Trust law in Tennessee has changed more in the last 20 years than in the previous 200. New types of trusts have been invented, new statutes add trust flexibility, and historic trust law has been radically reconsidered. Dan Holbrook and Amy Morris Hess write about directed trusts and how "Tennessee really wants it to be easy to make any trust a directed trust."

About 50 people ­— including several state and local officials, history buffs, lawyers and women’s rights advocates — gathered in Gibson County this past June to honor Banks Turner, a state representative who in 1920 was instrumental in securing passage of the resolution ratifying a woman’s right to vote. The historical marker and event were spearheaded by Nashville lawyer John P. Williams and teacher Gwen McReynolds. Read more about this event and other legal happenings across the state.

The National Association of Bar Executives (NABE) announced last week the finalists for its annual Luminary Awards, which recognize excellence in bar association communications and marketing. The Luminaries honor the outstanding communications projects of local and state bar associations nationwide. The Tennessee Bar Association advanced to the top three nominees in the categories of PR/marketing, authored articles, special projects and regular publications. Winners of each category will be announced on Oct. 14 during the NABE Communications Section virtual conference.

Small and medium sized law firms face an increasing threat of encryption ransomware and data exfiltration extortion attacks, according to a recent article by Sharon D. Nelson and John W. Simek. “The most notable change in industries impacted by ransomware attacks," according to the Coveware Quarterly Ransomware Report, "… was the Professional Services industry, specifically law firms." The problem is especially bad, the report notes, because the economics of many small professional service firms does not encourage or enable adequate cyber security. Read about how to prevent these attacks in the article, "Small And Midsized Law Firms Slammed By Ransomware" on the Sensei Enterprises Inc. website.