Courtney Leyes, a partner in the Nashville office of Fisher Phillips, was voted this year’s recipient of the Larry Dean Wilks Leadership Award by fellow members of 2022 TBA Leadership Law (TBALL) class. All 34 members of the leadership training program met for their final session last week in Franklin. The class heard from a Diversity in Leadership panel before completing a service project with Tennessee Free Legal Answers where they answered 36 legal questions submitted by the public. Leyes was presented with the award during the group’s graduation ceremony on Friday. The award is named for former TBA president, Larry D. Wilks, and recognizes a TBALL class member who exhibits exceptional leadership qualities. Read more on all of this year’s TBALL graduates.

More than 25 Tennessee attorneys presented educational programming during last week’s Tennessee Bar Association annual convention and several of those sessions will soon be available online for those unable to attend. The Bench/Bar program on Leadership and Professionalism in Tennessee’s Bench and Bar features three separate panels, one moderated by Shelby County Judge Gina Higgins, one by Nashville lawyer and TBA Vice President Ed Lanquist and one by Immediate Past TBA President Sherie Edwards. Also coming to the TBA’s online CLE platform will be the Better Right Now sessions, one featuring Oscar Carr of the Experiential Healing Center and panels moderated by Lisa Cole and Michael Holder from Lewis Thomason. Read bios of all of the speakers or see photos from the events.

If you missed the final farewell of outgoing TBA President Sherie Edwards and remarks from newly sworn-in TBA President Tasha Blakney during last week’s convention, you may now watch those presentations and more on the TBA’s Facebook page. Watch Part One and Part Two of the Lawyers Luncheon to catch up on Blakney’s goals for the upcoming year and much more. The TBA Annual Convention concluded on Saturday with TBA Young Lawyers Division’s Diversity Leadership Institute programming and service project, YLD board and executive committee meetings and a TBA Board of Governors meeting.

Chattanooga lawyer Brittany Thomas Faith took office as president of the TBA’s Young Lawyers Division during last week's convention. Her signature project for the bar year will be the "Welcome to Tennessee" initiative. The three-pronged project seeks to: provide members with practical resources and integrate them into the TBA, provide quality public service aimed at making Tennessee a more welcoming place, and help young lawyers find their home in the TBA. Also taking office were President-elect Quinton Thompson of Memphis, Vice President Sean Aiello of Franklin, Secretary Ross Smith of Nashville and Treasurer Darius Walker Jr. of Nashville. Faith succeeds Billy Leslie of Nashville.

Outgoing TBA President Sherie Edwards presented six President Awards during the Lawyers Luncheon to those who contributed to the success of her year in office. General Counsel Ed Lanquist and Associate General Counsel Greg Pease were recognized for their assistance with selling the TBA’s downtown office. Memphis attorney and former TBA President Lucian Pera was recognized for his work chairing the TBA Building Committee, which assessed new locations for the association’s offices. All members of the committee were also recognized. Brentwood lawyer Rebecca Blair and Nashville lawyer Lynne Ingram were recognized for co-chairing the Women in the Profession Committee. TBA staff members Mindy Thomas, Jennifer Vossler and Chelsea Bennett were recognized for their work creating and producing the Scaling Small Law program, and all TBA staff members were recognized for their work in the past year despite a major office move and working remotely. Finally, Edwards recognized her daughter Victoria Cundiff for writing about her struggles with mental health in last year's well-being issue of Tennessee Bar Journal.

A number of Tennessee lawyers were recognized for their pro bono service and contributions to the profession today during the TBA Annual Convention. Circuit Judge James G. Martin III received the Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award; Nashville attorney and former TBA President Jacqueline “Jackie" B. Dixon received the Judge Pamela L. Reeves Tennessee Professionalism Award; Nashville attorney and former TBA President John Tarpley received the TBA Young Lawyers Division William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award; Assistant Public Defender and Appellate Director Brennan Wingerter received the Claudia Jack Award; Knoxville lawyer R. Culver Schmid received the Justice Joseph W. Henry Award for Outstanding Legal Writing. And the Kingsport Times News received the Fourth Estate Award for its series Meth Mountain.

The TBA also presented its annual Public Service Awards at the Luncheon. Ann Pruitt, most recently the executive director for Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services, received the Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year Award. Ashley Goins Alderson, an attorney in the Nashville office of Stites & Harbison, received the Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award. And Belmont University College of Law 3L Gabriella Cannone received the Law Student Volunteer of the Year Award.

Knoxville lawyer Tasha Blakney was sworn in as the 142nd president of the Tennessee Bar Association on Friday at the TBA Annual Convention. Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Page administered the oath of office during the Lawyers Luncheon. Blakney, an attorney with Eldridge & Blakney Attorneys at Law, highlighted her plans for the coming bar year. She announced the relaunching of the Public Service Academy to help prepare lawyers who want to run for office and the popular CLE Ski program, set for January in Snowmass, Colorado. She announced the largest Court Square CLE series to date, with programs planned in 12 cities between September and May. She also announced the first ever TBA book club and a cultural and CLE trip to Cuba in March 2023. On the advocacy front, Blakney said the TBA would redouble its efforts to seek complete elimination of the Professional Privilege Tax and fair and prompt reimbursement for lawyers taking on indigent representation cases. Watch the full Lawyers Luncheon on the TBA Facebook page. Part 1 is available here and Part 2 is available here. See photos from the ceremony.

The TBA Attorney Well Being Committee is sponsoring this year’s Contemplative Space during the TBA Annual Convention. The space serves as a quiet escape from the hustle and bustle of Convention and will be available to all attendees from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Massages will be available on a first come, first served basis on Thursday from 9 a.m. until noon and Friday from 1:30 until 4 p.m. CDT.  Silence your phone, put down your work and head over to the Contemplative Space to meditate, recharge or practice the wellness activity of your choosing!

Twenty-one sponsors have this year signed up to help underwrite the costs of the TBA’s Annual Convention. Thank you to diamond presenting sponsor Fastcase; platinum sponsor Lex Reception; gold sponsor Wealth Counsel; silver sponsor Clio; bronze sponsors Mutual of America Financial Group and TBA Member Insurance Solutions; and YLD dinner sponsor, Medley Services & Investigations. Exhibitors include ABA Retirement Funds, Attorneys Insurance Mutual of the South, ElderCounsel, Gilsbar, Griffin-Pflugfelder, JAMS, LAWCLERK, STM Weather, The Bar Plan, Time Miner and the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program. Non-exhibiting sponsors include Geico, LawPay and SoFi. Check out our sponsor page for more information and make sure to visit exhibiting sponsors during Convention in the Prefunction area of the Downtown Nashville Hilton. Visit all exhibitors and enter our Exhibitor Passport drawing for great prizes!

Former longtime editor of the Tennessee Bar Journal, Suzanne Craig Robertson, will be honored next week during the TBA Annual Convention for more than 30 years of service with the TBA. Robertson announced earlier this year that she would be leaving TBA in the spring after 34 years as editor. Join colleagues next Friday from 5 until 6 p.m. CDT for a reception at the Downtown Nashville Hilton as we toast to Suzanne’s good work.