KBA News

In light of the current issues with COVID-19, the KBA staff will be working remotely Wednesday, March 18 through Tuesday, March 31. The KBA is open for business and online during normal working hours; however, responses may be slightly delayed. Make sure to check https://www.knoxbar.org/?pg=CourtUpdates often for notices from area courts and government agencies. All in-person CLE programs, meetings, and events have been canceled or moved to a teleconferencing format. Thank you for your patience and understanding.  Please be safe!

Hon. Greg McMillan, the Presiding Judge of the 6th Judicial District, has requested that the Knoxville Bar Association circulate the Order below. Order ADM-2020-00428 has been issued by the Supreme Court leaving courts open but suspending in-person court proceedings until March 31, 2020. The Order also contains detailed information regarding statutes of limitation and other matters necessary for litigants and attorneys.

Judge McMillan will be meeting with the judges, county officials, and court clerks on Monday to discuss how to proceed in order to protect the public’s right to have cases heard and address public health concerns. Further communications will be sent next week, and the judges ask for your patience as they address these matters.

The Knoxville Bar Foundation was established in 1992 to improve the administration of justice, to enhance the public’s understanding of and confidence in the legal system, and to serve the legal profession. The Bar Foundation has awarded grants totaling approximately $ 455,000 for local law-related projects and programs since its inception. This is a meaningful contribution to programs that promote and enable the essence of what we as lawyers seek – liberty and justice for all. Last year the Board of Directors approved fifteen grant requests, totaling $35,000.

In May, 2020, the Knoxville Bar Foundation will again award grants to deserving applicants. The individual grant awards usually are $5,000 or less and the deadline for submitting grant applications is March 2, 2020. Please note that grant funding may not be used for operating costs and endowments. We are excited about this year’s grant program and encourage interested parties and organizations to apply. Please go to www.knoxbar.org to download an application. Submit all grant applications before 5:00 p.m. on March 2, 2020 to Charles Swanson, Chairman, Knoxville Bar Foundation, P.O. Box 2027, Knoxville, Tennessee 37901 or deliver to 505 W. Main Street, Suite 50, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902.

DOWNLOAD GRANT APPLICATION

Knoxville, Tenn.— January 29, 2020 – The Knoxville Bar Association today released the results of its Candidate Member Survey for the contested races related to the justice system on the March 3rd ballot. The Survey asked each member of the Knoxville Bar Association to carefully assess whether the candidates have demonstrated the knowledge, skill, experience, training, education, professional ethics, and temperament to fulfill the duties of the offices to which they aspire. The Survey is designed to provide a measure of guidance to voters who might otherwise be unfamiliar with the candidates.

The Survey asked members to evaluate each candidate’s overall suitability for the offices of Knox County Criminal Court, Division II, Knox County Public Defender, and Knox County Law Director. Every member was asked to rate each candidate according to the following options: Strongly Recommend, Recommend, Do Not Recommend, Strongly Do Not Recommend and, Do Not Know Candidate. If an attorney did not know the candidates’ qualifications or had no opinion, he/she was instructed to mark “do not know candidate.”

“The intent is not to endorse any particular candidate, but rather to inform the public of the opinions of many of the attorneys actively practicing in East Tennessee regarding candidates’ fitness to serve in the judicial and related offices to which they are seeking election. The Knoxville Bar Association is pleased to provide this service to members of our community who have few if any encounters with the court system,” said Knoxville Bar Association President Hanson Tipton. “An informed electorate is vital to the efficient administration of justice.”

The Survey was conducted electronically from January 21 to January 28, 2020. Five hundred and seven KBA members participated in the survey.

Knoxville Bar Association
CANDIDATE MEMBER SURVEY
January 21 – 28, 2020
Total Ballots Received: 507

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Erica Green,  (865) 525-5134

Knoxville Bar Association Barristers announce High School Mock Trial Competition

KNOXVILLE, TN January 21, 2020 - The Barrister’s, the Young Lawyer’s Division of the Knoxville Bar Association, annually hosts the Regional High School Mock Trial Competition for Districts 2, 3, and 4* every February.  With high school budget cuts around the country increasing, and available funding for civic engagement decreasing, Mock Trial is an excellent way for High School students in the aforementioned districts to develop a fuller understanding of our justice system and experience the legal process first hand. Many students have been known to choose a legal career based on their mock trial experiences, and several Barrister’s members are formal mock trial competitors. 

During the Regional High School Mock Trial competition, students will act as lawyers and witnesses, as both the prosecution and the defense, and act out a - well - mock trial.  This years’ case is a civil matter that involves "fowl" play between two restaurants and a debate over who can claim to be the king of the chicken sandwich.

This year’s Knoxville Regional competition will take place at the Knoxville City County Building on February 21st and February 22nd. The final round will take place on February 23rd at the Duncan School of Law at LMU. 

The specific times are as follows:

ROUND ONE - Friday February 21st, 5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
ROUND TWO - Saturday February 22nd,  8:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.
ROUND THREE – Saturday, February 22nd, 10:30 a.m. - 1p.m.
ROUND FOUR - Saturday, February 22nd , 1:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
FINAL ROUND - Sunday February 23rd [TBD]

The winners of the competition will advance to the State-wide tournament in Nashville March 20-21. 

The dedicated volunteers, including East Tennessee law school students, attorneys, and judges, serve as the bailiffs, scoring judges, and presiding judges over this wonderful annual competition. The competition is free to students to enter; their coaches simply need to fill out the rosters and coordinating forms and submit them to knoxhsmt@gmail.com.

Participation in this wonderful program is not as high as it once was, and as young lawyers, we want to do everything we can to get the word out about this unique, beneficial, and all-around fun opportunity for our East Tennessee high school students.

*Districts include: 

District 2: Anderson, Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Fentress, Grainger, Jefferson, Scott, Sevier and Union 

District 3: Knox

District 4: Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Loudon, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Polk, Rhea and Roane 

For more information about the Barristers, please contact Barristers President Allison Jackson at (865) 546-0500 or Marsha S. Watson, Executive Director of the Knoxville Bar Association at (865) 522-6522.

Click here to volunteer for the 2020 Mock Trial Competition.

ADM2018-02237
On December 18, 2018, the Supreme Court entered an order soliciting written comments on proposed amendments to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, section 26, regarding the payment of the professional privilege tax by attorneys. After the expiration of the public comment period, the Supreme Court has considered further revisions to the proposed amendments. The deadline for submitting written comments is January 30, 2020. Written comments may be emailed to appellatecourtclerk@tncourts.gov.

ADM2018-02187
On December 6, 2018, the Supreme Court entered an order soliciting written comments on proposed amendments to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 43, regarding interest on lawyers’ trust accounts. After the expiration of the public-comment period, the Supreme Court has considered further revisions to the proposed amendments. The deadline for submitting written comments is January 30, 2020. Written comments may be emailed to appellatecourtclerk@tncourts.gov.

ADM2018-02186
On December 18, 2018, the Supreme Court entered an order soliciting written comments on proposed amendments to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, section 10, regarding annual registration and payments by attorneys. After the expiration of the public comment period, the Supreme Court has considered further revisions to the proposed amendments. The deadline for submitting written comments is January 30, 2020. Written comments may be emailed to appellatecourtclerk@tncourts.gov.

Photo Gallery
Year in Review
By the Numbers
Annual Meeting PowerPoint Slides

KBA President Wynne Caffey-Knight presided over the Annual Meeting of the Knoxville Bar Association on Friday, December 13, 2019. More than 275 lawyers and judges were in attendance. Mrs. Caffey-Knight announced that the following KBA members were elected as officers for 2020:  Cheryl G. Rice – President-Elect, Jason H. Long – Treasurer, and Loretta G. Cravens - Secretary. The membership elected the following KBA members to the four open positions on the Board of Governors:  Hon. Kristi Davis, Mark A. Castleberry, Michael J. Stanuszek and Elizabeth M. Towe. Hanson R. Tipton assumed the presidency of the 1900-plus member Knoxville Bar Association at the close of the meeting.

Hanson R. Tipton is a member in the Knoxville law firm of Watson, Roach, Batson & Lauderback, PLC.  He earned his bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and his J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law. Mr. Tipton has been active in the Knoxville legal community for almost twenty years. He has served on and chaired numerous committees and boards in the Knoxville and Tennessee Bar Associations. He won the 2014 KBA President’s Award in recognition of outstanding performance and dedicated service on behalf of the Knoxville Bar Association. Mr. Tipton previously served as law clerk for Senior Judge John K. Byers.

In his remarks to Knoxville Bar Association members at the Annual Meeting, Mr. Tipton thanked the members for their continued committed service to the KBA and the people of our community in need of legal services.  He discussed his plans for 2020, including a Habitat for Humanity house build, celebration of the centennial of women’s suffrage in the United States, and a focus on servant leadership. Mr. Tipton encouraged members to take advantage of the many resources and service opportunities offered by the KBA.

Thomas S. Scott, Jr. was presented the KBA’s highest award, the prestigious Governors’ Award, which is given annually to a lawyer whose peers believe has brought distinction and honor to the legal profession. Mr. Scott has distinguished himself with a long and tremendous career of service to the bar and to the community, including serving as KBA president in 1990. Mr. Scott is a worthy recipient of the Knoxville Bar Association’s Governors’ Award for his enduring, faithful, and distinguished service to the community.  

The Presidents’ Awards for 2019 were presented to Courtney Epps Read and Emily Stulce for their work as Co-Chairs of the Functions Committee. The award for outstanding writing was presented to Luke Ihnen for his feature on the Butcher Banks which appeared in the November issue of the KBA monthly magazine DICTA.  Retired Magistrate Judge C. Clifford Shirley Jr. was presented with the Don Paine Lawyer Legacy Award and the Judicial Excellence Award was presented to U.S. District Court Judge Pamela L. Reeves.

Allison Jackson was introduced as President of the Knoxville Barristers, the Young Lawyers Division of the KBA. It was announced that during the elections last week, Amanda Tonkin was elected Vice President, Bryce Fitzgerald was elected Secretary/Treasurer and Meagan Collver and Courtney Read were elected Members-at-Large. It was also announced that Jason Collver and Meagan Collver, Co-Chairs of the Hunger & Poverty Relief Committee, were presented with the Barristers’ Presidents’ Award for 2019.

On December 10th, Gov. Bill Lee appointed Kyle Hixson as criminal court judge for the 6th Judicial District, a vacancy created by Judge Bob McGee’s retirement. The 6th Judicial District covers Knox County. Prior to this appointment, Hixson served two stints in the Office of the Knox County District Attorney General. He is also an adjunct professor of law in trial practice at the University of Tennessee College of Law.