The Annual Red Mass will be celebrated at St. Peter Church, 190 Adams Ave., tomorrow, Friday, at noon. The mass is celebrated to invoke blessings on public officials, judges and lawyers at the commencement of the judicial year. The mass is sponsored by the St. Thomas More Catholic Lawyer's Guild of West Tennessee. Call the church at (901) 527-8282 for more information.

The Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) Minority Opportunities Committee, the University of Tennessee College of Law and the Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law will co-host a reception for minority law students on Sept. 27. Area lawyers are asked to volunteer to adopt a student as their “buddy” for the night. The event will be held at Old City Entertainment, 118 S. Central Street from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero also will be in attendance as a special guest. RSVP to (865) 522-6522 or on the KBA’s website

The Tennessee Bar Association and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law will hold a public forum on free speech and civility tonight in Memphis. The first in a series of three forums across the state, the Balancing Civility and Free Speech Initiative is designed to encourage a public conversation about the tensions between civility and free speech, and will focus on how these issues play out in public policy debates -- especially those with cross-cultural implications. The event will be held tonight, Sept. 18., from 7-8:30p.m. in the law school’s Wade Auditorium. 

Recognized by Congress in 2004 as an official holiday, Constitution Day commemorates the signing and adoption of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. On Monday, several events will celebrate the day:

• University of Tennessee Knoxville students will hold a voter registration drive and public speech forum called SpeakoUT. For more information on events, visit Tennessee Today. 

• The Memphis Lawyers’ Chapter and University of Memphis Law Students’ Chapter of the Federalist Society will present  "The Road to Ratification: The Founders Debate the Proposed Constitution," with Pepperdine University Professor Dr. Gordon Lloyd. The event will be 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the law school, and is free to the public. To register, email Greg Grisham  or call 901-462-2616.

• Also on Monday, Middle Tennessee State University will host a citizenship ceremony in conjunction with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, USCIS, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Judges Joe E. Brown and E. Clarence Knowles will conduct the official proceedings and Supreme Court Chief Justice Gary R. Wade will give the keynote address. The ceremony begins at 2 p.m. at Murphy Center, with a public reading of the Constitution at 12:30. The proceedings will also be simulcast online

Free, advanced screenings of Peter Jackson’s documentary “West of Memphis” begin tonight in Memphis and will continue over the next several weeks throughout the Memphis area and Arkansas. The documentary covers the well-publicized case of the "West Memphis Three" who were released in 2011 after being wrongly imprisoned for murder for almost 20 years. The documentary is set for national release on Dec. 25. Read more in the Commercial Appeal.

Chief Justice Gary Wade will administer the oath of office to Judge Don Ash on Friday at 4 p.m. at the Historic Rutherford County Courthouse. The Rutherford/Cannon County Bar Association will host a reception immediately following at the Maple Street Grill.

The Hamilton County Courthouse will celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2013, and there are many events planned to commemorate it. Events include a Christmas Open House, an Armed Forces Day Celebration in May, and Fourth of July festivities on the courthouse lawn that will include a laser light show and music. Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger is also planning a mini-museum featuring photographs of the current courthouse and its predecessors. The Hamilton County Herald has details

The 2012 Equal Justice University will feature a host of speakers and more than 40 educational sessions Sept. 26-29 at Paris Landing State Park. Among the speakers will be TBA President Jackie Dixon, who will address attendees at the Leadership Luncheon on Thursday and lead a CLE on domestic relations basics. For the first time, the conference also will offer a leadership/management track that includes four courses designed to improve leadership skills. They include Quality Supervision; Generational Issues in Supervision; Understanding and Analyzing Financial Statements of Nonprofits; and Supervision of New Attorneys, Law Students and Advocates. Check out all the offerings

The Northeast Tennessee Chapter of the Federal Bar Association will hold its 26th Annual Memorial Service at the U.S. courthouse in Greeneville on Oct. 12. The event begins at 1:30 p.m. with a reception to follow. For more information, contact chapter president Nikki Pierce by email or phone at (423) 636-1301.

Nashville artists and members of the legal community are uniting for an evening of music, dinner, drinks and a silent auction on Sept. 13, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at 3rd and Lindsley. All proceeds will benefit the Robert L. Sullivan Scholarship at Vanderbilt Law School, which honors the late attorney’s commitment to legal aid. Learn more about the event or get tickets