Nashville, TN – The Tennessee Bar Foundation has awarded $750,000 from the IOLTA (Interest On Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) program to law-related organizations across the state. The grant amount for 2022 exceeds that of 2021 by $250,000, bringing total awards since the IOLTA program’s inception to $24,141,000.
The grants will be paid to 23 organizations, headquartered in major cities and smaller towns, that touch all 95 Tennessee counties. The projects provide a wide array of services, including individual legal representation, dispute mediation, assistance for survivors of domestic violence, immigration counseling and housing advocacy. The complete list of organizations and awards is available on the Foundation’s website:
https://www.tnbarfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Recipients-by-City-2022-1.pdf
KBA Annual Meeting & Elections December 10. 2021 Learn more about the Annual Meeting online.
The Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) held its Annual Meeting on Friday, December 10, 2021. The President's gavel was passed from Cheryl G. Rice, a civil litigator with Egerton McAfee Armistead & Davis, P.C., to Jason H. Long, a member of the Knoxville law firm of London Amburn. During the meeting, the following KBA members were elected as officers for 2022:
President-Elect - Loretta G. Cravens, Cravens Legal Treasurer - Catherine E. Shuck, East Tennessee Children's Hospital Secretary – Carlos A. Yunsan, Tennessee Appellate Courts
The membership elected the following KBA members to the four open positions on the Board of Governors: Ursula Bailey, Law Office of Ursula Bailey William A. Mynatt, Jr., Lewis Thomason, P.C. Vanessa Samano, Samano Family Law Magistrate Robin Gunn, Knox County Juvenile Court
Charles Swanson 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. Swanson has distinguished himself with a long and tremendous career of service to the bar and the community, including serving as City Law Director.
The Presidents' Award for 2021 was presented to Mohamed Faizer and Carlos Yunsan, the Co-Chairs of the KBA’s Diversity in the Profession Committee. The award for outstanding writing was presented to Ursula Bailey for her article “I AM NOT OK,” which appeared in the August issue of the KBA monthly magazine DICTA and Jason Long was recognized for writing his Long Winded column for 22 years.
Chancellor John Weaver was presented with the Courage in the Face of Adversity Award. After facing debilitating injuries to both of his legs, Chancellor Weaver was unable to preside in person in the Part I courtroom. During his long and painful recovery and rehabilitation, Chancellor Weaver never took his attention off of his judicial duties.
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 year. Mock Trial is an excellent way for High School students in the districts above 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. The competition is free for students to enter; their coaches need to fill out the rosters and coordinating forms, and submit them to knoxhsmt@gmail.com.
Students will act as lawyers and witnesses during the Regional High School Mock Trial competition, as both the prosecution and the defense, and act out a - well - mock trial. This years’ case is a criminal matter involving aggravated assault after the defendant allegedly shot at the victim while driving home from his 10-hour shift at the glue factory. The new problem, rules, and other information can be found online.
View the full competition announcement here.
And the Survey Says...
Slightly more than half of the lawyers participating in the KBA Economics and Law Office Management Service indicated that they bill at over $250 per hour, most have increased their rate over the past two years, and 40% plan to increase their rate in 2022. Twenty percent (up from 17% in 2019) had at least $100,000 in educational debt upon graduation from law school. Fifty-nine percent of respondents report their technology budget will increase in 2022.
The KBA’s survey was completed by 296 lawyers or 19% of the total membership. Joanne O’Reilly of the American Bar Association’s Division of Bar Services was responsible for data collection and she reported that we can have high confidence that the survey responses reflect the demographics and economics of the Knoxville legal community overall. The survey results compare the results from the 2019 survey to the responses in 2021.
Survey respondents indicated the average salary for recent law school grads with no experience is $64,497. Lawyers with fewer than three years of experience are averaging $74,680; $81,147 for those in practice three to five years; and $102,663 for those with six to eight years’ experience. Lawyers with more than eight years on the job are averaging $126,589 per year, and partners and shareholders are pulling in an average of $221,714. When comparing the responses, attorneys with 5 or fewer years of experience are earning less in 2021 but there was an increase for all others in 2021.
Fifty-four percent of Knoxville lawyers reported an increase in clients having higher level of expectations compared to the past. Seventy-seven percent (down from 83% in 2019) spend at least an hour per week on volunteer work, with 18% spending 6-10 hours per week.The average number of pro bono hours completed in 2020 was up slightly to 35.9 hours.
Seventeen percent had at least $100,000 in educational debt upon graduation from law school and twenty-three percent had less than $25,000 in debt.
Forty-six percent of respondents reported either operating a solo practice or working in a firm or other legal setting with five or fewer lawyers, while 21 % say they work with more than 21 attorneys. Respondents also reported, on average, 54 percent of their offices’ gross receipts went to pay the lawyers in the office, while 22 percent went to support-staff salaries. The remaining 23 percent covered all other firm expenses.
Eighty-six percent of those who completed the survey are satisfied with the services the KBA provides and the most frequently used services were live CLE courses (53%), Attorney’s Directory (66%), and on demand CLE courses (51%).
New this year was a section asking for feedback from young lawyers, aged 35 and younger. Sixty-seven percent anticipate that they will continue to work at their current firm/employer for the next five years, while 20 % are unsure. The most important elements in evaluating a potential employer (based on a 1-5 scale where 1=extremely unimportant and 5=extremely important) are committed to fostering work/life balance for employees (4.85 mean), salary (4.63 mean) and flexible work schedule (4.48 mean). Eighty-eight percent have had a mentor, including 75% of which were attorneys at their firm/employer.
Have I piqued your interest? To view the complete survey results which are filtered based on years of experience, employment setting and firm size, you must log in to the KBA website. Click here to view.
The Annual Membership Meeting will be held on Friday, December 10, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. at the Main Assembly Room of the City County Building. A virtual option will be available for those who wish to participate via Zoom. Please choose how you will attend this program when registering. At the end of the meeting, Jason H. Long will be sworn in as KBA President.
View the event page for more information.
Download the meeting notice here.
The Knoxville Barristers Hunger and Poverty Relief Committee would like to invite members to participate in this year’s canned food & fund drive, which benefits Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. The pandemic forced Second Harvest into crisis mode to make sure families wouldn’t go hungry because many food pantries were forced to close temporarily. Second Harvest Food Bank is East Tennessee's largest hunger-relief charity, operating programs in 18 counties.
Second Harvest Food Bank secures and distributes an average of 21 million pounds of food and grocery products annually through a network of more than 6300+ partnering nonprofit organizations such as food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters and schools. Second Harvest Food Bank provides food to more than 134,000 children, adults, and seniors each month.
If your firm would like to participate in this year’s drive, please use the link below to create your team by Friday, November 5:
https://virtualfooddrive.secondharvestetn.org/a/72b43f575a6576f2e3f6315b39d4d2a9d33ab157 Rules of the Competition
Anyone can win this year’s friendly competition! The winner will be determined by the most meals per employee so that both the weight of the donated food and the monetary donations are included in the calculations for the final standings.
After November 8, you may contribute to the Knoxville Barristers Food & Fund Drive, even if you are unable to sign up as a firm or organization. If you have questions, please contact Chandler Fletcher, Programs & Communications Coordinator.
The Barristers are seeking nominations for the following officers to serve in 2022:
If you would like to nominate someone or are interested in running for a Barristers office, please notify Chandler Fletcher, KBA Programs & Communications Coordinator, at cfletcher@knoxbar.org or 865-522-6522 by Monday, November 1. The person elected Vice-President in December will automatically become the Barristers President for the 2023 bar year. Candidates must be current KBA members.
This year’s Knoxville Barristers holiday party and election will be held on Wednesday, December 8 at 5 pm. Stay tuned for more information.
The Knoxville Barristers Annual Coat Drive will begin October 11 and run through November 5. The Knoxville Barristers have partnered with Knox Areas Rescue Ministries with the goal of collecting thousands of coats for those in need in our area. Coats will be donated to KARM's Coats for the Cold Program. The Knoxville Barristers Hunger & Poverty Relief Committee is asking for gently used men's and women's items, including but not limited to: coats, jackets, parkas, dusters, rain coats, and trench coats.
View the flyer.
Drop-off locations for the coat drive include:
The drop-off location will house a large box with the KBA Barristers logo. If you have any questions, contact Hunger & Poverty Relief Committee Chairs Chuck Sharrett (csharrett@londonamburn.com) or Jimmy Snodgrass (jsnodgrass@kramer-rayson.com).
KBA members are encouraged to watch the Legal History interviews of John Sobieski and Wanda Sobieski, which have recently been added to the KBA website. John and Wanda share their legal journeys and significant contributions to the local legal community. Learn more at https://www.knoxbar.org/?pg=legal-history-videos. This is a project of the KBA Archives Committee funded by the Knoxville Bar Foundation.
The Honorable Geoffrey P. Emery, Knox County General Sessions Division II Judge, announces his retirement effective December 31, 2021. Judge Emery has served Knox County with distinction for over thirty-five years. Born in Maine, Judge Emery spent his childhood years in North Carolina and Alabama. Emery attended the University of Tennessee and received his undergraduate degree in Political Science. He received his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. After spending a few years in private practice, Emery joined the Knox County Law Department in 1981. He was Knox County's first full-time Assistant Director in the Law Department. Judge Emery was appointed to the bench in 1986 and was re-elected into office five consecutive terms. During his judicial tenure, Emery served on the Tennessee General Sessions Judicial Conference Executive Committee, where he further served with distinction as Conference President. When asked about his decision to retire a few months early, Emery replied, “It has been my honor to serve the people of Knox County, and I am grateful for their steadfast support over the decades. Now, however, it is time for me to step down and focus on spending quality time with my family." Emery and his wife, Suzann Turner Emery, have two grown sons and five grandchildren. Judge Emery and his wife plan to enjoy traveling upon his retirement.
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