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Nashville lawyer Jonathan Cole, a shareholder with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, will be the honored guest at a Tennessee reception held in conjunction with the American Bar Association Annual Meeting July 29 to Aug. 4 in Chicago. The reception will take place Aug. 1 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. CDT in the Crystal Ballroom C in the West Tower of the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Any Tennessee lawyers in town are invited to attend. View the invitation. Cole has a long and distinguished track record of involvement in the ABA. He currently serves as chair of the ABA House of Delegates, the group’s 597-member policymaking body, making him the second ranking officer in the ABA. He previously served as a Tennessee delegate to the House of Delegates, chair of the Young Lawyers Division and director of the American Bar Endowment.

Judge Stacy Street was sworn in as the newest judge on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in a ceremony at the Supreme Court building in Knoxville. His appointment fills the vacancy created by Justice Kyle Hixson's elevation to the Tennessee Supreme Court. First Judicial District Criminal Court Judge Lisa Rice of Elizabethton administered the oath of office. See photos from the event.

Make plans now to attend TBA's Topgolf Estate Planning Tee-off on Aug. 21 at Topgolf Nashville. Designed for newer estate planning practitioners, this annual favorite is a rare opportunity to build practice knowledge and fine-tune your drive game all in one day. This year's speakers include Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Andra Hedrick, Charles Frazier with the Law Offices of Charles R. Frazier, Michael Goode with Lewis Thomason, Robert Hazard with Hazard Law, Rob Malin with Pinnacle Financial Partners and Ashley Stearns with Trail, Coleman & Stearns. The package includes three general hours of CLE, breakfast, lunch and two hours of Topgolf after the presentations. Estate Planning & Probate Section members receive a discounted rate to attend. Space is limited, so register now before it’s too late!

If you missed the Tech Showcase programming at this year’s TBA Convention, you can catch up this month with replays of several key programs. On July 27, join Catherine Sanders Reach with the Center for Practice Management at the North Carolina Bar Association for a session that cuts through the hype around technology needs. Reach will explain how to audit your current tech for gaps and redundancies, calculate real ROI on the tools already in place, and build a framework for evaluating new products. The program offers 1.25 hours of dual credit. Learn more and register on the TBA website.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission has received 10 applications for two newly created criminal judgeships in the 30th Judicial District. The applicants are: Meghan Fowler, Paul Hagerman, Melanie M. Headley, Christopher J. Lareau, Ruchee J. Patel, Seth M. Segraves, Dewun R. Settle, Jessica M. Van Dyke, Mitchell W. Wood and Marques T. Young. The commission will hold public interviews and a vote on the top three candidates for each position on Aug. 13 and 14 at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law’s historic courtroom at 1 North Front St., Memphis 38103. It will submit two lists — one for each position — to the governor. Any member of the public may attend the public hearing and can express, orally or in writing, objections concerning any of the applicants. Questions about the hearings should be directed to AOC Assistant General Counsel John Jefferson at John.Jefferson@tncourts.gov or 615-741-2687. Read more about the candidates and the hearings.

The ABA's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar may be poised to roll back more of its diversity rules this summer, Reuters reports. The council may consider two proposals at the ABA Annual Meeting that would reshape law school requirements. First, the ABA could eliminate a 2022 rule requiring law schools to educate students about bias, racism and cross-cultural competency at the start and end of their studies. Second, it could pare down a detailed rule that requires law schools to maintain non-discrimination policies covering protected groups — including race, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability. In its place, the group is considering a simpler requirement that schools prohibit discrimination "in violation of applicable federal, state and local law." Read more about these proposals, which have been put out for comment. The group previously repealed a diversity standard and changed criteria for its law school scholarships.

GRIFFIN, Circuit Judge. While defendant Samuel Arellio Hernandez was on supervised release, officers suspected that he was violating conditions of that release at an unapproved residence. They searched the house and found three firearms, along with other contraband. Hernandez was indicted for being a felon in possession. He moved to suppress evidence from the search, arguing the officers lacked reasonable suspicion. The district court denied the motion and Hernandez conditionally pleaded guilty, retaining the right to challenge the district court’s decision. We affirm.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on July 15 directed Nevada lawyer William Henry Jackson III to respond to its inquiry why discipline imposed by the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada should not also be imposed in Tennessee. The Nevada court suspended Jackson for six months and one day on April 17, but stayed the suspension for 24 months subject to certain conditions. The court took the action after Jackson admitted to sharing fees with a non-lawyer in excess of the reasonable cost of advertising for a single personal injury matter. Jackson has 30 days to respond or the court will impose identical discipline. View the Tennessee order.

The Memphis Bar Association (MBA) has released the results of its 2026 qualification poll for candidates in contested judicial and court clerk races on the Aug. 6 ballot. The poll asked attorneys to select the one candidate in each race whom they felt was best qualified to serve. If an attorney did not know the candidates’ qualifications or had no opinion, the instructions directed them to mark “no opinion.” The poll was distributed to all licensed attorneys in Shelby County with a publicly listed email regardless of MBA membership. The MBA notes that Shelby County Criminal Court, Division 8 was not included in the poll because the certification of candidates occurred after the poll began. “The Memphis Bar Association is in a unique position to give the public insight into the qualifications of judicial and court clerk candidates, and we believe it is an important service to the community,” MBA President Marlinee Iverson said in releasing the results.