Pre-registration for the TBA’s 2025 Annual Convention closes Sunday at 11:59 p.m. CDT, with only onsite registration available after that deadline. The convention, set for next week at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs, will bring together attorneys, judges and legal professionals from across the state for continuing education, networking and social events.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) will host “The Rookie Series: Compassionate Lawyering” webcast on Aug. 27 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT. The program will introduce attorneys to the principles of trauma-informed legal practice and explore how lawyers can better serve clients — especially those from marginalized or vulnerable backgrounds — by incorporating empathy and awareness into their work. Mental health professionals will join the discussion to examine how legal systems can unintentionally retraumatize clients and offer strategies for compassionate advocacy across various practice areas. For more information and to register, visit the TBA website.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, in partnership with the TBA Young Lawyers Division, is seeking pro bono volunteers for a free name change clinic on June 26 from 5-7 p.m. CDT at the Legal Aid Society's Cookeville office located at 9 S. Jefferson Ave., Ste. 102, Cookeville 38501. To volunteer or if you have any questions, contact Amber Vargas. View a flyer for the event here.

Registration is now open for the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) Equal Justice University (EJU) conference. The annual event, co-sponsored by the TBA, is set for Aug. 27-29 at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro. This year’s conference will include more than 50 CLE sessions, inspiring keynote speakers and presentation of the Access to Justice Awards. Check out the full schedule. As a reminder, it is not too late to nominate colleagues for the three Access to Justice Awards presented at the conference. The nomination deadline is July 20.

The next legal clinic for veterans in Knoxville will take place June 11 from 12-2 p.m. EDT at the Knox County Public Defender's Community Law Office, 1101 Liberty St., Knoxville 37919. This is a general advice clinic sponsored by the Knoxville Bar Association, KBA Barristers, Legal Aid of East Tennessee, Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law, the University of Tennessee College of Law, the Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office and the local Veterans Affairs office. Attorneys and law students are needed. Sign up to volunteer here.

Whitney Hermandorfer appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday to answer questions about her nomination to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Tennessee’s senior U.S. senator and Senate Judiciary Committee member Marsha Blackburn introduced Hermandorfer and praised her clerkship experience and commitment to originalist jurisprudence, the Nashville Scene reports. Democrats on the committee focused on Hermandorfer’s experience and her position on President Donald Trump’s interpretation of birthright citizenship, according to Reuters. Several also used the hearing to criticize the administration for recently deciding to remove the American Bar Association (ABA) from its role in vetting judicial nominees. Hermandorfer was nominated by Trump in May to fill the seat of outgoing Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch, who plans to take senior status.

HELENE N. WHITE, Circuit Judge. Defendant-Appellant Tracey Shaw appeals the written judgment issued by the district court after Shaw pleaded guilty to knowingly possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Shaw argues that the written judgment conflicts with the district court’s oral pronouncement of his sentence. Because the written judgment clarifies the district court’s ambiguous oral sentence, we AFFIRM.

MURPHY, Circuit Judge. Tennessee grants the right to vote only to some convicted criminals. When processing voter-registration forms, then, state officials must distinguish between eligible and ineligible felons. To do so, the officials have required some felon applicants to include additional records with their registration forms that confirm their eligibility. The Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP asserts that this “Documentation Policy” violates the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The district court agreed and facially enjoined the policy. Yet the NAACP failed to establish its Article III standing to sue. The Documentation Policy does not directly regulate the NAACP. And although the NAACP generally alleges that the policy has led it to spend resources to help eligible felons register to vote, the organization did not introduce any specific facts showing that the policy threatened an imminent injury. Indeed, the NAACP did not identify a single voter that it has helped or planned to help. We thus reverse.

The Defendant, Brendan T. Negron, appeals from his conviction for aggravated domestic assault. Specifically, he contends that evidence adduced at trial was sufficient to establish only a conviction for misdemeanor domestic assault because the barstool utilized in the assault did not constitute a deadly weapon. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

A Knox County jury convicted the Defendant, Tylar Scott Johnson, of four counts of rape and one count of aggravated kidnapping, for which he received an effective sentence of thirty-six years in confinement at a one hundred-percent service rate. On appeal, the Defendant contends the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions, that improper argument by the State affected the verdict, and that the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentencing. After review, we affirm.