Murfreesboro assistant city attorney Elizabeth Taylor was chosen as the recipient of this year’s Larry Dean Wilks Leadership Award by fellow members of the TBA Leadership Law (TBALL) class. All 33 members of the leadership training program met for one final session last week during the TBA’s Annual Convention in Memphis. Taylor 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.

Knoxville attorney Tasha C. Blakney will take office as president-elect of the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) tomorrow during the group’s annual convention in Memphis. A partner at Eldridge & Blakney PC in Knoxville, she earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law and has more than 20 years of experience in the legal profession. She has also been an active member of the TBA, serving in a variety of positions with the association, including second district governor for the TBA’s Board of Governors, co-chair of the Public Education Committee, member of the TBA’s House of Delegates and executive committee member of the Environmental Law Section. Blakney will assume the presidency of the TBA in 2022.

Germantown attorney James “Jim” Barry will take office as vice president of the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) on Friday during the group’s annual convention in Memphis. Barry, who will advance to the presidency in 2023, has long been active in the TBA, serving on the Board of Governors, as chair of the Access to Justice Committee and as co-chair for many years of the TBA’s Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Initiative. Outside of the TBA, Barry has held leadership roles with the Association of Corporate Counsel, Community Legal Center in Memphis, Memphis Area Legal Services, Memphis Bar Association, Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services and Tennessee Justice Center.

The Tennessee Bar Association this week will honor Hamblen County Assistant Public Defender Willie Santana with the Claudia Jack Award for his work promoting criminal justice reform. His case challenging bail practices in Hamblen County has "sent ripples throughout the criminal justice community in Tennessee,” former TBA President Buck Lewis wrote in his nomination of Santana. “Judges are beginning to focus upon whether their practices are legal and whether the system of cash bail, even legally imposed, makes sense for the taxpayers, the courts, and the accused." Santana also authored "Cash on the Barrelhead" in the July/August 2020 issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal, which also brought awareness to the issue. The award will be presented Friday during the TBA Annual Convention in Memphis.

The Tennessee Bar Association next week will honor Marc Perrusquia with its Fourth Estate Award for his reporting on complaints of excessive use of force by the Memphis Police Department. The award will be presented June 18 during the TBA’s annual convention in Memphis. A long-time reporter at the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Perrusquia is currently the director of the Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis. His reporting on this issue in the Daily Memphian resulted in policy changes at the MPD and greater transparency in its reporting on complaints of excessive use of force.

Memphis attorneys AC and Ruby Wharton will be honored next week with the presentation of the TBA YLD Fellows William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award. “AC and Ruby Wharton are the embodiment of excellence in service to the profession, the legal system and our community,” Fellows President and Memphis attorney Danny Van Horn says of the pair. “Each has contributed in their own way to the life of our profession, our community and the people we serve. They are the embodiment of 1 plus 1 can equal 3.” The Leech Public Service Award will be presented during the Tennessee Bar Association's Lawyers Luncheon on June 18.

Chief District Judge Pamela L. Reeves will be honored posthumously this month with the Tennessee Bar Association’s (TBA) prestigious Justice Frank F. Drowota III Award. Her family will accept the award in her honor during the Tennessee Bar Association’s Lawyers Luncheon on June 18 at its annual convention in Memphis. Named in honor of former Tennessee Chief Justice Frank Drowota, the Drowota Award is the TBA’s highest award for service to the judiciary and has been given annually for more than a decade.

Nashville lawyer Todd Pinckley will be presented with the prestigious Justice Joseph W. Henry Award for Outstanding Legal Writing next week during the TBA's Annual Convention in Memphis. The award was established nearly 40 years ago and is given each year to the lawyer “who writes the most outstanding article that is published in the ... Tennessee Bar Journal for the preceding year." This year’s winning article is “The Right to Remain Silent: Law Enforcement and the Duty to Intervene,” which was published in the November/December 2020 issue. The award will be presented at the annual Lawyers Lunch, which will be held in-person and livestreamed.

Major General Albert Harvey will be honored this month with the Judge Pamela L. Reeves Tennessee Professionalism Award from the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) and Tennessee’s American Inns of Court. The award was recently renamed in honor of the late Judge Reeves, who was also the first recipient of the award in 2020. It will be presented during the Lawyers Luncheon at the TBA Annual Convention in Memphis. Harvey was chosen for his decades of leadership and service to the legal profession. He is a past president of both the Tennessee and Memphis Bar Associations and is the immediate past chair of the American Bar Association’s Senior Lawyers Division. Prior to his legal career Harvey was active duty in the United States Marines. He recently retired from the Marine Corps Reserve with the rank of Major General. He is respected by his peers at the local, state and national levels and unquestionably displays the character and integrity required for this award.

The TBA Environmental Law Section is now accepting essay entries for its annual Jon E. Hastings Memorial Award Writing Competition, in memory of one of its founding members. The contest will award a $1,500 cash prize pool, with $1000 going to the winning entry and $500 going to the runner-up. This competition will be judged by a panel of environmental law practitioners, members of the judiciary, and/or professors selected by the Environmental Law Section. Any law student with an interest in the practice area and enrolled in a Tennessee law school in 2020 or 2021 is eligible to participate. All submissions must be received by Apr. 30. You can view the contest rules here. Please contact Section Coordinator Jarod Word for more information or to submit an entry.