The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) invites friends and colleagues to a farewell reception honoring departing Executive Director Erik Cole next Tuesday from 4 to 6 p.m. at the law firm of Dodson, Parker Behm & Capparella, 1310 6th Ave. North, Nashville. Remarks will begin at 5 p.m. Cole has served as TALS’ executive director since 2005. He is departing to take a position with Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, where he will oversee the Financial Empowerment Center hosted by the mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development. Cole will work on creating new programs to bring financial stability and empowerment to low-income Nashvillians. Download the invitation.

The Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Va., will host an open house March 2 for prospective students and their guests, the Kingston Times reports. The event is open to anyone interested in pursuing law school, with the opportunity to meet faculty, tour the facilities and speak with a financial aid counselor. Participants are asked to reserve seats through the school's Admissions Office.

The Emancipation Proclamation will be on view at the Tennessee State Museum Feb. 12-18, reports the Chattanoogan. The document, which is making its only southeastern U.S. stop in Nashville, will be available for 72 hours over the course of the week. After that, a facsimile of the document will be in the exhibit. The viewing is in conjunction with the Discovering the Civil War exhibition from Washington D.C.’s National Archives. Museum officials estimate that 300 people will be able to see the document each hour.

University of Tennessee College of Law Dean Doug Blaze and Access to Justice Coordinator Brad Morgan will be among the speakers at the upcoming Poverty and Access to Justice Symposium, sponsored by the Pro Bono Initiative at the University of Mississippi School of Law. At the symposium, The Informant freports that state supreme court justices, appellate and trial judges, scholars and practitioners will examine barriers to the justice system, creative legal service delivery methods and specific programs that are proving effective.

Members of the TBA Access to Justice Committee’s Law School Subcommittee will join a group of student leaders and representatives from law schools across the state for the second annual Law School Public Interest Forum this weekend. The event begins Friday at 11 a.m. at the Belmont University College of Law in Nashville. The agenda includes a presentation by Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Janice Holder, planning for this year’s Alternative Spring Break and a discussion on how best to encourage students to get involved in pro bono activities. For more information about the event contact TBA Access to Justice Coordinator Liz Todaro at (615) 383-7421 or ltodaro@tnbar.org.

The 45th Annual Southern Region Black Law Student Association Convention will be held in Nashville Jan. 30 through Feb. 3. Volunteers are needed to judge the mock trial and moot court competitions, which will be based at the Doubletree Hotel and the Tennessee Bar Center. Interested participants should contact LaToyia Trotter at srblsa.convention@nblsa.org.

The Memphis Bar Association and Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) will host a reception honoring Sandy Garrett, the new chief disciplinary counsel for the Board of Professional Responsibility, on Jan. 30 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Burch Porter & Johnson, 130 N. Court Ave., Memphis 38103. Please RSVP to Mary at (901) 271-0660 or mlynes@memphisbar.org to attend the event.

Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts will hold a pro bono legal clinic for artists of every genre this Saturday at the Church of the Redeemer, 920 Caldwell Lane, Nashville 37204. The Nashville Arts & Entertainment Law Clinic will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteer attorneys will answer questions about intellectual property (including copyrights, trademarks and licensing) and entertainment law issues. Prospective clients should sign up for 30-minute appointments by emailing vlpa@abcnashville.org.

The Napier-Looby Bar Association’s Annual Meeting will be held Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Swett’s Restaurant. New officers will be elected and 2013 dues will be collected.

Law professor and civil rights advocate Michelle Alexander will be the keynote speaker during Vanderbilt University’s MLK Weekend of Service. Author of the best-selling book “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” Alexander will be speaking at 7 p.m. Monday in Langford Auditorium. A limited number of free tickets are still available at the Sarratt Box Office.  Alexander will speak again Tuesday at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial Building at 7:30 p.m. Her lecture is sponsored by UT’s African Studies program and co-sponsored by several university departments and programs, including the College of Law.