The Justice for All Ball will be held Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at Halloran Centre for Performing Arts and Education, 203 South Main St. in Memphis. The event benefits Memphis Area Legal Services.

A retirement ceremony for Tom Thurman, deputy district attorney general for the 20th District of Tennessee, will be July 27 at 4 p.m. at the Washington Square Building, located at 222 2nd Ave N., in Nashville. NewsChannel 5 has a profile on Thurman, who most recently served as prosecutor in the Brandon Vandenburg trial, and whose 39-year career also included the prosecution of accused murderer Perry March.

John Scopes was overshadowed by William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow, the prosecutor and defense attorney in his famous 1925 trial, but he will be a major focus of the 28th annual Scopes Festival set for July 15-17 in Dayton. The Chattanoogan reports the event will feature a display of news photographs taken during the trial and presentations by several who knew Scopes or have studied the case.

The Tennessee Bar Association will be closed Monday for the Independence Day holiday. The office will reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m. central daylight time.

The legal community is invited to attend the investiture of Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. as U.S. district judge for the Middle District of Tennessee on July 15 at 1:30 p.m. The ceremony will take place in Room 207 on level 2 of the Music City Center in Nashville. A reception will follow. Organizers advise allowing sufficient time to pass through a security screening. Please RSVP by July 8 to 615-695-2877.

The Young Lawyers Committee of the Campaign for Equal Justice is hosting its annual Kickoff Party tomorrow (June 29) from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at The Rec Room, 3000 Broad Ave. in Memphis. Tickets are $15 for law students and $25 for others and include food, drinks games and entry to a silent auction. All proceeds will benefit Memphis Area Legal Services. The University of Memphis School of Law announced the event.

The Tennessee legislature’s Black Caucus will hold a public forum in Memphis on July 10 to discuss criminal justice reform issues. The event will run from 3 to 6 p.m. at First Baptist Church-Broad. According to the Commercial Appeal, the caucus won legislative approval this year for several bills aimed at reforming criminal justice laws, including one making it easier to have a criminal record expunged in cases of mistaken identity and another preventing the state from asking a job applicant about a criminal history early in the interview process. 

Dyer-Lake Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) will host “Cupcakes for CASA” this Friday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Red Brick House on Lake Road in Dyersburg. Tickets are $20 each and are available in advance at First Citizens National Bank or Simmons Bank or the night of the event at the door. To learn more about the organization contact Wendy Smith. The State Gazette has more about the work of CASA.

A live broadcast CLE Friday at several Baker Donelson offices will train non-immigration-law practitioners on how to aid eligible unaccompanied children with obtaining predicate state court orders for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Immigrant Children and Tennessee Family Courts: Challenges and Avenues for Relief is scheduled from noon - 2 p.m. EDT and approved for two hours of CLE credit. The course is free if you agree to take a case pro-bono. You may choose the location you want to attend through the online registration.

Advance registration for the TBA Annual Convention in Nashville will end Monday morning. After that time, interested attendees will need to register upon their arrival at the convention, which begins Wednesday at the Sheraton Music City hotel and continues through Saturday.