The 2025 Equal Justice University (EJU) was held this week at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro with the theme "Moving Forward Together." The event included award and recognition events, CLE programs, committee and task force meetings and networking events. EJU, hosted by the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS), is the annual gathering of hundreds of lawyers, advocates, social worker professionals and pro bono attorneys involved in providing civil legal assistance and access to justice across Tennessee. Speakers during the conference included TBA President Heidi Barcus, Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Mary L. Wagner and Sharon Roberson, president & CEO of the YWCA of Nashville & Middle Tennessee. Past TBA President Jim Barry also shared brief updates from the Drowota Trust.

Barcus was the featured speaker at EJU's Leadership Luncheon, sponsored by the TBA, where she thanked those working in the access to justice field and said the TBA is proud to be part of a collaborative effort to provide quality and accessible legal services across the state. Barcus acknowledged that legal aid is currently navigating growing client needs amid threats to funding. She recognized legal service organizations in the state for working together to build long-term strategies to help support clients and their families. "Through these challenges, you — and your teams, staff and volunteers — are continuing to provide life-changing legal services to those in need, every day," she said.

Barcus closed by noting the importance of educating and engaging Tennessee lawyers around the many ways to support legal services. She said "there is no shortage of needs or opportunities for attorneys, mediators, paralegals, students, to actively engage in support for legal services. We want to promote and help lawyers engage with meaningful opportunities to support" legal aid organizations.

Look for a wrap up of awards presented at the conference in TBA Today next week.

Left: TBA President Heidi Barcus speaks to EJU attendees
Right: Former TBA President Jim Barry gives an update on the Drowota Trust

Left: The Governor’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative (GFBCI) Deputy Director Dr. Monty Burks explains how the program and legal services organizations can work together
Right: Shaleah Harris, director of the Volunteer Mentorship Initiative, a program of GFBCI, speaks to attendees about how to get involved with the program

Left: Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Janice Holder, left, presents the 2025 Janice M. Holder Award to Christy Harness, executive director of the Scott County Family Justice Center. Harness was awarded for her work in supporting victims of domestic violence. Tennessee is one of about a dozen states that allow someone convicted of domestic violence to give their gun to a third party like a friend or relative instead of a law enforcement agency or a licensed firearms dealer. Scott County now requires domestic violence abusers to name the person who is holding their guns and list their address, and that person has to sign to verify they have the guns. Harness was instrumental in changing the way that Scott County handles domestic violence cases.
Right: Christy Harness

From left: Heidi Barcus, former Justice Janice Holder, Christy Harness, Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Jeff Bivins, Scott County General Sessions Judge Scarlett Ellis, who hears the county's domestic violence cases

Left: Justice Holder, Christy Harness
Right: Judge Scarlett Ellis, Christy Harness, Rob Harness

Christy Harness, center, with members of the Cumberland Plateau legal community

From left: Nicole Grida, executive director of Memphis Area Legal Services; DarKenya Waller, executive director of Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands; TBA President Heidi Barcus; Deb House, executive director of Legal Aid of East Tennessee

From left: DarKenya Waller, Justice Jeff Bivins, Heidi Barcus, former Justice Janice Holder, Jim Barry, TBA Executive Director Sheree Wright, Deb House