The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) Equal Justice University gets underway this week in Murfreesboro. The event, which runs Wednesday through Friday, brings together about 300 lawyers, advocates, social workers and pro bono attorneys involved in providing civil legal assistance across Tennessee. The Tennessee Bar Association is a sponsor of the event and TBA President Tasha Blakney will be speaking to the conference on Wednesday during the Leadership Luncheon. The group also will present it 2022 Access to Justice Awards on Thursday at the Access to Justice Luncheon. See the full schedule.

The Memphis Lawyers’ Chapter of the Federalist Society is hosting a virtual program on Sept. 1 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT with Elizabeth Murrill, the solicitor general of Louisiana. Murrill will provide an overview of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent term. Attorneys interested in attending can register online or by contacting Greg Grisham, 901-333-2076.

The TBA is hosting a free Zoom Roundtable focused on three recent U.S. Supreme Court cases and how they impact lawyers in Tennessee. The event will take place Sept. 19 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT. Panelists will provide a practical overview of the rulings and answer questions from attendees. Registration is required by 10 a.m. CDT the morning of the event to receive the log in information. The cases to be discussed are: Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, West Virginia v. EPA, and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. CLE credit is available for a minimal fee.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee is hosting a free one-hour program discussing local legal clinics and other pro bono opportunities. The virtual program will take place Sept. 9 from 3 - 4 p.m. EDT via Zoom. Invitations with the Zoom link will be sent in advance to those who register. The program will be capped at 300 attendees. 

The Tennessee Bar Association will open its doors to members interested in touring its new office space on Sept. 15, from 2-5 p.m. CDT. The office is located at 3310 West End Ave., Ste. 590 in Nashville. Visitor parking is available. Please register here so we know how many guests to expect.

The Tennessee Department of Revenue will host a free webinar on Aug. 30 at 9 a.m. CDT to discuss liquor-by-the-drink tax. Participants will learn about registration, price schedules, filing and payment, inventory deductions and exemptions, record keeping requirements and more. Register for the program here or check out more free webinars in the series.

The TBA will hold its first book club discussion event on Sept. 19 at 4 p.m. CDT. Members voted Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, a nonfiction story on dozens of murders plaguing the Osage Indian nation of Oklahoma in the 1920s, as the first quarterly title. The Osage murders began shortly after oil was discovered on tribal land making them the richest people per capita in the world. The mystery became one of the FBI’s first major homicide investigations, led by a young J. Edgar Hoover. This one-hour event will feature special guest Professor Derrick Beetso, director of Indian gaming and tribal self-governance programs at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, who will lead the virtual discussion. Learn more and register here.

Nineteen female judges will be sworn into office next week by Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee during an event hosted by the Women’s Political Collaborative of Tennessee (WPC). The event will take place on Aug. 30 at 5 p.m. CDT at Nashville’s Hermitage Hotel – the site where much of the behind-the-scenes work to ratify the 19th Amendment in Tennessee happened. Admission is free and tickets can be reserved on WPC’s website. While Davidson County saw a historic number of female judges elected this year, Knox County female candidates did not fare as well. The Knoxville News Sentinel has more on that story.   

A ceremonial investiture installing Katherine A. Crytzer as the newest member of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee will take place Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. EDT at the federal courthouse in Knoxville. The event will be held in the fourth floor courtroom. A reception will follow the ceremony. View the invitation. To attend, RSVP by Sept. 9 to https://bit.ly/CrytzerInvestitureRSVP. The courthouse is located at 800 Market St., Knoxville 37902.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will hold two clinics this week. On Wednesday, a clinic for veterans will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT in Nashville at Operation Stand Down, 1125 12th Ave. S., 37203. Then on Saturday, the Belmont Clinic will take place from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at 2005 12th Ave. South, Nashville 37204. All times are central. To volunteer for a clinic, contact Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131. See all August clinics.