U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, will speak at Spencer Fane Bone McAllester’s 22nd Annual MLK Fellowship Breakfast in Nashville. The yearly event honors Dr. Martin Luther King “through the opportunity to engage with each other and recall and continue his work towards his global vision, Beloved Community.” The first MLK breakfast was organized in 2001 by the firm, which was then known as Bone McAllester Norton. The breakfast will take place on Jan. 16 at the Tennessee State Museum. The Tennessee Lookout has more.    

Due to a burst pipe and subsequent damage to the event space at Montgomery Bell State Park, the TBALL Opening Retreat will be  moving to Henry Horton State Park, located at 4209 Nashville Highway, Chapel Hill. The dates and times of the event will remain the same, only the location is changing. If you are involved in the TBALL Opening Retreat as an attendee or speaker, you will receive communication and a revised agenda from Kate Prince, TBA's Digital Media & Leadership Development Coordinator in the coming days. If you have questions, please email Kate at kprince@tnbar.org.

The American Lawyers Alliance is continuing its support of public education and citizenship awareness by recognizing the vital role that teachers play in law-related education. Since 1985 it has sponsored law-related education Teacher of the Year awards. The Lillian B Jarvis Award of $3,000 is given to a teacher in a Title I school who may not have the resources that many other teachers have. Applications are due March 15, the awards will be announced in May and the presentations will be made at the ALA Annual Meeting in August.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will host an event in February to launch a new book written by its former executive Ashley Wiltshire. “Everyday Justice: A Legal Aid Story” explores key legal figures who helped establish LAS, its relationship to the Nashville Bar Association and the trials and tests of establishing what is now Tennessee’s largest nonprofit law firm. The book launch will take place on Feb. 8 from 5-7 p.m. CST at Bass Berry & Sims PLC, 150 3rd Ave. S., Nashville. It will feature conversation between Wiltshire and former Legal Aid attorney Margaret Behm. Reserve your spot at the event by Jan. 16.

The very first arguments for the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board took place at Belmont University College of Law in Nashville in 2016. The court announced today that it will return there on Jan. 27, 2023, for another set of arguments. The proceedings will begin at 9 a.m. CST. The docket is available here. The court will hear four cases: Acevedo v. Crown Paving, Earheart v. Central Transport, Stone v. Lowe’s Home Centers and Mitchell v. AECOM, d/b/a Shimmick Construction. Read more about the cases in a blog post from the court.

The Tennessee Department of Revenue will host a free webinar Tuesday at 9 a.m. CST to discuss tobacco taxes. Participants will engage in discussion about topics such as registration, filing requirements, frequently asked questions and resources. Learn more on the department's website or register here.

The TBA will close at noon CST tomorrow and remain closed through Monday in observance of the Christmas holiday. The office will reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m. There will be no issues of TBA Today published on Friday or Monday. Online CLE programming will remain available throughout the holidays. Don't miss our many Year End CLE programs!

The TBA Book Club will hold its second discussion event on Jan. 11 from 4 to 5 p.m. CST via Zoom. Members chose Jodi Picoult’s “Small Great Things” as the group’s second quarter book selection. The novel focuses on a Black labor and delivery nurse who is assigned to a child of white supremacists. The TBA will welcome author, poet and African American literature and cultural history expert Darius Stewart to the meeting as a special guest to provide context and insight into the book. Former TBA Executive Director Joycelyn Stevenson will lead the discussion. Register for the event.

A new book on the life of the late Judge Gilbert S. Merritt is set to be released next month in Nashville. A Sense of Justice: Judge Gilbert S. Merritt and His Times was written by author and columnist for The Tennessean, Keel Hunt. It is a social biography of Merritt, who was one of the nation’s youngest U.S. attorneys, a congressional candidate, judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and almost a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. According to the book’s summary, it “depicts a much deeper weave of the power of friendship and loyalty, the influence of history upon individuals and generations, and of how communities of interest formed and evolved over time in our nation—and of how it is all connected.” A free book launch will take place on Jan. 17, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. CST at Parnassus Books in Nashville. Register for the event here.  

Attorney volunteers are needed for a legal clinic and resource fair being hosted Saturday by Davidson County General Sessions Judge Rachel Bell and the Music City Community Court. The event will include an expungement clinic, legal clinic, indigency docket and resource fair. It will take place in person from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CST at the Andrew Jackson Boys & Girls Club, 916 16th Ave. N., Nashville, TN 37208. View a flyer or sign up to volunteer.