The September/October issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal is now available online and arriving in mailboxes next week! In this issue, get to know Sheree Wright, the TBA’s new executive director, learn about her background and experiences and why she knew that TBA was the next right move for her career. Also, Christy Tosh Crider helps readers attain balance and John Floyd breaks down the requirements for issuing a subpoena out of state under the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act as well as practical suggestions. Columns in this issue include Eddy Smith’s “Where There’s a Will,” focusing on developments to select trusts and estates, and Marlene Eskind Moses’ “Family Matters,” taking a look at alcohol prohibition during parenting time in shared custody situations. Also enjoy two book reviews, some updates from the TBA and much more!

Whether a trademark will be approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office stems, in part, upon an analysis of whether the artist has elevated the phrase to a more memorable status. Hillel Frankel examines the precedent-setting decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board In re Lizzo and the impact this may have on musical artists and creators who may have further commercial aspirations for their creative intellectual property.

With the increasing number of people working remotely and moving from one state to another, litigants are faced with more and more witnesses and evidence located outside of Tennessee. Fortunately, parties with cases pending in Tennessee are easily able to obtain subpoena power over those individuals, entities and the documents in their possession that are relevant to the pending action. John Floyd breaks down the requirements for issuing a subpoena out of state under the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act as well as practical suggestions.

Title VII requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees when their sincerely held religious beliefs conflict with work requirements, unless doing so would create an “undue hardship” for the employer. What constitutes an “undue hardship” has now changed. Edward Phillips and Brandon Morrow explain that an undue hardship now means a substantial burden in the overall context of an employer’s business.

The Tennessee Supreme Court recently created a new common law privilege. In this installment of Day on Torts, John Day summarizes the opinions in Borngue ex rel. Hyter v. Chattanooga-Hamilton Cty. Hosp. Authority, and then focuses on addressing the practical implications of it.

As the United States’ largest generation moves into the “golden years,” trusts and estates (T&E) practice remains a growth field as our country has tens of millions of people who need to plan for aging, death and the distribution of immense wealth. Eddy Smith summarizes some recent developments in the T&E world that lawyers should know as they counsel clients.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has again affirmed and restated that it is well-within a trial court’s discretion under Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-6-406 to place limitations and prohibitions on either or, in some cases, both parents’ ability to consume alcohol during their parenting time. Marlene Eskind Moses and Ansley Owens Tillett discuss how Tennessee trial courts continue to have broad discretion when determining the details of visitation arrangements and parenting plans, and that such discretion is limited only by such factors enumerated in the Tennessee Code and the appropriate application of the same.

Autumn and cooler weather are on the way!

Enjoy two book reviews in this issue: John Williams’ review of Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation by Steve Luxenberg, and Gary Shockley's take on A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan.

TBA President Jim Barry discusses civility in the legal profession and beyond in this installment of the President's Perspective column.