The Tennessee Supreme Court has reinstated Knox County lawyer Matthew David Barocas to the practice of law conditioned on his continued compliance with conditions imposed when the court suspended him on Jan. 18. Barocas was suspended for one year, with three months to be served on active suspension and the remainder on probation. During the probationary period he must engage a practice monitor, complete the Board of Professional Responsibility's Trust Account Workshop as well as additional continuing legal education hours, and pay disciplinary costs. He also must not incur new complaints of misconduct related to the suspension. Barocas petitioned the court for reinstatement on April 17.

Belmont University College of Law second-year student Chelsea Morgan is the winner of the school’s Fifth Annual Legal Fiction Workshop Contest. Her winning entry “My Son Spots” is an atmospheric story of an attorney who finds her footing again after an encounter with a client who loses everything. The workshop, taught by Professor Kristi Arth, is offered as an extracurricular activity for a limited number of 2Ls and 3Ls each spring. Winners are selected by outside community reader through an anonymized review process. This year’s reader was former Tennessee Bar Journal editor Suzanne Craig Robertson. In selecting Morgan for the recognition, Robertson said the writing was excellent, the imagery well done and theme of showing there is hope to come even in the bleakest situations “is a good message for all busy lawyers to heed.” Read more in a release from Belmont.

Most people were taught at a young age how to manage their finances and set short- and long-term wealth management strategies. But what about mental health? Strategies for investing in mental, emotional and spiritual well-being have not always been prioritized, leaving many to seek help only when they are mentally bankrupt. Join Rachel Schaffer Lawson with Dickinson Wright and Laura Durbin with Eastman for a webcast on May 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to learn how to avoid that outcome. The pair will share their courageous stories about what it means to invest in mental wealth, and share resources and strategies for others to achieve well-being.

Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby will be honored next month with the Tennessee Bar Association’s (TBA) prestigious Justice Frank F. Drowota III Award. The award will be presented at the Bench Bar Luncheon set for June 13 as part of the association’s Annual Convention in Memphis. TBA President Jim Barry said the association is honoring Kirby for her efforts spearheading an increase in the hourly rate of reimbursement for attorneys who accept appointed cases. Before this year, Tennessee’s court-appointed attorneys had not seen a rate increase in 27 years, while the costs of maintaining a legal practice have continued to rise, leaving fewer and fewer attorneys able to afford to take these types of cases. In October 2023, Kirby made the case for increasing compensation for attorneys representing the indigent and announced the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) was requesting additional funding from the legislature. With the support of the TBA and others, lawmakers did approve a portion of that funding request. The TBA remains committed to working with the Supreme Court and other stakeholders to secure additional resources to fairly compensate lawyers who do this important work. The Drowota Award is given to a judge or judicial branch official who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion and dedication to the improvement of the law, the legal system and the administration of justice. Read more about Kirby's selection in the TBA's press release.

Henry Ford said customers could have any color so long as it’s black. At least you have two choices when it comes to core email, communication and office productivity applications. This comparison chart highlights the strengths and weaknesses of Google and Microsoft’s bundled, subscription offerings. Find this and more in the Opening a Firm section of TBA’s Law Practice Management Center.

Cert, a cutting-edge negative citator tool for Fastcase, is now available in Tennessee. The tool empowers legal researchers by swiftly and effortlessly identifying cases that have been treated unfavorably in subsequent decisions, thus providing a comprehensive perspective on a case's precedential value. Learn more in this FAQ document. Unlimited research with Fastcase is included with your annual TBA membership. Not using Fastcase? Find out more here.

The TBA’s 2023 Reporters Workshop has been selected to receive this year’s National Association of Bar Executives/LexisNexis Community & Education Outreach Award for state bar associations with 18,000 or fewer members. The award will be presented at a luncheon in Chicago on Aug. 1. Produced jointly by the TBA and the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, the Reporters Workshop offers selected Tennessee journalists an opportunity to learn from lawyers, judges and other journalists about legal issues they face in their daily work. Those selected to participate receive a stipend to offset their travel costs for the two-day event. The workshop was first offered in 2019 under the leadership of then TBA Communications Section Chair Paul McAdoo. It took a hiatus in 2020 and 2021 and was revived in April 2022. 

The new Franklin law firm of Campbell Perky Johnson PLLC will hold an open house on May 23 to celebrate its new office space. The event will run from 4:30 to 7 p.m. CDT at 329 S. Royal Oaks Blvd., Ste. #205, Franklin 37064. Attorneys Neil Campbell, Sarah Richter Perky and Cathy Speers Johnson recently opened the firm to serve clients in family law matters. Campbell and Perky have nearly 20 years of experience in family law cases. Campbell is also a Rule 31 Family Law Mediator. Johnson has more than 25 years of experience in family law matters and is certified in collaborative law and as a divorce mediator. The Nashville Post has more from a press release from the firm.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has agreed to defer consideration of a petition from the Board of Professional Responsibility recommending that Daniel Graham Boyd be suspended until after a hearing on Boyd’s request for judicial diversion. That hearing is set to take place May 30. Boyd relied on Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, section 22.7 in making his request. The court also approved a request to file documents in the case under seal.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has directed the Board of Professional Responsibility to file a response in a case regarding whether the court should impose reciprocal discipline on Jason Russell Buckley. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court imposed a one-year active suspension on Buckley in September 2023. On April 8, the Tennessee court asked Buckley to file an answer as to why it should not also apply the same discipline in Tennessee. Buckley filed a response on May 6, arguing that identical discipline should not be imposed in Tennessee based on Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 9, § 25.4. The board is to provide a response to that argument no later than June 12.