Memphis lawyer Miles Mason will receive the TBA’s prestigious Justice Joseph W. Henry Award for Outstanding Legal Writing on June 14 during the group's Annual Convention in Memphis. The award, which will be presented at the Lawyers Luncheon, was established more than 40 years ago and is given each year to the lawyer who writes the most outstanding article published in the Tennessee Bar Journal for the preceding year. Mason will be recognized for his article “You Are the Father!: Untangling Custody Rights in Tennessee Between Unmarried Parents,” which appeared in the November/December 2023 issue of the Journal. Mason is the founder of Miles Mason Law Group PLC and a certified public accountant. He is a nationally recognized speaker who presents continuing education seminars across the country. His father-in-law, the late Judge Joe B. Jones, was the first recipient of the Joe Henry Award in 1981. Read the TBA's press release for more information.

The TBA and the Tennessee Alliance of Black Lawyers (TABL) will host a joint CLE during next month’s TBA Convention focused on the nuanced relationship between criminal justice and other areas of the law. The program will take place on June 13 from 4-5:30 p.m. CDT in the Venetian Room of the Peabody Hotel. Speakers include Davidson County Magistrate Judge Jerice Glanton, Memphis-Shelby County Chief Magistrate Judge Aftan Strong, Johnika Geeter with the Geeter Law Office, and Will Perry with Butler Snow. Princess Rogers, with the Davidson County District Attorney’s office, will moderate the discussion. Learn more about this and other CLE being offered at the annual Convention.

The annual Bench Bar Luncheon will take place June 13 as part of the TBA’s Convention. Lawyers and judges from across the state will gather to recognize judicial service and hear from Memphis lawyer Charles Newman, who served as one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s lawyers during the sanitation workers strike in the spring of 1968. It was the strike that brought King to Memphis, where the day after addressing workers, he was felled by an assassin’s bullet. Also at the lunch, Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby will be recognized with the TBA’s Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award and Senior Judge J. Daniel Breen will receive the Judge Pamela L. Reeves Tennessee Professionalism Award, given jointly by the TBA and the Tennessee American Inns of Court. Make plans now to join your colleagues at this annual favorite!

If you plan to attend the 2024 TBA Convention but have not yet booked your hotel, time is running out! The TBA hotel room block at the historic Peabody Hotel in Memphis will close Wednesday. Book now to take advantage of our special discounted rate.

Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby will be honored next month with the Tennessee Bar Association’s (TBA) prestigious Justice Frank F. Drowota III Award. The award will be presented at the Bench Bar Luncheon set for June 13 as part of the association’s Annual Convention in Memphis. TBA President Jim Barry said the association is honoring Kirby for her efforts spearheading an increase in the hourly rate of reimbursement for attorneys who accept appointed cases. Before this year, Tennessee’s court-appointed attorneys had not seen a rate increase in 27 years, while the costs of maintaining a legal practice have continued to rise, leaving fewer and fewer attorneys able to afford to take these types of cases. In October 2023, Kirby made the case for increasing compensation for attorneys representing the indigent and announced the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) was requesting additional funding from the legislature. With the support of the TBA and others, lawmakers did approve a portion of that funding request. The TBA remains committed to working with the Supreme Court and other stakeholders to secure additional resources to fairly compensate lawyers who do this important work. The Drowota Award is given to a judge or judicial branch official who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion and dedication to the improvement of the law, the legal system and the administration of justice. Read more about Kirby's selection in the TBA's press release.

If you have registered for Convention but not yet booked your hotel room, time is running out! The TBA hotel room block at the historic Peabody Hotel in Memphis will close next week on May 22. Book now for a special discounted rate.

Recipients of the TBA's 2024 Public Service Awards will be honored during a Public Service Breakfast June 13 in Memphis as part of the TBA Annual Convention. The TBA’s Access to Justice Committee will recognize Memphis-based Assistant Federal Public Defender Tyrone Paylor as the Ashley Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year, Memphis attorney John Golwen as the Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year and University of Tennessee law student Kim Riddett as Law Student Volunteer of the Year. The awards recognize outstanding service by attorneys and law students who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to increasing access to justice for underserved individuals and communities in Tennessee. Read more about this year’s recipients at the links above or in the May/June 2024 issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal.

University of Tennessee College of Law (UT Law) student Kim Riddett has been named the TBA’s 2024 Law Student Volunteer of the Year. The award recognizes a Tennessee law student who provides outstanding volunteer services while working with an organization that provides legal representation to the indigent. “Kim is a committed public interest law student who cares tremendously about helping those in need,” UT Law’s Director of Clinical Programs Joy Radice says. “She is a leader who is deeply committed to helping others and fighting injustice.” The award will be presented during a Public Service Breakfast June 13 in Memphis as part of the TBA Annual Convention. Read more about Riddett's service in the TBA’s press release.

Memphis attorney John Golwen has been named the 2024 Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year by the TBA for his work in combating generational poverty in Memphis and helping youth succeed. A Memphis native and litigation partner at Bass Berry & Sims, Golwen brought legal expertise together with his experience from volunteering with the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Memphis to help support the PURE Academy in Memphis. That organization, founded by former gang member Melvin Cole, is focused on training young boys to excel in academics and athletics, while exposing them to many opportunities that will prepare them to become productive men. The award will be presented during a Public Service Breakfast June 13 in Memphis as part of the TBA Annual Convention. Read more about Golwen’s work in the TBA’s press release.

Memphis-based Assistant Federal Public Defender Tyrone Paylor has been named the Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year for 2024. The award recognizes an attorney who has provided dedicated and outstanding representation to an indigent client in either a civil or criminal case. Paylor works in the Western District of Tennessee’s Memphis office and over the past 15 years has earned a reputation as a strong advocate for his clients and also a mentor to younger attorneys. “Tyrone’s insights have helped many attorneys in their approach to client recidivism, rehabilitation and pursuing justice,” former Federal Public Defender Brian Mounce says of Paylor. The Wiltshire award will be presented during a Public Service Breakfast June 13 in Memphis as part of the TBA Annual Convention. Read more about Paylor in the TBA’s press release.