Charlotte Knight Griffin

The Tennessee Bar Association will meet in Knoxville June 10-13, 2026, at the Crowne Plaza for the TBA Annual Convention. This year’s convention will feature the first-ever TBA Tech Showcase and Lunch & Learn breakouts.

Charlotte Knight Griffin will be installed as TBA president. She is a graduate of Winston College of Law at the University of Tennessee and is retired from Memphis Light, Gas and Water.

Also expect awards, good food and continuing legal education including sessions on artificial intelligence and Apple graphics for courtroom presentations.

Buck Lewis gets Leech award

Buck Lewis

George Tolbert “Buck” Lewis, former president of the Tennessee Bar Association, has been named the 2026 recipient of the William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award. Leech is a former Tennessee attorney general (1978-84). He was president of the 1971 state constitutional convention.

Lewis is a shareholder in the Memphis office of Baker Donelson and leads the firm’s Appellate Group. A graduate of the University of Tennessee (now Winston) College of Law, Lewis has practiced law for almost 45 years, focusing on class action, business litigation and appellate work.

He also is the Larry Wilks Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at Winston College of Law and co-founder of the newly renamed Pamela Reeves Institute for Professional Leadership. His contributions to the profession include serving as president of the TBA and the Memphis Bar Foundation and as a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates.

Presented by the TBA Young Lawyers Division Fellows, the award honors outstanding service to the legal profession, the justice system and the community. Lewis will be honored June 12, 2026, at the TBA Annual Convention in Knoxville.

Knox state legislative candidates

Political junkies have moved on from the May 5 primaries to the upcoming August 6 state primaries and county general election and November 3 general elections. Here are the local legislative candidates with incumbents in bold. The qualifying deadline was noon on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Lists are available from the Secretary of State.

  • Anderson/ Knox/ Loudon: Senate 5 – Jimmy Matlock (R) and David Miller (D).
  • Knox: Senate 7 – Richard Briggs (R), Kent Morrell (R) and Bryan Langan (D).
  • Knox: District 14 – Jason Zachary (R), Lindsay Young Honaker (D) and Shivam R. Zaveri (D).
  • Knox: District 15 – Sam McKenzie (D).
  • Knox: District 16 – Michele Carringer (R) and Eliza Boles (D).
  • Knox: District 18 – Elaine Davis (R), Brent N. Jones (R), Elliott Schuchardt (R) and Bryan Goldberg (D).
  • Knox: District 19 – Dave Wright (R) and Jenny Fowler (D).
  • Knox: District 89 – Justin Lafferty (R) and Randy Debord (D).
  • Knox: District 90 – Gloria Johnson (D).
Notes & Quotes

The Knoxville Bar Association will partner with CLE Abroad to travel to Morocco in January 2027. Travelers will visit “The White City” of Casablanca, the cultural capital of Fes and the cosmopolitan political capital of Rabat. An optional additional excursion into the Sahara Desert is also available. Early bird registration is available until May 15. Learn more here. 

“Fred Astaire made dancing look effortless on screen and stage. … He started dancing when he was 4, and when he was 6, he formed an act with his sister, Adele, that became a popular vaudeville attraction on Broadway. When Adele retired in 1932, Astaire made a screen test. The movie executive wrote: ‘Can’t act, can’t sing. Balding. Can dance a little.’ Still, Astaire got a part in Dancing Lady (1933). It starred Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and the Three Stooges. He said: ‘The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it’s considered to be your style.’ ” – Garrison Keillor drills down on the dancing man here.

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