TLAW ANNUAL

EMPOWERMENT CONFERENCE

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

TLAW approval for 6.25 CLE from the 

TN Commission on Continuing Legal Education

Register  HERE!

Special Thank You to the Sponsors for making the

2023 Empowerment Conference Possible!

Thank you to our Moderator and TLAW Board Member Alexis Tahinci, the

speakers Elizabeth Gefmark, Kimberly McGahey, and Melissa Brown for providing vital information and all who attended the CLE today!

 TLAW Empowerment Conference 2022 - "Stepping into the SpotLight"

TLAW would like to thank this years Attendee's, Committee Members, Sponsors, and Speakers in making this years Empowerment Conference event a Success!

Look at all these Empowered Women Smile! 

2022 Empowerment Conference Event!

Thursday, September 15, 2022, Welcome Cocktail & Hors D'oeuvres Reception By Presenting Sponsor - Butler Snow 

Friday, September 16, 2022, Empowerment Conference hosted by -Waller 

TLAW WANTS TO THANK OUR 2022 SPONSORS! 

Tennessee Lawyers' Association for Women

Statement on Dobbs

Whatever our individual personal beliefs about abortion or constitutional interpretation, as the only statewide lawyers’ association for women, the Tennessee Lawyers’ Association for Women (TLAW) expresses concerns and questions about the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court and its potential impacts on women.  One of the missions of TLAW is “to provide education on issues affecting women attorneys and on legal issues affecting women.”  This statement is in furtherance of that mission.

The United States Supreme Court’s recent pronouncement in Dobbs, overruling Roe vs. Wade, holds that the United States Constitution confers no right to abortion for women in our nation; instead, it reverts authority to regulate abortion to the individual States.

In anticipation of this action, our Tennessee General Assembly enacted Tennessee’s “Heartbeat Law” (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-15-214, et seq.) and triggered enactment of the Tennessee Human Life Protection Act (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-15-213) to take effect in the event that Roe was overruled.  With last week’s ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Tennessee “Heartbeat Law” immediately bans abortion for any fetus that has a heartbeat or after 6 weeks’ gestation.  Within the coming weeks, the Human Life Protection Act will take effect, prohibiting the termination of a pregnancy after fertilization, whether by instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance or device.  Criminal abortion is a Class C felony for anyone who performs or attempts to perform it.  Licensed physicians may assert an affirmative defense, only if the procedure is performed to prevent the death or serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function to the woman.  The statute expressly disallows abortion if the reason is related to maternal mental health.  Likewise, there is no exception for rape or incest, or for the viability or developmental deficiencies of the fetus.

The Court’s decision in Dobbs, coupled with Tennessee’s “Heartbeat Law” and the Human Life Protection Act, will have many wide-reaching effects on women in our state – some known and some unknown.  It is undisputed that women and girls in Tennessee will no longer have the same right to make medical and health-related decisions over their own bodies.  The lives of women and girls who are the victims of rape or incest will be impacted when they are mandated to carry pregnancies forced upon them by their assailants.  The statute offers no consideration for the health or viability of the fetus, which will unquestionably impact the mother, the child and the family.

  There are unknowns as to how this decision and future decisions and statutes may impact the availability and use of contraception, including emergency contraceptives; fertility treatments; and criminal and civil risks to healthcare providers, just to name a few.  Women of lower socio-economic status and those suffering from physical or mental disabilities will bear a disproportionate impact of this decision and its aftermath, increasing the feminization of poverty in our state.  How this decision and its sequela will impact women lawyers professionally remains to be determined but will likely compound existing needs in the profession such as protected parenting leave, childcare support, and mental health care among others.

TLAW is committed to providing education to its members and the public-at-large around these critical issues.  For that purpose, TLAW will be launching a 3-part CLE series to discuss the legal, professional, societal, and individual impact of this ruling and our State’s legislative actions in the coming months.

Empowerment Conference - Keynote Speaker

Carmeon Hamilton is a Memphis-based interior designer and lifestyle blogger behind the brand, Nubi Interiors, winner of HGTV’s Design Star: Next Gen and star of HGTV’s Reno My Rental. Her work, story and content around design, branding and elevating the everyday are featured and referenced in Architectural Digest, Southern Living, Essence, Domino and more. Carmeon utilizes her design education and vast experience to discover the beauty in all things and help others find beauty in what surrounds them every day. 

The conference is currently awaiting approval for 5+ hours of CLE credit.

 REGISTER TODAY! 

Great fun and laughs playing virtual Family Feud with the Tennessee Lawyers' Association for Women 

January 20, 2022

Congratulations to our Winners!

Kim Looney ~ Rachel Moses ~ Amber Vargas

The Tennessee Lawyer’s Association for Women today mourns the loss of Justice Cornelia Clark of the Tennessee Supreme Court.  Justice Clark was a pioneer for women lawyers and staunch advocate of access to justice.  She dedicated her life to the law, improving the function of our Courts, and our jurisprudence.  We are better lawyers and jurists for having her example to follow and for her friendship and service to our organization.  We honor her contributions to the profession and will continue the work inspired by her. TLAW joins the legal community and Tennesseans throughout the State in extending our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the late Justice Cornelia Clark.  She will be missed.

We are pleased to welcome the 2021-2022 Officers,

sworn in virtually by Chief Justice Roger Page 

President:    Psonya Hackett

            President-Elect:      Julie Battacharya Peak

            Recording Secretary               Amy Farrar

            Corresponding Secretary        Sunny Eaton

            Treasurer                                 Linda Knight

               West TN Director at Large         Chelsea Conner          

Thank you Judge Bernice Donald for wonderful presentation and full of wisdom!

" If everyone around me looks like me and talks like me I have no one to guard against my blind spots" 

2021 EMPOWERMENT CONFERENCE 

"It Starts with Us"

FOR SAFTEY PURPOSE: 

ONLINE VIRTUAL ZOOM EVENT ONLY

Empowerment Conference Friday, September 10, 2021,

 virtual option only!

5 Hours CLE APPROVED!

 HERE VIEW AGENDA

SPONSORSHIP INQUIRES

TLAW would like you to celebrate with Judge Bernice Donald to receive the 2020 Lifetime Liberty Achievement Award. This award celebrates judges and lawyers who have gone above and beyond in promoting diversity and inclusion in the profession!

TLAW Annual Meeting in Conjunction with TBA at the downtown Knoxville Holiday Inn

June 17, 2020 Joint Cocktail Reception & June 18, 2020 Annual Breakfast Meeting

Registration Coming!

CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY!

"Women's Right to Vote - 99 year Anniversary" The Tennessee Women's Suffrage Monument wreath laying on August 24, 2019

TLAW Annual Meeting in Conjunction with TBA Convention June 13 & 14, 2019

Welcome 2019-2020 TLAW Officers