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The Tennessee Bar Journal has been a reflection of the legal landscape in the state for 40 years. When something major happened (and lots of not-so-major things), the Journal covered it. Here is a sampling:

1965

Amendments to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 42 form a committee to investigate, report conclusions and recommend actions concerning lawyers’ unethical practices, giving teeth to the process. Then-president-elect Robert Kirk Walker recalls this as the first big issue covered by the Journal. The Professional Ethics and Grievances Committee is the predecessor to the Board of Professional Responsibility, which was established in 1975.

Billie Bethel, TBA executive secretary, is named editor of the new Tennessee Bar Journal. (She served in this capacity until 1982 when she was terminated. Not much was written about that in either publication, but the newsletter Tennessee Lawyer carried President John Tune’s column in January 1983 saying that “the matter has been completely resolved between the Board and the former executive director … [who has] paid to the association the sum of $20,000 which fairly represents the items the Board and a special commitee believe that she purchased improperly and also represents her use of Bar personnel or assets which were not in the interest of the TBA.”)

1969

The journey of changing ethics rules is reported in a story by Walter P. Armstrong Jr., outlining the proposed new Code of Professional Responsibility. (In August 1974, the Journal reports that the ABA adopted amendments to the code, which were automatically effective in Tennessee. President Randy Noel reports in his February 2000 column that the TBA’s Committee for the Study of Standards of Professional Conduct, after five years of work, has recommendations ready to take to the Supreme Court for action. In December 2002, the Journal runs “Your Ethics Roadmap” — by Lucian Pera, chair of the Standing Commitee of Ethics and Professional Responsibilty, and Carl Pierce, who was the committee’s reporter — as its cover story, detailing the new rules that put Tennessee in line with nearly all other states.)

1971

The Rules of Civil Procedure become effective. Don Paine and Jerry J. Phillips cover the highlights in a feature article in the August 1970 issue.

1974

No truer words are written when author T. McN Simpson III notes that “for an indefinite period of time, we must expect public discussion of the relevant issues” after the report from the Tax Modernization and Reform Commission was given to the General Assembly bringing “a measure of political respectability to the question ‘should Tennessee adopt the income tax?’” (That, published in the February 1974 issue, was the first of many articles about the Tennessee Constitution and its relation to a proposed state income tax. Others following the issue are: Rodger A. Bolling and William Brent Carper, May 1984; Little H. Skennis Jr., May 1977; Robert E. Cooper Jr., January/February 1992; and in September 1999, Lewis R. Donelson and N.B. Forrest Shoaf square off in a pro/con debate.)

1977

“Legal Aid for Older Tennesseans,” by William M. Stephens, points out that most counties don’t have legal services programs.

The Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977 is detailed in an article by Irvin L. Tankersley. Kenneth M. Bryant wrote about it in 1999 and in 2004 Matthew Evans offered new practice tips to use with the TCPA.

1978

Irvin L. Tankersley covers the Tennessee Products Liability Act of 1978 in the November issue.

1981

The Justice Joseph W. Henry Award for Outstanding Legal Writing is established to honor the writer of the best Tennessee Bar Journal article in a given year. (The award continues today, and is judged annually by the chief justice, the president of the TBA and one of the law school deans.)

1982

Gil Campbell is the new executive director and Gary Hunt is the assistant executive director, also serving as the Journal’s new editor. (The February 1983 issue marks a change to an 8.5x11 magazine format, and the promise that the Journal will branch out to include feature stories, not just substantive articles.)

1985

The Journal takes over parts of Tennessee Lawyer, which prints its final issue in April. News, Formal Ethics Opinions, People and classified advertising move over to the magazine, which becomes bi-monthly the following January.

1986

The July /August cover story is about a new-fangled idea where interest on lawyers’ trust accounts can now go to the IOLTA program, which raises funds to support law-related public activities.

1987

Mandatory continuing legal education comes to Tennessee, requiring attorneys for the first time to log 12 hours and prove it.

Suzanne Craig Robertson joins the TBA in the new position of director of communications and also serves as editor of the Journal.

1988

The November/December issue is devoted to lawyer advertising, a relatively new concept.

1989

The TBJ Editorial Board is formed with three members: Don Paine, Bill Haltom and Mary Martin Schaffner.

1990

The new Rules of Evidence become effective. Columnist Don Paine writes four columns that year on the differences and details.

The January/February issue is devoted to chemical dependency in the legal profession, highlighting the new statewide network called Tennessee Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers. (Years later, TLCL became what is now the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program [TLAP].)

1992

L.Webb Campbell covers Title 1 of the relatively new Americans with Disabilities Act in the May/June 1992 issue. Lara Womack Short points out in the September/October 1997 issue a distinction that may be drawn under the ADA between an employee’s disability and the job-related attributes of the employee’s disability. (In December 1999, authors Timothy S. Bland and Thomas J. Walsh Jr. explain recent clarifications by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Americans with Disabilities Act that resolve much confusion and conflict among lower courts, agencies and employers. William D. Evans writes in March 2003 about three ADA decisions that give courts significant guidance in resolving ADA claims.)

1993

The Tennessee Supreme Court issues McIntyre v. Ballentine, adopting a modified version of comparative negligence. Jeffrey L. Ingram writes “Statutes of Limitations, Amended Complaints and McIntyre: What Now?” in the November/December 1993 issue.

1994

The Tennessee Plan (formerly known as the Modified Missouri Plan) is implemented, which changes the way judges get their jobs in our state. Instead of being elected, they will be selected by the governor upon recommendation by a nominating commission. The Judicial Selection Commission and the Judicial Evaluation Commission are formed (News, May/June and July/August). The TBA voted to back the Modified Missouri Plan in 1988; TBA President Jim Emison writes in his column that he is in disagreement with the board and does not support the plan.

Lawyers are given the green light to specialize in certain areas of the law (News, July/August). William H. Shields advocated the practice, citing an interest in it by the ABA, more than two decades earlier in an article in February 1971.

1998

Pamela L. Reeves becomes the first woman president of the Tennessee Bar Association. (Five years later she makes history again when husband Charles Swanson becomes TBA president, making her the only person so far to be both president and first lady of the TBA.)

1999

The Tennessee Bar Journal doubles output and goes monthly.

On Jan. 22 a tornado rips through the Montgomery County courthouse and three-quarters of the law offices, sending legal papers flying. The Journal covers the disaster, with a story about preparing law offices for such an event, how to get help and a listing of where the Montgomery County courts are meeting until further notice.

2000

William D. Evans Jr. writes about recent developments in workplace sexual harassment law.

A drastically different way of dealing with children in families undergoing divorce will become effective the following January. In September, the Journal outlines how the new Parenting Plan will work, with links to TBALink containing necessary forms.

2001

In “Death by Election: How Tennessee justices have voted in capital cases since Justice Penny White left the bench,” Daniel J. Foley traces dramatic shifts in death penalty case decisions and what they can be attributed to.

2002

The Givens decision touches off controversy about whether lawyers and doctors can talk ex parte. Months of rebuttal and letters to the editor spotlight this hot issue.

2004

In record time after the important Blakely v. Washington is handed down, readers of the Tennessee Bar Journal have an analysis of the impact it might have on Tennessee sentencing, authored by David Raybin.

— Suzanne Craig Robertson