Nashville lawyer Jonathan Cole, a shareholder with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, will be the honored guest at a Tennessee reception held in conjunction with the American Bar Association Annual Meeting July 29 to Aug. 4 in Chicago. The reception will take place Aug. 1 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. CDT in the Crystal Ballroom C in the West Tower of the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Any Tennessee lawyers in town are invited to attend. View the invitation. Cole has a long and distinguished track record of involvement in the ABA. He currently serves as chair of the ABA House of Delegates, the group’s 597-member policymaking body, making him the second ranking officer in the ABA. He previously served as a Tennessee delegate to the House of Delegates, chair of the Young Lawyers Division and director of the American Bar Endowment.

The ABA's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar may be poised to roll back more of its diversity rules this summer, Reuters reports. The council may consider two proposals at the ABA Annual Meeting that would reshape law school requirements. First, the ABA could eliminate a 2022 rule requiring law schools to educate students about bias, racism and cross-cultural competency at the start and end of their studies. Second, it could pare down a detailed rule that requires law schools to maintain non-discrimination policies covering protected groups — including race, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability. In its place, the group is considering a simpler requirement that schools prohibit discrimination "in violation of applicable federal, state and local law." Read more about these proposals, which have been put out for comment. The group previously repealed a diversity standard and changed criteria for its law school scholarships.

ABA Free Legal Answers, the American Bar Association’s (ABA) national pro bono platform recently surpassed 500,000 civil legal questions answered and is approaching its 10-year anniversary in August. In recognition of this milestone, the ABA Center for Pro Bono is hosting a 10-Year Anniversary Fundraiser on Aug. 2 during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago. The event will take place on a river cruise from 1-3 p.m. CDT and will bring together volunteers, partners and supporters to celebrate the growth and impact of the platform over the past decade. Learn more and register for the event.

The Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) honored Joy Radice with the University of Tennessee Winston College of Law at a reception at the American Bar Association (ABA) Midyear Meeting in San Antonio. Meeting attendees from across the country gathered to celebrate Radice, who serves as director of clinical programs and associate professor of law. See pictures from the event. The TBA hosts the Tennessee Reception twice a year at the ABA Midyear Meeting in February and the Annual Meeting in August. The events provide an opportunity to raise the state's visibility among the national legal community and honor the good work being done by Tennessee attorneys. Members of the TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) also were in town for the reception and ABA YLD meetings. See photos from their activities.

Tennessee lawyers participated in the National College of Bar Presidents (NCBP) and American Bar Association (ABA) annual meetings over the past week. Among the many events was a reception hosted by the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) to honor Sherie Edwards, who served as TBA president from 2021-2022 and treasurer from 2011-2018. Edwards retired as vice president of corporate and legal for State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company last year. She is currently president-elect of the Nashville Bar Association and will take office as president later this year. She serves on the NCBP Executive Council and several not-for-profit boards, and will be starting a mediation practice later this fall. Thank you to our reception sponsors: Silver Sponsor Lewis, Thomason; Bronze Sponsors Belmont College of Law, Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law and Wiseman | Ashworth | Trauger | Moore | Silvus; and Patron Sponsors Tasha Blakney, Katie Edge, Marcy Eason, Randy Noel, Charles Swanson and Danny Van Horn. Also during the Annual Meeting, Nashville lawyer and ABA House of Delegates Chair Jonathan Cole presided over that body, which considered a range of proposals. See photos and read more about the NCBP and ABA meetings.

The Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) honored Belmont College of Law Dean Alberto Gonzales at a  reception Saturday evening at the American Bar Association (ABA) Midyear Meeting in Phoenix. Meeting attendees from across the country gathered to celebrate Gonzales’ leadership at the law school. See pictures from the event. The TBA hosts the Tennessee Reception twice a year at the ABA Midyear Meeting in February and the Annual Meeting in August. The events provide an opportunity to raise the state's visibility among the national legal community and honor the good work being done by Tennessee attorneys.

The American Bar Association (ABA) urged the presidential administration to roll back its executive order calling for federal investigations into diversity and inclusion efforts by bar associations, citing the groups' First Amendment rights, Reuters reports. The ABA's resolution, adopted Monday, asks the administration to modify the executive order to clarify that it will not be enforced in a manner that infringes on constitutional rights. “The First Amendment prohibits the federal government from interfering with the expressive rights of bar associations and others by threatening them with investigation and prosecution for adopting or promoting [diversity and inclusion],” reads a report supporting the resolution. Last year, attorneys general from 21 states, including Tennessee, sent a letter to the ABA opposing efforts to impose race-based admissions and hiring requirements on law schools through the accreditation process.

The American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates (HOD) adopted more than two dozen policy matters, including resolutions addressing the judiciary and recent executive orders, when it met during the 2025 ABA Midyear Meeting. Additional resolutions focusing on lawyer well-being, antisemitism education, righting wrongful convictions and bar admission standards also were passed. The policymaking House is chaired by Nashville attorney Jonathan Cole of Baker Donelson and encompasses nearly 600 delegates from ABA entities and state, local and specialty bar associations. Read more in a release.

The American Bar Association (ABA) 2025 Midwinter Meeting kicks off tomorrow in Phoenix, Arizona. On Saturday, the TBA will host a reception honoring Belmont College of Law Dean Alberto Gonzales. On Monday, the ABA House of Delegates will consider over two dozen policy matters, including resolutions on judicial security, lawyer well-being, antisemitism education and wrongful convictions according to a news release. Among the proposals are resolutions urging bar associations to support enhanced judicial security, protection for government officials' personal information and limiting alleged "judge shopping" in federal cases. The meeting will be presided over by Tennessee lawyer Jonathan Cole, chair of the House of Delegates, with remarks from Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, ABA President Bill Bay and others. The ABA Young Lawyers Division also will meet and consider resolutions promoting lawyer well-being, prosecutorial efforts to correct wrongful convictions, Holocaust studies in schools and efforts to narrow the scope of questions during the bar admission process.

The American Bar Association House of Delegates (ABA HOD) this week approved a resolution urging bar admission authorities to create a reporting exception for applicants who have been victims of domestic or dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment or stalking so that they do not have to recount any legal, law enforcement, administrative or academic proceedings. Requiring would-be lawyers to “explain their history of abuse” and track down documentation related to their case “retraumatizes” them, according to the resolution. The requirement also may dissuade victims from reporting abuse because they worry about having to disclose it on their admissions application, the group said. Reuters reports on the resolution.