Collierville Municipal Judge Lee Ann Pafford Dobson took the oath of office on Aug. 30, after running unopposed in the August election. The oath was administered at the Collierville Courthouse by Shelby County General Sessions Judge Deborah Henderson, the Herald Independent reports. Mayor Stan Joyner also shared remarks about Judge Dobson. Local elected officials, court staff, members of law enforcement, colleagues and family were on hand to support Dobson, who has served on the court since 2019.

A number of judges were sworn into office this week in Hamilton County in robing and investiture ceremonies sponsored by the Chattanooga Bar Association. They included investiture of Stevie Phillips Persinger as judge of the Lookout Mountain Municipal Court, Tracy Cox as judge of the East Ridge Municipal Court, Boyd M. Patterson as Criminal Court Judge, Division 3, Larry Ables as judge in the General Sessions Court and Michael J. Dumitru as judge in the Circuit Court, Division 2. See photos of the events from the CBA.

For the first time, the American Bar Association and the National Bar Association are simultaneously led by Black women — Deborah Enix-Ross and Lonita Baker, respectively. In an interview with Bloomberg Law, the leaders discuss the legal profession’s diversity, their individual career paths, and how lawyers can press for social justice in a deeply divided society. “Lawyers are trained to be leaders. We are uniquely positioned to work toward solutions,” Enix-Ross tells Bloomberg. “We must lead the way in promoting civics, civility and collaboration — the cornerstones of our democracy — to restore confidence in our institutions.”

Jonathan Skrmetti was sworn in as Tennessee’s 28th Attorney General at a private ceremony this morning. Skrmetti was appointed attorney general by the Tennessee Supreme Court last month. He will serve an eight-year term. Prior to his appointment, Attorney General Skrmetti served as Chief Counsel to Gov. Bill Lee and as Chief Deputy Attorney General. Prior to his time with the state, Skrmetti was a partner at Butler Snow LLP in Memphis and served as a federal prosecutor for almost a decade, first at the Civil Rights Division and then as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Memphis. He also taught cyberlaw as an adjunct professor at the University of Memphis. Skrmetti earned his law degree from Harvard Law School and afterward clerked for Judge Steven Colloton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.

Judges in the Sixth Judicial District were sworn into office during ceremonies Wednesday sponsored by the Knoxville Bar Association. KBA President Jason Long introduced the judges and Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee administered the oaths of office. Those sworn in included Chancery Court Judges John F. Weaver, Richard B. Armstrong Jr., Christopher D. Heagerty and Clerk & Master J. Scott Griswold; Circuit Court Judges E. Jerome Melson, William T. Ailor, Deborah C. Stevens and Gregory S. McMillan; Criminal Court Judges Steven W. Sword and G. Scott Green; Juvenile Court Judge Timothy E. Irwin; General Sessions Judges Charles A. Cerny Jr. Judson Kyle Davis and Patricia Hall Long; District Attorney General Charme P. Allen; District Public Defender Eric M Lutton; and Court Clerks Charles D. Susano III and Mike Hammond. See more photos or access the full photo collection provided by Brooke Govert of Shooting the Bar.

Memphis attorney Aftan Strong has been named chief magistrate of the Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court, the Daily Memphian reports. Strong, a Memphis native with a master’s in counseling and forensic psychology, was appointed to the position by Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon. Strong’s career has included counseling children at a juvenile detention center in Boston, working as a mental health counselor in an after-school program and working as a public defender in Nashville. She also worked in restorative justice practices in the Davidson County District Attorney’s office. Prior to joining Juvenile Court, Strong was managing partner of The Family Law Firm PLLC. Her appointment is the first step in Sugarmon’s determination of how many magistrates there should be and who he will appoint to those positions.

Several East Tennessee lawyers and former Governors Bill Haslam and Phil Bredesen have been appointed inaugural board members of the University of Tennessee’s Institute for American Civics, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. The center, funded by taxpayer money, was a bipartisan effort approved this past legislative session. According to Gov. Bill Lee and UT, the center will support "statewide efforts to advance civic education and constructive debate and to foster a deeper understanding of American government and the principles that contributed to the country’s founding." The Board of Fellows is made up of 13 members, including the two former governors and Tennessee lawyers Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., former U.S. Ambassador to Australia, and Glenn Reynolds, a distinguished law professor at UT. UT will appoint a director for the center by March after a nationwide search.  

The Tennessee Bar Association will close at 1 p.m. CDT on Friday and remain closed through Monday in observance of Labor Day. The TBA's office will reopen on Tuesday at 8 a.m. CDT. Visit the TBA.org website for information on CLE or other TBA programs and for staff contact information.

Roane County lawyer Kent Lowery Booher, who was disbarred in 2015 based on a conviction of statutory rape, has been sentenced in federal court to life plus 120 months for the sexual exploitation of children, the Claiborne Progress reports. According to trial evidence, Booher used electronic messaging platforms to talk with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. The other party turned out to be an undercover officer. Over a five-day period, Booher engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the officer, arranging to meet the supposed minor in person. He was arrested at the destination by the Harriman Police Department. Booher previously was convicted of sexual exploitation of a 15-year-old girl in 2012 and 2013.

Nashville’s largest litigation law firm is targeting a new high-rise for its local headquarters, the Nashville Post reports. According to sources, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings plans to move its Nashville office to One22One, a newly opened skyscraper in the Gulch area of the city. Bradley is currently located in Music Row’s Roundabout Plaza building, built in 2004. A listing for that space says it will be available in January 2024, though it is possible the firm could end its current lease earlier.