This issue's Legal Life is full of information and news about Celebrate Pro Bono Month in October, an ABA Annual Meeting recap, TBALL nominations and more!

Read about the lawyers who have recently been reinstated, disbarred, suspended, censured or transferred their licenses to disability inactive status.

Tennessee Bar Association members who have died recently are memorialized.

Welcome Sheree Wright, TBA's new executive director! She comes to the TBA after more than 30 years in Vanderbilt University's Office of the General Counsel. Get to know Sheree, learn about her background and experiences and why she knew that TBA was the next right move for her career.

Balance eludes all of us. The concept isn’t hard to understand, but achieving it often feels impossible. “Balance” seems to be a now-taboo term to refer to the art of finding the optimal, joyful mix of “work” and “life.” Christy Tosh Crider explains that if we master the following six truths, we will achieve balance because our energy supply will fuel a full life and our lens through which we judge success is a life-time wide.

The University of Memphis School of Law has received a three-year $300,000 grant from the Everytown Law Fund, which will be used to hire a legal fellow to handle civil legal issues impacting victims of pediatric gun violence. The funds will go the Memphis Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic, the Commercial Appeal reports. New York-based nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety finances a variety of litigation projects tied to gun violence, but the law school is the first recipient of a grant for an Everytown Legal Fellow. Law school Dean Katharine Schaffzin and Katy Ramsey Mason, director of the Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic, made the announcement yesterday.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission meeting today in Franklin selected three nominees to forward to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration in filling a vacancy in the 21st Judicial District. They are: Nolensville lawyer Russell D. Gill, Brentwood lawyer Erin W. Nations and Franklin lawyer David H. Veile. The vacancy on the court, which serves Williamson County, is due to the Sept. 29 retirement of Circuit Court Judge Michael W. Binkley. Read the announcement from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

A former Memphis Police Department officer was sentenced today to 18 months in prison and one year of supervised release for violating an arrestee’s civil rights by using excessive force against him, the Department of Justice announced. According to court documents, Armando Bustamante admitted that while on duty in January 2021 he used his service weapon and hands to strike an arrestee in the head without legal justification. “The Justice Department will aggressively prosecute those law enforcement officers who abuse their authority and violate federal civil rights laws.” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court has unanimously elected Justice Holly Kirby as the court's new chief justice. Kirby’s two-year term will begin Sept. 1, the court announced today. She is the fourth woman to serve as the court’s chief justice. Kirby was appointed to the court in 2014 by former Gov. Bill Haslam. Prior to her appointment, Kirby was the first woman in Tennessee history to serve on the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Gov. Bill Lee will perform Kirby’s ceremonial investiture at 9 a.m. CDT on Oct. 4 in the Old Supreme Court Chamber on the first floor of the Tennessee State Capitol. A reception will be scheduled in Memphis for the fall.

JOHN K. BUSH, Circuit Judge. Eric Minter pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin. He appeals the district court’s enhancements of his sentence for acting as a manager or supervisor of the conspiracy and for constructive possession of a firearm. For reasons discussed below, we hold that both enhancements were proper and AFFIRM the district court’s sentence.