We are getting closer to the 40th Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition!    

HOW TO GET INVOLVED:  

• Donate $40 for 40:  For 40 years, the TBA Young Lawyers Division has been able to subsidize the cost of attending the state mock trial competition for lower-income or rural schools. You can donate on the online payment portal or make your checks payable to Tennessee Bar Association and note "Mock Trial Fund" in the memo line. Send checks to Tennessee Bar Association, 221 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 400, Nashville, TN 37219.  With this support, we can continue the legacy of high school mock trial in Tennessee for another 40 plus years. 

• Volunteer as a Judge:  Sitting judges, attorneys, law students, paralegals and bailiffs are needed to volunteer for the competition. Sign up here.

• Help Secure a Grant for your Local Team:  The Young Lawyers Division has secured grant funding for mileage reimbursement and professional clothing for participating teams. The Mock Trial Mileage Grant Application and Mock Trial Professional Clothing Grant Application are due to the Mock Trial Committee by March 2.

• Sign Up for Email Updates:  To be added to the TBA’s email distribution list for competition information and case updates, email YLD Coordinator Stephanie Vonnahme. 

TBA has launched an entirely new website, member database -- and we hope you will check it out. After nearly a year of planning, development and design, our new TBA web interface makes it easier to access updated news, connect with other members, manage your account from a personalized dashboard and get the full benefit of your TBA membership. This page contains updates and hints for navigating the new website. Visit this page to learn about new features on the website or take a virtual tour.  

Log-In & Password Update
The new TBA website requires all users to update their previous log-in and password. (Passwords are encrypted for security, so they could not be automatically updated as we launched a new website.) You should have received an email from support@membercentral.com, providing you with a personalized link to reset your password and access your new account upgrade. If you did not receive the email, you can also update your password by selecting the "I forgot my password" and enter your email address. You should receive an email with a link to reset your password.   

Questions and comments are welcome, so please do not hesitate to contact TBA directly. Call 615-383-7421 or email membership@tnbar.org.

Here’s your chance to nominate an attorney or law student who has gone above and beyond to increase access to justice in Tennessee!  Make your nominations today for the TBA Public Service Awards. Nominations are due by Feb. 17. 

This Thursday, Feb. 13, at the Unity in Diversity Scholarship Banquet, Adriona Horton, a third-year law student at The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, will receive the Excellence in Diversity - Law Student Award. Adriona is a 2017 graduate of Mississippi State University where she majored in Science and Psychology with a concentration in Pre-Med. Adriona is also a 2019 graduate of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyer Division’s Diversity Leadership Institute!

Last year, in her role as a Graduate Assistant to the Memphis Law Diversity Office, she initiated the Memphis Professional Development Program (MPDP), a mentoring program designed to connect diverse law students with experienced attorneys in the Memphis Legal Community. Adriona researched various mentoring styles to develop a program that would increase the retention rate of diverse students in law school and beyond. In spring 2019, the Memphis Law Diversity Office proposed the MPDP to the law school administration and received permission to pilot the program beginning that fall. 

Thereafter, Adriona solicited various attorneys to participate in the MPDP program and created and planned various events for the 2019-2020 academic year. She plans to continue her efforts with MPDP upon graduation as she transitions to a professional career within the Memphis Legal Community.

Adriona approaches diversity and inclusion the same way that she approaches everything else in life: no matter how small action is, it makes a difference to someone. She aims to continue making strides to increase diversity in every aspect and truly believes that, collectively, our individual actions can accomplish great things.

Congrats, Adriona!

The YLD loves our neighbor! The Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division will host a free legal advice clinic Feb. 13 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Greenhouse Ministries in Murfreesboro (309 S Spring St, Murfreesboro, TN 37130). 

Clients will be organized by legal problem and volunteer attorneys will have the opportunity to review the client’s legal issue in advance. Even if you only practice a specific type of law, there will likely be a client at the clinic who can benefit from your knowledge and expertise. There is no expectation that our volunteer attorneys will represent beyond the clinic.

Join us after the clinic for a happy hour at The Boulevard. Guests are welcome. Volunteer with us and show that you love your neighbor as we increase access to justice for all Tennesseans! To sign up, email Alix Rogers.

Join Cookeville’s Legal Aid Society and the Upper Cumberland Young Lawyers Association (UCYLA) on Jan. 23 from 4 to 7 p.m. for a free legal clinic. This clinic will focus on debt collection defense and protecting personal property and income from execution garnishment and judgment creditors. Have questions? Call 931-528-7436, or visit las.org. Don’t forget to join UCYLA members following the legal clinic at 37 Cedar for their January meeting.

Disability Rights Tennessee’s (DRT) Voting Access Program is currently recruiting volunteers. DRT conducts poll site accessibility surveys during statewide elections across Tennessee. The surveys help the group understand the voting access issues present in our state and then work with counties to resolve issues related to voter access. While this work has historically been done internally, DRT has expanded the program so that trained volunteers can visit poll sites and complete surveys on their smart phone or tablet.
 
This year they will be conducting poll site accessibility surveys during the March 3rd primary and Nov. 3rd presidential elections. If you are interested in helping with this project visit DRT's website for more information.

The first episode of War Stories, the YLD’s podcast, is now available wherever you get your podcasts or listen here. Kate Prince and Brandon Whiteley have been working hard to bring this podcast from idea to actuality. The first episode features former ABA YLD Speaker and TBA President Danny Van Horn.

Also, the YLD is rolling out a social media campaign for the podcast. Please make a point to like and share those posts so your friends will know how great it is too.

Free Legal Answers is set to answer its 100,000th question this year!  Join the Tennessee Supreme Court and Access to Justice Commission to celebrate former TBA President Buck Lewis for his dedication to creating and expanding this much-needed access to justice resource. The celebration will be held March 4 at 6 p.m at the Woolworth restaurant on 5th Ave. in Nashville. Register here. 

The Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division is excited to announce the Diversity Leadership Institute Class of 2020. This is the 10th anniversary of the program and we are proud to announce this year’s class. Learn more about the class here.