The TBA Young Lawyers Division met last week at the TBA's 2024 Annual Convention in Memphis. On Friday, the group held its Annual Meeting during which Franklin attorney Sean Aiello took office as president. Others taking office were President-elect Alex McVeagh, Hamilton County General Sessions judge; Vice President Jen Sneed of Memphis; Secretary Ross Smith of Nashville; and Treasurer Darius Walker Jr. of Nashville. The 2024-2025 YLD Board met on Saturday for committee planning sessions and its first board meeting. On Friday evening, both the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 boards met for the YLD annual dinner and gavel pass tradition. They were joined by members of the 2024 DLI Class for their graduation and the YLD Fellows for induction of new fellows. The YLD Fellows also elected new officers: Jackson lawyer Michelle Greenway Sellers, president; Memphis lawyer Mason Wilson, vice president; Chattanooga lawyer David McDowell, secretary; and Memphis lawyer Nicole Grida, treasurer. Click the links above to see photos from the events.

Nashville lawyer Lorne Hiller has been selected as the recipient of this year’s Larry Dean Wilks Leadership Award. Hiller was chosen for the award by fellow members of the Tennessee Bar Association’s 2024 Leadership Law class and was honored during the group’s graduation ceremonies in Memphis last week. He is the 12th recipient of the award. Hiller and his Leadership Law classmates have spent the last six months learning about leadership in the legal profession, issues in the courts, policymaking in state government and the importance of community service. The class of 35 attorneys completed the program this month. Read more about Hiller and the Wilks Award in this press release.

The TBA’s new executive officers and Board of Governors members took office Friday at the Annual Convention in Memphis. Officers for the 2024-2025 bar year are: Nashville lawyer Ed Lanquist Jr., president; Knoxville lawyer Heidi Barcus, president-elect; Charlotte Knight Griffin of Eads, vice president; Jackson lawyer Terica Smith, secretary; and Knoxville lawyer Mary Beth Maddox, treasurer. Memphis lawyer Jim Barry, who wrapped up his year in office last week, will move into the immediate past president role. Read more about those in the presidential line of succession at the links above. Leadership in the TBA's House of Delegates also changed last week with Franklin lawyer Shauna Billingsley taking over as speaker. She previously served as deputy speaker.

Eads attorney Charlotte Knight Griffin took office as vice president of the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) last week during the group’s Annual Convention in Memphis. She will advance to the presidency in June 2026. Knight Griffin began her career in private practice in Memphis after earning her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. She joined Memphis Light, Gas and Water as a staff attorney in 1978 and retired in April 2023 after 45 years of service. Knight Griffin has been active in the TBA for many years, most recently serving as speaker of the House of Delegates and a member of the Board of Governors. She is a past chair of the Local Government Practice and Litigation sections, a charter fellow of the Young Lawyers Division (YLD), a past executive officer of the YLD and president of the TBA YLD Fellows. Read more about her career in this press release.

Knoxville attorney Heidi Barcus took office as president-elect of the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) during the group’s Annual Convention in Memphis last week. Barcus will advance to the presidency in June 2025. Barcus has been active in the TBA and other legal and community organizations for many years, serving most recently as TBA vice president, Second District representative on the TBA Board of Governors and as a member of the TBA’s Law Office Technology & Management Section and its Tort and Insurance Practice Section. She handles health care, litigation, product liability and professional liability matters as a shareholder with Lewis Thomason. Read more about her career in this press release.

Nashville attorney Edward D. Lanquist Jr. took office as president of the TBA last week during the group’s Annual Convention in Memphis. Lanquist has been active in the TBA and other legal and community organizations for many years. For the TBA, he most recently served as president-elect, after being elected vice president in 2022. He also served as general counsel for the association from 2016-2022. He is a shareholder in the Nashville office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC. Prior to joining Baker Donelson, Lanquist co-founded a full-service intellectual property and technology law firm where he practiced for 30 years. Read more about his career in this press release.

At the 2024 Lawyers Luncheon, outgoing TBA President Jim Barry presented a number of awards. Memphis lawyer Miles Mason Sr. received the Justice Joseph W. Henry Award for Outstanding Legal Writing for his article on establishing paternity for unmarried parents in the November/December 2024 issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal. Cookeville attorney Laura Dykes received the Fifth Annual Claudia Jack Award for her work as a public defender in Davidson County and in the 13th Judicial District in Cookeville. Nashville Public Radio reporter Meribah Knight received the Fourth Estate Award to for her four-part podcast "The Kids of Rutherford County," which spotlighted the inhumane treatment of juveniles in Rutherford County. In addition, new TBA Vice President Charlotte Knight Griffin presented Memphis attorney and former TBA President Bill Haltom with the William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award from the TBA Young Lawyers Division Fellows.

Barry presented his President’s Awards to Ann Pruitt and Linda Seely, for their work as Access to Justice Committee co-chairs; to Kendra Mansur, Laura Brown and Rachel Moses for their work on new TBA initiatives to address safe and stable housing; and to former Assistant Executive Director Barry Kolar for his 23 years of service to TBA, serving twice as interim executive director. See photos from the event.

Nashville lawyer Ed Lanquist Jr. was sworn in today as the 144th president of the Tennessee Bar Association. The oath of office was administered by Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby during the TBA’s Annual Lawyers Lunch. Lanquist is a shareholder in the Nashville office of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz and has practiced intellectual property law for more than 30 years. During remarks following the swearing in, Lanquist pledged a renewed emphasis on serving members of the association during the coming bar year and an increased focus on educating lawyers about legislative issues important to the legal profession — including elimination of the professional privilege tax and increased funding for indigent representation. He also announced two exciting CLE programs: an Urban Bourbon trip to Louisville, Kentucky, and a return to Cuba in February 2025. Registration for that program is now open. Watch his remarks, as well as the full footage of the Lawyers Lunch, on the TBA's Facebook page. See photos from the lunch.

Members of the Tennessee legal community met for the second day of the TBA Annual Convention in Memphis today. The morning began with a Public Service Awards Breakfast featuring the presentation of the Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year to Memphis-based Assistant Federal Public Defender Tyrone Paylor, the Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award to Memphis attorney John Golwen, and the Law Student Volunteer of the Year Award to University of Tennessee College of Law student Kim Riddett. Lawyers then heard from two panels exploring the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the practice of law.

At the annual Bench Bar Luncheon, J. Daniel Breen, a senior judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, received the Judge Pamela L. Reeves Tennessee Professionalism Award, while Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby received the Justice Frank F. Drowota III Award. Kirby was recognized for her efforts spearheading an increase in the hourly rate of reimbursement for appointed cases, which the state legislature approved this spring. In her acceptance remarks, Kirby thanked the many judges and lawyers who contacted leaders about these “shockingly low rates,” and pledged to continue working on this “righteous cause” in the future. Following the awards, Memphis lawyer Charles Newman gave the keynote address in which he recounted his experience representing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, and thanked his law firm Burch Porter & Johnson for allowing him to work on cases throughout his career that did not add to the bottom line. He challenged those in the room not to allow the pressure of making the practice of law more profitable to squeeze out important values. See pictures from the programs.

The 2024 TBA Annual Convention kicked off today in Memphis at the Peabody Hotel with meetings of the TBA House of Delegates and incoming section chairs, and a welcome reception for all attendees. If you have already registered for the event, you may pick your badge in Grand Ballroom Salon C on the Mezzanine level. Walk-up registrations are welcome. See the full schedule of convention events and CLE programming. See pictures from the Welcome Reception.