Nashville nonprofit leader Odessa Kelly today announced plans to challenge longtime U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, in the August 2022 party primary. Kelly has the support of Justice Democrats, the national organization that helped elevate “The Squad” — a group of left-leaning members of the House of Representatives. She is the first candidate to be endorsed by the group for the 2022 cycle and would be the first openly gay Black woman to represent Tennessee in the nation’s capital. Cooper, who has represented the 5th Congressional District since 2003, has developed a reputation as a moderate Democrat, the Nashville Scene reports.

The TBA is hosting a virtual roundtable discussion on April 16 at noon CDT to explore what the post-pandemic law office will look like. The free program will look at how lawyers shifted their practices during the pandemic, what is next for the practice of law, if virtual will be the future of the modern law office, and if tele-legal will become the new tele-medicine. Jennifer McGlone, co-founder, CLO and president of legal technology company LawChamps, and Maxine Kozler Koven, a venture capitalist and LawChamps investor, will talk about the latest trends and take questions from attendees. Sign up here to join the conversation! Have questions for the panelists? Submit them in advance to Jennifer Vossler.

Longtime Nashville lawyer Stephen Eugene Cox died March 3. He was 77. After graduating from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1970, Cox moved to Nashville where he practiced as a trial attorney and later a mediator. During his career he worked for Manier & Herod and then Cox, LeVan, Sprader & Patton. He was active in the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association and American Board of Trial Advocates, serving as president of that group's Tennessee chapter. From 2004 to 2008, he served as a member of the state Supreme Court Alternative Dispute Commission. Cox retired in 2014 and moved to Knoxville. His son, Stephen Eugene Cox Jr., is an attorney with Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated in Nashville. A riverside service will take place in Knoxville on April 10. A memorial service will be held April 17 in Nashville. Details are posted online. Donations may be made to the USO, P.O. Box 96860, Washington, D.C., 20077.

The TBA Intellectual Property Section is presenting a two-day virtual program for its 2021 Annual Forum. “Taking IP Law Back to the Future” launches on April 15 with sessions on saving your patent from Section 101, conflicting local patent rules and maintaining professionalism and ethics in a post-COVID practice. Day two kicks off on April 22 with sessions on copyright protection for utilitarian works, trademark updates for 2021 and non-fungible crypto tokens. Each day’s programming will run from 12:45 to 4 p.m. CDT with a virtual happy hour at 4 p.m. Register for Day 1 only, Day 2 only or the full two-day program.

The Knoxville Bar Association will hold its Spring Memorial Service on May 14 beginning at noon EDT on Zoom. The service will honor 17 lawyers who have died in the last 15 months, including former TBA President and federal judge Pamela Reeves. KBA President Cheryl Rice, Rev. Charles Fels and Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee will participate. See the full list of lawyers to be honored and register to receive the log on instructions here.

Knoxville lawyer J. Spencer Fair has been re-elected to the District 6 seat in the TBA House of Delegates. He faced a challenge for the position from attorney Glenn Walter with Lewis Thomason in Knoxville. Fair is an attorney with London Amburn where he focuses in the areas of health care litigation and general health law matters. He also is an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law where he teaches civil pre-trial litigation. The House of Delegates seat was the only contested race for the 2021 election.

The Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims announced this week that it will continue to conduct hearing settlements by phone through June. The court took the action due to continued issues with in-person meetings brought on from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lipscomb University has named Nashville attorney Kimberly McCall as the new academic director of its Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice & Society. McCall has 10 years of experience as an attorney in the state and supreme court systems. She began her legal career as a law clerk for then-judge Jeffrey S. Bivins on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and continued clerking for him after he was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court. McCall then served as a staff attorney for the Tennessee Supreme Court through the end of 2020. She also has served as an adjunct professor for the Law, Justice & Society Institute for nearly a decade. The institute is an undergraduate academic program that teaches students from a justice and civil change point of view, preparing them for law school, public policy or nonprofit work. It also partners with the TBA to host a summer law camp for high school students interested in a career in the legal field.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has appointed McKenna Cox of Johnson City to its Access to Justice Commission for a three-year term. She replaces Michael L. Forrester, whose term ended March 31. Cox is a partner at Herndon, Coleman, Brading & McKee where she has 15 years of experience in family law, domestic violence, mediation, immigration, conservatorships and civil litigation. She earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee in 2005 with a concentration in advocacy. The court also announced that it re-appointed John L. Farringer IV and Judge Alexander McVeagh to a second term each.

Hamilton County Commissioners voted last week to support an effort to transform the county’s current physical law library into an electronic resource, Chattanoogan.com reports. County Attorney Rheubin Taylor said the resolution in support of the effort was requested by the local legislative delegation. Lawmakers are looking into creating an electronic library that can be used by the public, judges and attorneys. County Finance Director Lee Brouner said the library collects $14,000 in revenue through litigation tax each year and has a balance of $92,000 that could be used to operate the new electronic library for at least 10 years. He also said the county already has purchased the software that would be required for the project.