Nashville trial lawyers Joe Welborn, Charlie Malone and Jason Callen have launched WelbornMalone PLC, a boutique litigation firm that will focus on complex, high-stakes disputes for corporations, small businesses, high-net-worth families and individuals across a range of industries. The office is located at One Burton Hills Boulevard, Ste. 200E, Nashville, TN 37215 in the Green Hills area of the city. It can be reached at 615-455-0360 or online at www.welbornmalone.com. Welborn, originally from Memphis, has practiced law in Nashville for 35 years, previously with Bass, Berry & Sims; Walker, Tipps & Malone; Butler Snow; and K&L Gates. Malone, a Nashville native, has practiced law for 23 years, previously with Walker, Tipps & Malone; Butler Snow; and K&L Gates. Callen has practiced law for 22 years: four years with Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago and 18 years with the Nashville offices of Walker, Tipps & Malone; Butler Snow; and K&L Gates. Read more about the firm.

William "Bill" Franklin Alley Jr. died March 15 in Knoxville. Alley graduated from the University of Tennessee (now Winston) College of Law and joined the U.S. Air Force. He later joined the Air National Guard, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2004. He served as a partner at the Knoxville firm of Hodges, Doughty and Carson until his retirement in 2006. A celebration of life will be held March 28 at 3:30 p.m. EDT at Fountain City United Methodist Church, 212 Hotel Rd., Knoxville 37918. A private family burial will take place on March 30. Read more about his life from this obituary in Knox News.

Former Tennessee state legislator and retired lawyer Bill Bruce died recently at the age of 90. A native of Virginia, Bruce moved to Memphis in the 1960s to practice law. He later was elected to the state House of Representatives and then the state Senate. Bruce retired from the legislature in in the early 1970s and moved his law practice to Nashville. He joined Stokes & Bartholomew and launched the firm’s government relations practice. He supported the merger with Adams & Reese in 2005, and facilitated discussions with Armstrong Allen, which led to an expansion to Memphis in 2006. Burce retired from active practice not long thereafter and moved to the Georgia coast. Arrangements are pending for a memorial service in the coming weeks. Read more from Adams & Reese.

Sessions from TBA’s 2026 Construction Law Forum are available online as a 1-Click package or as individual programs. The package offers up to 4.5 hours of general hours and two hours of dual hours for a total of 6.5 hours. Topics include the many ways lien claims can go awry; the nuances of the Prompt Pay Act, Beacon4 and other current cases; emerging AI tools for the construction practioner; ethics update; and key opinions and case developments from the Tennessee appellate courts.

Thank you for your support of the Dispute Resolution Section this bar year! It's been a busy year, led by section chair Rebecca Ketchie. In December 2025, the section produced a webinar that examines whether the RUAA provides adequate protections for family law litigants or whether specialized legislation is required. Register now for this year’s Dispute Resolution Forum on May 7, where speakers will cover a range of topics, including a discussion of technology tools that make your practice more efficiently, an arbitration panel and an ethics course covering the BPR rules relevant to attorneys as both negotiators and mediator. Our annual forum is a great time to connect with others in your practice area, and remember, you can use your section discount for the CLE. Plus, many of our dispute resolution-focused courses are approved for Continuing Mediation Education (CME), so be sure to check out our on-demand catalog for more selections.

Thank you for being a member of the Dispute Resolution Section. If you have thoughts or ideas for future section initiatives, please contact Section Coordinator Brooke Leeton.

The TBA will host its 2026 Dispute Resolution Forum on May 7 as a live virtual event. The program will feature sessions designed for lawyers and mediators presented by speakers from the alternative dispute resolution field, including discussions on technology tools to improve mediation practices, an arbitration panel and an ethics course covering Board of Professional Responsibility rules relevant to attorneys serving as negotiators and mediators. For more information or to register, visit the TBA website.

Magistrate Shayla Purifoy has announced her campaign for judge on the Shelby County General Sessions Civil Court, Division 2. Purifoy graduated from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and joined Memphis Area Legal Services as a staff attorney in the civil Domestic Violence and Family Law Unit. In 2016, she was appointed to the magistrate judge role, where she hears criminal and civil matters. Purifoy was president of the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association in 2020 and remains involved in community groups and local and statewide legal organizations. Purifoy says she will use the General Sessions position to promote understanding in the judiciary through community outreach. She also pledges to run a fair and efficient courtroom for all those who come before her. Read more in a press release or visit her campaign website.

Nashville attorney Lawrence Richard "Larry" Ahern III died March 18 at age 79. He received his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1972. He went on to practice at several firms, including Miller & Martin, Bass, Berry & Sims, and Burr & Forman. Later in his career, he served as a consultant and expert witness on bankruptcy, commercial and real estate matters before taking retired partner status in 2023 at Brown & Ahern, the firm he cofounded. Ahern was a longtime member of the TBA’s Bankruptcy Section Executive Council and served as an adjunct professor at multiple law schools. A celebration of life will be announced at a later date with arrangements by Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home.

The Tennessee Bar Association is now accepting nominations for a number of awards that will be presented at its 2026 Annual Convention. The Claudia Jack Award honors an outstanding public defender or court-appointed private practitioner who has served the legal community and clients in an exemplary fashion. It is named for the late Claudia Jack, a public defender and long-time champion of the poor and underprivileged. The Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award is given to a judge or judicial branch official of a federal, state or local court in Tennessee who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion and dedication to the improvement of the law, the legal system and the administration of justice, as exemplified by the career of former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Frank Drowota. Submit nominations for either of these two awards by April 6.

The 2026 Public Service Awards recognize outstanding commitment to access to justice in three categories: work performed by an attorney employed by an organization primarily involved in providing legal representation to the indigent, pro bono work performed by a private or corporate attorney and pro bono service by a Tennessee law student or recent graduate. Nominations for these awards are due April 17.

Finally, the Fourth Estate Award honors courageous reporting on justice and the law. Nominees must be Tennessee-based journalists and work must have been published in 2025. Read more about the award in TBA's press release. Nominations are due by April 30.

Thank you for supporting the TBA Construction Law Section this bar year! It’s been a busy year, led by section chair Regan Steepleton. In October, the section hosted the inaugural Joint Georgia/Tennessee Construction Conference in Chattanooga. The program featured sessions outlining regional differences in construction law, a view from the bench featuring judges and arbitrators, and much more. The event was a success and we hope to produce more collaborative programming in the future.

In January, construction attorneys from across the state convened in Nashville for the section's annual forum. Sessions covered a variety of topics, including lien rights, the Prompt Pay Act, and the intersection of artificial intelligence and construction law. If you missed the event, no worries, the forum recordings are available as a 1-Click Package.

The section executive council remains involved in monitoring current legislation that may impact our practice area. Executive council member Jerry Martin has year after year served as the section’s legislative liaison and fronted the efforts in keeping the council abreast of relevant legislative issues, so we thank him for his time and dedication.

Thank you for being part of the Construction Law Section. If you have thoughts or ideas for future section initiatives or CLE programming, don’t hesitate to reach out to any of the members from our executive council or TBA Coordinator Brooke Leeton.