The Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) today announced the sale of the Tennessee Bar Center at 221 Fourth Avenue North in downtown Nashville. “The Tennessee Bar Center has been a great home to the legal community for more than 20 years,” TBA President Sherie Edwards said of the sale. “But the downtown office market and the needs of Tennessee lawyers are both evolving, and we came to believe that members could best be served by making this change at this time.” After the sale, the TBA will maintain offices on one floor of the Bar Center while renovations are being completed at 3310 West End Avenue, where the TBA will move in 2022. Read more about the sale.

Davidson County General Sessions Judge Lynda Jones has announced she is seeking another term. Jones was initially elected to the position in 2014, and during her time on the bench has worked to develop the county’s Homelessness Court program. Jones is serving a five year term on the Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference Executive Committee and served as president of the conference last year. From 2019-2020, she was presiding judge of the General Sessions court and District 6 director of the National Association of Women Judges. She is currently chair of the General Sessions Court Committee for the Nashville Bar Association and fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation.

The University of Tennessee College of Law is looking for volunteers to conduct mock interviews with its law students. All interviews will be virtual and can be scheduled at a variety of times Jan. 11-12, 2022. Each interview will last for 30 minutes, allowing for 20-25 minutes to conduct the interview and 5-10 minutes to provide students with feedback. UT will provide the platform for conducting the virtual interview and will send a link to access all interview sessions. Those interested may volunteer by selecting a time on this sign up sheet. If possible, volunteers are asked to sign up for at least one hour (two interviews). If you have any questions, please contact Christie Laird.

Richard Louis Reynolds was today disbarred from the practice of law by Order of Reciprocal Discipline. Reynolds, who now resides in Diamondhead, Mississippi, was disbarred by the Supreme Court of Mississippi on Sept. 23. The Supreme Court of Tennessee gave Notice of Reciprocal Discipline to Reynolds on Nov. 9, but he failed to show why the discipline imposed by Mississippi’s high court should not also be imposed in Tennessee. Reynolds must pay the court’s costs and expenses within 90 days of this order.

The Tennessee Supreme Court suspended 15 attorneys on Tuesday for failure to pay the annual registration fee. Eight of them also failed to file proof that client funds are held in an IOLTA-compliant account. A ninth attorney suspended for IOLTA violations was immediately reinstated after the court determined he had been included on the order in error. View the Dec. 14 fee suspension order and IOLTA suspension order. See the list of all lawyers suspended for fee and IOLTA violations in 2021 or access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.

Twenty-four lawyers this month completed the TBA’s inaugural Scaling Small Law program – a four-month comprehensive business education and development program for entrepreneurial, small firm and solo practitioners. Beginning in August, the cohort set aside two to three hours each week through December for weekly assignments, which included roundtables with experts, small group activities and self-guided work. The assignments were focused on distinct units of study including strategic planning, business planning, marketing, solo/small firm finance and budgeting, client service and experience, ethical considerations and outsourcing and leveraging technology. Read more on the inaugural group.

Whether you’re in a virtual courtroom, professional conference or informal Zoom meeting, TBA CLE’s Virtual Presentation Skills for Attorneys will help enhance the skills needed to deliver a first-rate presentation. Mimi Bliss of Bliss Communications will cover topics like sharpening your message and engaging your audience and will include important recommendations for technology tools, lighting and set-up, voice, gestures and eye contact you can use for an effective presentation. This program is part of the TBA’s annual Year End CLE Event, which offers a variety of live virtual or on-demand programs, CLE packages and much more to help meet your last minute CLE needs. 

Congratulations to our Week 2 Giveaway Winner Nashville lawyer Tamanna Qureshi, who will receive a $50 Amazon gift card! Don’t miss the opportunity to get in on next week’s drawing. Those who purchase a course in December will be entered in our weekly drawings made possible by event sponsors Clio and Geico. This month’s Year End CLE event provides a range of packages, on-demand courses and live programs. Check out the options.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today issued an order amending Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 8, RPC 7.6 and Rule 44, dealing with attorney use of an “intermediary organization” to connect with prospective clients. The court solicited comments on proposed changes to the rules on Sept. 1 and received suggested revisions from the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility and the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA). The TBA supported the court’s proposed deletion of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 44 and amendments to Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 7.6 and suggested one edit. Upon consideration of the comments, the court concluded that the suggestions were well-taken and adopted them today as part of the larger package. The revisions will be effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Tennessee Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, is continuing to gather information in a series of statewide meetings focused on reforms to the bail system, Tennessee Lookout reports. Hearings held during the summer study session pitted criminal law reformers, who argued defendants are kept in jail only because they can’t afford to make bail, against victim advocates, who argued that dangerous defendants need to stay in jail to protect the public. Others expressed concern about no-bail or low-bail programs in some of the nation’s largest cities they say are causing a spike in violent crime. And bail agents expressed concern that their business would be in jeopardy under some of the proposed changes. Observers expect Haile to introduce new legislation in the new session.