The Tennessee Department of Revenue will host a free webinar on sales tax exemptions April 27 at 9 a.m. CDT. The program will cover exemptions for the following goods and services: industrial machinery, research and development, certified green energy facilities and pollution control. Learn more and register here.

The Tennessee State Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission will hold a virtual event on Friday to discuss America’s reckoning with race. The program will look at America’s long history with race and evaluate that history through the words of the U.S. Supreme Court, evaluate racial buzz phrases, and discuss how best to move toward racial reconciliation. The program is available to all participants in the legal system, including judges, lawyers, court clerks and court personnel, mediators, advocates, law school faculty and law students, court interpreters, court reporters, members of court boards and commissions and other stakeholders. Registration is required but is free. Brooklyn Sawyers Belk, legal counsel for Lyft, will moderate the discussion.

The Tennessee Bar Association is now accepting nominations for its Tennessee Professionalism Award. The Tennessee Professionalism Award is awarded each year to a lawyer or judge whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the rule of law and the highest standards of the legal profession in Tennessee. The award will be presented to a lawyer or judge residing in the grand division of the state where the TBA's Annual Convention is held (this year, the Western Grand Division). Nominees must be alive when their nomination is submitted but need not be an active member of an American Inn of Court or the TBA. The TBA Annual Convention is scheduled to be held in Memphis and virtually this year the week of June 14. The deadline for submitting nominations is May 3.

The Knoxville Bar Association will hold its Spring Memorial Service virtually on May 14 at noon EDT. The event will take place via Zoom but reservations are required. Register here. On May 27, the Nashville Bar Association will hold its Spring Memorial Service at 11 a.m. CDT. Get details about the event and see the list of those to be honored. Memorial services provide the legal communities the opportunity to reflect on the lives and careers of local attorneys who have died in the last year.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will hold three phone clinics next week for members of the public with questions about housing and renters’ rights, bankruptcy, medical bills, debt collection, domestic violence, SNAP benefits and unemployment benefits. Clinics are Tuesday from 3 to 4 p.m., Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. All times central. To help answer questions, contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek or call 615-780-7131.

The Tennessee Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission kicked off its #Help4TNMonth celebration earlier in April to provide civil legal services to communities in need. This year’s theme is “Uniting Communities in Need” and is aimed at helping Tennesseans who continue to struggle with legal issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ATJ Commission has assembled a team of over 65 professionals to develop resources and create and promote pro bono service opportunities. The #Help4TNMonth website has information on events that are occurring throughout the month. Attorneys may also volunteer to help clients remotely through TN Free Legal Answers, an online platform that allows those who qualify to email a legal question to a lawyer, who responds with free legal advice. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on how you can get involved in honor of #Help4TNMonth.   

Don't miss the opportunity tomorrow to explore what the post-pandemic law office will look like. The free program will look at how lawyers shifted their practices during the pandemic, what is next for the practice of law, if virtual will be the future of the modern law office, and if tele-legal will become the new tele-medicine. Jennifer McGlone, co-founder, CLO and president of legal technology company LawChamps, and Maxine Kozler Koven, a venture capitalist and LawChamps investor, will talk about the latest trends and take questions from attendees. Sign up by tomorrow morning to join the conversation!

Make plans now to join your colleagues for the 2021 TBA Annual Convention, presented this year as both an in-person event at The Peabody in Memphis and as a virtual online event the week of June 14. Virtual programming will be available for all registrants on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday, virtual only registrants will tune in for a livestream of key Convention events such as the Bench Bar CLE and Luncheon, Lawyers Luncheon, Better This Year CLE program and Legislative Update CLE. During that same time, in-person attendees will experience all that Memphis has to offer, including key programs, a joint social event with state judges, a group breakfast and the delights of Beale Street and beyond. Register today to save your spot! Full Access Registration (including both in-person & virtual access) and Virtual Only Registration are now open. For those attending in person, please note there will be caps on the number of registrations so be sure to make your reservation early, and be sure to read the TBA’s COVID-19 safety acknowledgement, liability waiver and release of claims.

The Knoxville Bar Association will host a virtual Law Day program on April 30 from noon to 1 p.m. EDT. Speakers for “Advancing the Rule of Law, Now” include Belmont College of Law Dean Alberto Gonzales; Andre Johnson with the Knox County Public Defender's Community Law Office; Knoxville Area Urban League President Phyllis Y. Nichols; Knox County Criminal Court Judge Steven W. Sword and University of Tennessee College of Law professor Penny J. White. Cost is $25 for KBA members and $40 for non-members. Law students may attend for free. Reservations are required.

The Tennessee Faith & Justice Alliance is planning a telephone clinic for Knoxville area residents this week starting tomorrow and running through Thursday. The alliance is a project of the Tennessee Access to Justice Commission. In the Knoxville area, the program is coordinated by the KBA's Access to Justice Committee, Legal Aid of East Tennessee and the University of Tennessee College of Law. Learn more or sign up here to volunteer.