The Association of Women Attorneys will host its 34th annual banquet and silent auction on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Tower Center in Memphis. Linda Warren Seely, director of Pro Bono Projects and Campaign for Equal Justice for Memphis Area Legal Services, will receive the organization’s Marion Griffin-Frances Loring Award for outstanding achievement in the legal profession. The Commercial Appeal has more.

A full slate of activities are scheduled across the state for the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.  “The role he (Dr. King) served was an incredible and important role in regards to civil rights," General Sessions Court Judge and Sevier County MLK. Day Celebration Committee Chair Dwight Stokes said. "There were so many problems in our country in regards to race, and it needed to be addressed. I have a great appreciation for all that King accomplished.” Visit the Mountain Press, the Memphis Daily News and the Nashville Scene for information on activities throughout the state.

Waller law firm will host its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day tribute luncheon on Jan. 16 at the Doubletree Hotel with community leader Francis S. Guess as the keynote speakers. The theme of Guess' remarks is "It's Our Turn," as it relates to building upon King's legacy to foster equality throughout the Middle Tennessee business community. At the event, Waller will also recognize its annual diversity scholarship recipient, Alejandra Dalton, a student at the University of Tennessee College of Law. Digital Journal has more.

Award-winning author, journalist and activist Will Potter will be speaking at the Chattanooga Public Library on Jan. 16, addressing the expected introduction of “ag gag” legislation in the upcoming Tennessee General Assembly, associated First Amendment and free speech issues, and the broader trend of criminalizing dissent and how that impacts social justice activism. The presentation begins at 6 p.m. on the fourth floor. The event is free and open to the public. Visit the Chattanoogan for more information.

The Olsen Law Firm and the New Orleans Field Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will hold a free seminar Jan. 21 from noon to 1 p.m. on the issues of immigration enforcement and removal. Topics to be addressed include special provisions for victims of domestic violence and young people who came to the United States as children. The program will feature immigration attorney Terry Olsen and John Bobo, a supervisory detention and deportation officer in Chattanooga. For more information or to RSVP please contact Olson by Jan. 17 at tolsen@tlolaw.com or (423) 648-9390.

Offered January through April in partnership with the Nashville Community Education Commission, the People’s Law School is a free program taught by Legal Aid Society attorneys and volunteer attorneys. It provides an overview of common civil legal issues at weekly, one-hour classes. The sessions will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursdays at Wright Middle School, 180 McCall St. and at Cohn Learning Center, 4805 Park Ave. beginning Jan. 23. To register, call the Nashville Community Education Commission at (615) 298-8085 or visit the commission's website.

The Association for Women Attorneys will host its annual meeting, which includes a silent auction, cocktail reception and award ceremony, on Jan. 23, 2014, at the Tower Center at Clark Tower. Also at the event, Mary Morgan Whitfield, an attorney with Shea, Moskovitz & McGhee, will take office as the group’s president, succeeding Frances Riley. The group also will present the Marion Griffin-Frances Loring Award to Memphis Area Legal Services lawyer Linda Warren Seely for outstanding achievement in the legal profession. All funds raised support the association’s scholarship fund. Read more about this year’s event in the Memphis Daily News or download an invitation.

The Tennessee Bar Association will be closed on Tuesday, Dec. 24, and Wednesday, Dec. 25, in observance of the Christmas holiday. The office will reopen on Thursday, Dec. 26, at 8 a.m. As always, the TBA website has plenty of information and access to hundreds of continuing legal education programs available 24/7. Still need live CLE credit? The TBA will offer its annual Year End CLE Blast on Dec. 26, 27, 30 and 31. Programs will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.

Middle Tennessee journalists will tackle the topic of the media and the courts at a program sponsored by the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists. The event will be on Jan. 16 at Waller Law Offices in Nashville from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. Following a reception, there will be a panel discussion featuring journalists and judges.

The University of Tennessee College of Law is hosting an open house for prospective students on Jan. 11 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet and interact with current law students, attend a simulated first-year class, ask questions of admissions, financial aid and career advisors and take a tour of UT Law's state-of-the-art facility. For more information, email lawadmit@utk.edu or call admissions at (865) 974-4131.