthy battle with cancer. A graduate of the law school at the University of Wisconsin, Ray served four years with the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps and later worked as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Energy at Oak Ridge and in Ohio and with Lockheed Martin in Ohio and Oak Ridge. He volunteered for several charities in the Knoxville area including Lions Club, Foster Care Review Board, Domestic Violence Shelter Board and America's Promise mentoring program.

The University of Tennessee Winston College of Law has announced the appointment of Joan Heminway as director of the Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law, effective Aug. 1. Founded in 1995, the center was created to strengthen business law education the law school. Currently the Rick Rose Distinguished Professor of Law, Heminway joined the law school faculty in 2000 and has been closely involved with the center’s growth and success, according to a release from the school. She replaces George Kuney, who served in the role for 24 years and retired in 2024, and associate professor of law Brian Krumm, who served as interim director. KnoxTNToday has the story.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton last week called for Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell to rescind an executive order requiring the city to report interactions with federal immigration authorities. In a statement issued on Thursday, Sexton said the order forces city employees "to act as big brother." O'Connell is defending the executive order saying it is an "appropriate, transparent measure." Axios Nashville has more on the issue.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose deportation to El Salvador made him a flashpoint in the administration’s immigration policy, has been indicted in federal court in the Middle District of Tennessee on conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants and MS-13 gang members into the United States. The Tennessean reports that Abrego Garcia was returned to the states on Friday and appeared in an after-hours court hearing in Nashville. He will be arraigned on Friday. The U.S. Department of Justice says Abrego Garcia played a significant role in a nine-year smuggling ring. "He made over 100 trips, the grand jury found, smuggling people throughout our country … This is especially disturbing because Abrego Garcia is also alleged with transporting minor children," Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a news conference. In 2022, the Tennessee Highway Patrol pulled over a Chevrolet Suburban driven by Abrego Garcia on Interstate 40 in Putnam County. “There were nine additional passengers in the Suburban, all of whom were Hispanic males, and none of whom had any identification,” the indictment alleges. Abrego Garcia’s attorney called the charges an “abuse of power.”