The Napier-Looby Bar Association will host the 10th Annual Barristers’ Banquet and Awards Program at the Music City Center in Nashville on Feb. 20. Cocktail reception begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and awards presentation. This year’s honorees are Sheila Calloway of the Metro Nashville Juvenile Court, Cynthia Fitzgerald of the Law Offices of Cynthia Fitzgerald, Jerrilyn Manning of the Metro Public Defender’s Office and Robert Smith of Smith Hirsch PLC. Please RSVP by Feb. 12.

Attorney James Esseks, director of the LBGT and AIDS Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, will speak at Vanderbilt University on Feb. 11 at noon in Flynn Auditorium in the law school. Esseks played a pivotal role in the Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling (United State v. Windsor) striking down portions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In his talk, “The Road to Windsor: Marriage and the Broader Struggle for LGBT Rights,” Esseks -- who represented Edie Windsor -- will discuss the case, as well as the ACLU’s plan for achieving the freedom to marry for same-sex couples nationwide, and where marriage fits into the larger agenda of LGBT rights, including employment discrimination, parenting rights, transgender equality and school bullying. The event is free and open to the public.

The Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA) will hold a memorial service on March 7 at 11 a.m. in the Hamilton County Courthouse. Those remembered will include the Hon. Edward A. “Butch” Synder, Ralph Russell Armstrong, former Tennessee Bar Association President Charles Gearhiser, Allan Geschwind, John Lee III, Ben Haden and J. Guy Beatty Jr.

The TBA Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, a member of the Tennessee Coalition for Mediation Awareness, will mark Feb. 14 as Mediation Day in Tennessee. At the group’s request, Gov. Bill Haslam has issued a proclamation designating the day and calling on Tennesseans to join him in recognizing the important role mediation plays in the courts. Mediators will gather on Feb. 14 for training at the annual meeting of the Tennessee Association of Professional Mediators. Also at the event, the Coalition for Mediation Awareness will present the 2014 Grayfred Gray Public Service in Mediation Award to Anne Sides, Carol Berz and Jean Munroe, each of whom has developed mediation programs and trained many of the state’s mediators, especially in East Tennessee.

The Memphis Lawyers’ and University of Memphis Law Student Chapter of the Federalist Society will host a discussion Feb. 6 on the topic “Over Criminalization of Federal Law.” Participants include Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee; associate professor Steven J. Mulroy, University of Memphis School of Law; and Paul J. Larkin Jr., senior research fellow with The Heritage Foundation. University of Memphis School of Law Dean Peter V. Letsou will moderate the panel. The event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is free and open to the public. To register, contact Greg Grisham, (901) 462-2616. Download the invitation.

The TBA and several of Tennessee's law schools will host a reception during the annual ABA Midyear Meeting next week to honor TBA Executive Director Allan Ramsaur. The "Tennessee Reception" has become a mainstay of ABA meetings and provides an opportunity to recognize Tennessee lawyers serving in the ABA. The winter reception will be held Feb. 8 at the Hyatt Regency Plaza Ballroom in Chicago from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Download the invitation for more information. 

The University of Tennessee College of Law will host the 14th annual Julian Blackshear Jr. Scholarship Gala on Feb. 28 at the Holiday Inn World’s Fair Park in Knoxville. Paulette Brown, president-elect of the American Bar Association, will give the keynote speech. The dinner and formal program will begin at 7 p.m. To order tickets, or for information on table sponsorship at the gala, please contact Rynn Dupes at (865) 974-6691.

Sen. Lamar Alexander will be the keynote speaker in April for the 11th Annual Bobby Dunavant Public Service Awards. Named in honor of the late Shelby County Probate Court clerk, the awards go to one local elected official and one non-elected official who show the attributes of public service that Dunavant personified. The Memphis Daily News reports that any citizen can nominate someone for the awards through entry forms on the Rotary Club of Memphis East website. Nominations are due by March 14.

President Barack Obama will visit Nashville Thursday as he travels the country reinforcing his message from tonight’s State of the Union address. Other stops include Prince George's County in Maryland, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, where the president is expected to talk about new assistance for the long-term unemployed. In Nashville, the president will visit McGavock High School and tout the academic improvements recently seen in Nashville schools. The Nashville Business Journal has more.

The Immigration Clinic at the University of Tennessee College of Law and the Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law will host three immigration clinics in the eastern part of the state beginning tomorrow. The events will be held in conjunction with Centro Hispano. Dates are Jan. 25 at Centro Hispano in Knoxville from 9 a.m. to noon; Feb. 22 in Lonsdale; and March 15 in Morristown. For more information or to to get involved, contact Tennessee professor Karla McKanders, (865) 974-5710.