Now in its fourth year, the Celebrate Pro Bono month initiative brings together bar associations, law schools, law firms, legal services providers and individual lawyers to offer free services to those unable to afford a lawyer. This year, more than 300 volunteers — including lawyers, law students, paralegals and language interpreters — were expected to participate in more than 50 events and activities across the state.

The Balance Between Free Speech and Civility

An initiative begins this fall designed to encourage a public conversation about the tensions between civility and free speech, the state of our public square and the challenges of maintaining civil discourse in a democracy.

“We cannot preserve our democracy without finding the right balance between free speech and civility,” Tennessee Bar Association President Jacqueline B. Dixon said in announcing the initiative.

Hearings Set to Discuss Conservatorship Law

A series of hearings across the state will give lawyers, community leaders and citizens an opportunity to discuss what works with the present conservatorship law, and how practice and procedure in conservatorships could be improved. The series begins on Sept. 20 at the Tennessee Bar Center in Nashville, with a 1 to 5 p.m. hearing. Other events are scheduled in Memphis Oct. 23,  and East Tennessee locations Nov. 13-14.

New from the Access to Justice Commission

A short video is now available to help lawyers when they provide pro bono legal services to persons with disabilities. The project from the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission,  “Providing Legal Services to Persons with Disabilities,” raises awareness and reduces the barriers that persons with disabilities face when seeking legal services. The 12-minute video provides general etiquette tips on interacting with individuals with disabilities and highlights specific examples of common scenarios that people with disabilities encounter when seeking legal services.

Video Will Help You Represent Persons with Disabilities

Do Your Part

More than 46 percent of Tennessee attorneys reported performing pro bono legal work in Tennessee, an increase of 6 percent from last year, according to recent data from the Board of Professional Responsibility.

This is the highest percentage of pro bono reporting since attorneys began to report voluntarily in 2009 and more than twice the level of reporting during the initial year. So far, about 3,860 lawyers with Tennessee law licenses residing in Tennessee reported 329,285 hours of pro bono work.

More than 46 percent of Tennessee attorneys reported performing pro bono legal work in Tennessee, an increase of six percent from last year, according to data from the Board of Professional Responsibility. This is the highest percentage of pro bono reporting since attorneys began to voluntarily report in 2009 and more than twice the level of reporting during the initial year. So far, about 3,860 lawyers with Tennessee law licenses residing in Tennessee reported 329,285 hours of pro bono work.

Jacqueline B. Dixon is 130th President

Nashville lawyer Jacqueline B. Dixon took office as the Tennessee Bar Association’s (TBA) 130th president, after being sworn into office by Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Connie Clark during the annual convention in Memphis, June 6-9. Dixon laid out her vision for the year, which included a focus on civics education, civility in the profession, pro bono efforts and working to preserve an impartial judiciary. She told the crowd at the Lawyers Luncheon how when she started practicing she didn’t have to worry as much about school debt and finding a job like recent graduates do.

The law school class of 2011 has more depressing news as employment hit an 18-year low, according to data released yesterday by NALP. Nine months after graduation, 85.6 percent had jobs, but not quite 66 percent of them had jobs that required a law degree. This is down 9 percent since 2008. Only 12.5 percent had jobs that preferred but did not require a law degree, up from 10.7 percent for the class of 2010.

Art, Essays, Videos

TBA Contests Educate, Entertain

In conjunction with Law Day, the Tennessee Bar Association offered elementary, middle and high school students several opportunities to learn about the law and convey those concepts in creative ways.