Upcoming Retirement of Executive Director and Search for New Executive Director
Barri Bernstein was the initial executive director of the Tennessee Bar Foundation and has served in that role since 1985. She advised the Board of Trustees of her retirement in mid-2024. Board Chair, Judge John W. Whitworth, of Camden, stated that “Barri built this Foundation, from the ground up. She provided innovative leadership, which led…
Read MoreIOLTA Grants “Special Award” for 2024
The Tennessee Bar Foundation has the pleasure of making a second announcement of grant awards for calendar year 2024. In addition to the annual, application driven IOLTA (Interest On Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) grants announced earlier in January a “special award” of $1,000,000 of IOLTA funds will be shared, on a poverty population basis, by Tennessee’s…
Read More$2,000,000 Awarded from Tennessee IOLTA Program for 2024
The Tennessee Bar Foundation announces awards that total $2,000,000 from the IOLTA (Interest On Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) program to law-related organizations across the state. This grant amount for 2024 is the largest in the 36-year history of IOLTA in Tennessee and is a result of higher interest rates paid by financial institutions on the funds…
Read MoreLegal History Project interviews available on the internet
ALL 100+ interviews conducted by the (continuing) Legal History Project are now on YouTube to be viewed on any device. The interviewees, from across the state, recount personal biographical information, significant legal topics dealt with during their careers as well as the important social and political issues of their day. The YouTube-linked list of interviews…
Read MoreMarch 2021 – TLIF 2021 – 2023 Grant Awards for Innovation in Civil Legal Aid
The Foundation announces awards totaling $1,263,890 to be paid during 2023 to 29 organizations located across Tennessee. The 2023 grant total increased by more than $500,000 over 2022. In accordance with the Supreme Court’s Order, all recipients provide either direct civil legal service to indigent clients or work to improve the administration of justice. Each…
Read MoreIOLTA program welcomes participation by Tennessee credit unions
Rules amendments ordered by the Tennessee Supreme Court now allow lawyers to establish IOLTA trust checking accounts at eligible credit unions. The Foundation is contacting Tennessee credit unions to educate them about the program and about the law-related community organizations supported by IOLTA grants. Lawyers should watch the list of Eligible Financial Institutions (here) for…
Read More“Chattanooga-area” Reception
The Foundation’s sixth, annual, outreach event was held this month in Chattanooga. Judge Barbara Holmes, Chair of the Board of Trustees, travelled from Nashville to welcome Fellows from southeast Tennessee. The executive directors of local, law-related organizations which receive funds from the IOLTA grant program also attended. See the slideshow of photographs below.
Read More“Knoxville-area” Reception
On April 21, the Foundation held its fifth spring reception, this year for Knoxville-area Fellows. Judge Pam Reeves (past chair of the Board of Trustees), served as the host, amidst the lovely spaces of the Howard H. Baker, Jr. Federal Courthouse. Current Board Chair, Judge Creed McGinley, travelled from Savannah to Knoxville to welcome the 55 guests and…
Read MoreMemphis Reception
The Foundation’s fourth, annual, outreach reception was held this month in Memphis. Fifty Fellows attended, including those newly-elected as members of the Class of 2013, who were honored. The festive event was sponsored by law firms Ballin, Ballin & Fishman and Lewis Thomason and local member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Irma Merrill Stratton.…
Read More“Lower Middle” Reception
On May 7, the Foundation held a reception at historic Rippavilla Plantation in Columbia (Maury County) for Fellows and judges from “lower middle” Tennessee. Guests from six area cities attended, along with Supreme Court justices Connie Clark (Franklin) and Bill Koch (Nashville) and the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, who met earlier in the afternoon in…
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