Around the Bar

AROUND THE BAR By: Cathy Shuck

East Tennessee Children’s Hospital

CHAIR CHAT

In this month’s installment of “Chair Chat,” a periodic feature about the KBA’s many committees and sections, we hear from Employment Law Section co-Chairs Howard Jackson and Mark Travis, and Archives Committee co-Chairs Heidi Barcus and Kim Burnette.1

Employment Law Section

Howard Jackson, of Wimberly Lawson Wright Daves & Jones PLLC, and Mark Travis, of Travis ADR Services LLC, have co-chaired this Section since 2016.

Who should join the Employment Law Section?

Anyone who practices employment law or has an interest and wants to learn more, including in-house counsel who may be called upon to advise on such issues at times.

What is something people might not know about your Section, but should?

It is open to anyone who wants to learn about the subject area, regardless of whether they currently practice in the area much or at all. Employment law touches most of us in one way or another, so almost everyone can take away something useful from the Section’s CLEs and other activities.

If the Section were a household appliance, what would it be and why?

A mosquito killer. We help people understand how to keep out things that can bite them.

How did the pandemic affect the Section?

We had, and still have, zoom presentations instead of in person. We had decent attendance but not to the same level.

What events and/or projects are in the works?

We have a CLE coming up in October. That is normally the last one for the year.

If the Section could do anything at all, what would it be?

Leap tall buildings in a single bound, and have a good understanding of how we can present topics of interest to help as many KBA members as possible.

Archives Committee

R. Kim Burnette, with Arnett, Draper and Hagood, has Chaired the Committee since 2019. Heidi Barcus, of Lewis Thomason, joined as coChair this year.

Who should join the Archives Committee?

Anyone is interested in helping to preserve (as well as enjoy and learn from) the rich legal history of the KBA. We identify members of the KBA whose stories should be preserved, and then arrange for those folks to be interviewed on camera, normally by a partner, relative or close friend—someone who knows them well. The interviews typically run about an hour.

What is something that people might not know about your Committee, but should?

What an amazing resource and treasure trove these videos are. Seeing and listening to these interviews is not just entertaining, but also a great educational resource. There are currently over 50 videos available, including interviews with such pioneers and greats of the Knoxville Bar as Arline Winchester Guyton, Foster Arnett, and Ed Rayson, just to name a few.

If the Committee were a household appliance, what would it be and why?

Although these videos are now available on demand from your desktop, laptop, or phone, let’s go old school and say a VCR, simply because the practices of many of these interviewees go well back in time, even back when Super 8 and Reel-to-Reel were the latest and greatest in video and audio technology.

How did the pandemic affected the committee?

It pretty well ground things to a halt. The video interviews are done with the interviewee, interviewer, and a videographer in close proximity. Because most of the interviewees are more senior members of the Bar, concerns for safety and health counseled in favor of putting these projects on hold during the pandemic. We considered doing the interviews remotely or while masked up, but those options were simply not appealing for this type of intimate archival interview.

What events or other projects are in the works?

As things have pretty much returned to “normal” this year, there are at least a dozen interviews in the works. Recently completed videos available on the KBA website are those of Amy Hess, Bill Simms, and Howard Vogel. The next upcoming interview is that of Judge Curtis Collier, scheduled within the next 30 days. We hope to have several others in the can by year end.

If the Committee could do anything at all, what would it be?

Wave a magic wand and have interviews completed of those members of the Bar that our Committee has identified for interviews before, heaven forbid, something bad happens that prevents the interview from being done.

Anything else to add?

First, if you know of anyone that would be a good candidate for our Committee to interview, please contact either Kim (kburnette@adhknox. com / 865-546-7000) or Heidi (hbarcus@lewisthomason.com / 865-5464646) and let us know. Otherwise, take advantage of this resource by checking out the videos. Go to the KBA website, knoxbar.org, click on Member Resources, and then click on Legal History Videos. With over 50 video interviews currently available, this is a resource that we highly recommend you take advantage of. You will not be disappointed.

1 Responses have been edited slightly for length and clarity.