TBA Sections Cover Special Areas of the Law

We’re celebrating the Tennessee Bar Journal’s first 40 years all year! In each issue we will look back at an area of life in the law to see how the TBJ covered it. This month we consider sections, the subgroups of the TBA devoted to particular subject areas.

The Tennessee Bar Association has steadily increased the number of its sections over the years — now there are 25 of these specialized groups that focus on various areas of the law.

At the 1965 convention, eight sections met: Real Property, Probate & Trust, Plaintiff’s Attorneys, Insurance, Labor Law, Military Law, Municipal Law & County Attorneys and Young Lawyers. Reports of these meetings were the first coverage the Tennessee Bar Journal gave to TBA sections. Some of those sections are still active and some have faded away.

Current sections are: Bankruptcy, Business Law, Construction Law, Corporate Counsel, Creditors Practice, Criminal Justice, Disability Law, Dispute Resolution, Elder Law, Entertainment and Sports Law, Environmental Law, Estate Planning & Probate, Family Law, Federal Practice, General/Solo/Small Firm Practitioners, Health Care Law, Intellectual Property, Juvenile and Children’s Law, Labor and Employment Law, Law Office Technology/Management, Litigation, Real Estate Law, Senior Lawyers Division, Tort and Insurance Law, and Tax Law. Dues for each range from $15 to $25, in addition to TBA membership.

In his September/October 1989 President’s Perspective, Jack Wheeler explained what goes on “behind the scenes of a section and some of the things your section chair must deal with.” Chairs are responsible for setting the budget, working with an editor for a newsletter, and collecting section members’ views in drafting proposed legislation, among other duties.

Wheeler wrote: “The people who are elected to these [section chair] positions take on a lot for a year and we appreciate this volunteer work very much. It’s important to us because it involves you.”

The function of a section, according to TBA bylaws, is “to investigate, discuss and evaluate trends and activities in its specialized areas and make appropriate recommendations to the Board of Governors regarding legislation, continuing legal education or other needed action in regard to the specialized areas of the law.”

One of the areas sections have excelled at is in providing suggestions and support for CLE seminars. For instance, the Health Law Section is in its 17th year of offering the Health Law Forum, a highly successfully program with section members as the driving force.

As the number of sections and their scope of influence has increased, so has TBA staff time devoted to them. In 1987, when the first director of communications was hired, section chairs got their first official liaison. That duty was passed along, coupled with other duties at different times. Today, Lynn Pointer is the sections and committees coordinator as part of her job as programs administrator. She spends about 75 percent of her time on sections.

“The value in joining a section is much greater than it was years ago,” Pointer says, “simply because we can now send members instant information — changes in the law, court opinions, and other news from the legal community. Technology has changed everyone's expectations. People expect us to deliver news and information quickly and I believe TBA does just that.”

—Suzanne Craig Robertson