The Energy, Environment and Land Use Program (EELU) at Vanderbilt Law School invites the public to attend the inaugural State of the Environment Conference, March 27 from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. CDT. The conference will bring together faculty, policy makers and other experts in the Nashville community and surrounding areas for a lunch-time roundtable discussion on the state of the environment, followed by four additional panels, each one led by different EELU faculty members. The panelists will have an opportunity to discuss current work and research, but will also be open to audience questions. The conference will conclude with a cocktail hour that will allow students, faculty and attendees to have further conversation with each other and with the participating panelists. Click here for more information and to register for this free event.

Registration is now open for the TBA Annual Convention in Knoxville, June 14-17. Centered around the theme of "Where Law & Sports Come Together," this year's event will feature dynamic programming from UT men's basketball coach Rick Barnes, Women's Athletic Director Emeritus Joan Cronan and others. In addition, social events will include an evening at Neyland Stadium, featuring live music, food, refreshments and plenty of time to catch up with colleagues old and new. It is all headquartered at the newly renovated Marriott Knoxville Downtown Hotel in the World's Fair Park. Learn more or register now! 

A swearing in ceremony for Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti will take place April 3 at 2 p.m. CDT at Ware Memorial Auditorium in Nashville. A short program will include featured guests: Gov. Bill Lee; Congressman David Kustoff; Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger A. Page, Justices Sharon G. Lee, Jeffrey S. Bivins, Holly Kirby and Sarah K. Campbell; and Butler Snow partner and former U.S. Attorney for the Western District, Ed Stanton. A reception will follow the ceremony. Please RSVP via Eventbrite. View the invitation.

The American Mock Trial Association’s (AMTA) 38th Annual National Championship Tournament is being held at Rhodes College in Memphis April 14-16. If you are interested in serving as a judge, please register here.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will hold a free low-income legal help clinic next Tuesday in Gallatin. The clinic will run from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. CDT at the Gallatin Civic Center, 210 Albert Gallatin Ave. To volunteer for a clinic, contact Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131. Get more details and see all March clinics.

The 42nd Annual Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition will take place March 17-18 at the Historic Davidson County Courthouse in downtown Nashville. The roster of competitors is now set with 14 teams: Aaron Academy and Signal Mountain High School from Chattanooga; Clarksville High School; two teams from Agathos Classical School in Columbia; Jefferson County High School in Dandridge; Unicoi County High School in Erwin; Farragut High School in Knoxville; two teams from St. Mary's Episcopal School in Memphis; Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro; and Christ Presbyterian Academy, Harpeth Hall School and Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville. The state competition is produced by the TBA Young Lawyers Division and will involve several hundred students, attorneys, sitting judges and law student volunteers. Thank you to Belmont University College of Law, Lincoln Memorial University and Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law for sponsoring this year’s competition.

Belmont University College of Law's Criminal Law Journal will look at how the place where one lives can affect interactions with the criminal justice system. Panelists at the March 24 program will compare how criminal charges, plea-bargaining, trial procedure and sentencing are handled differently in rural and urban communities. The keynote address will be given by Dan Canon, a civil rights lawyer and professor at the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law. The event will take place at the school’s Randall and Sadie Baskin Center, 1901 15th Ave. S., Nashville 37212. Cost of $10 covers coffee, snacks and lunch. Register here.

The Knoxville Bar Association’s Diversity in the Profession and Barristers Law School Mentor committees will facilitate a Law Student Discussion Group at LMU Duncan School of Law on Thursday from noon to 1:15 p.m. EST. The theme of the discussion is “Don't Say No to Change.” Studies on associate satisfaction have shown that the attrition rate of new lawyers can be as high as 75%. Panelists will share their personal and professional motivations and what made them open to changes during their careers. Register here for this free event.

The Women Law Students Association (WLSA) at Vanderbilt Law School is sponsoring career-oriented talks throughout March as part of Women’s History Month. Thursday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. CST is a conversation with a first-generation woman lawyer, Kris Reliford, a partner at Bradley. March 24 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. will be a conversation with Courtney Urschel, deputy chief of the human rights and special prosecutions section of the Department of Justice.

A book reading and signing with former Tennessee Bar Journal Editor Suzanne Craig Robertson will take place in Knoxville on April 27 at 7 p.m. EDT at the Church of the Good Samaritan, 425 N. Cedar Bluff Rd., Knoxville 37923. The event, hosted by Union Ave. Books, will feature a reading from Robertson’s new book “He Called Me Sister” and a conversation between Robertson and Bishop Brian Cole. The book documents the relationship between death row inmate Cecil Johnson and Robertson’s family as Johnson’s case winds its way through the legal system ultimately culminating in his execution. The event is free but reservations are required. A similar event in Nashville a few weeks ago brought current and former TBA staff members and area lawyers and judges out for a memorable evening. See pictures from that event.