A proud tradition; a commitment to the future

Since its founding in 1881, the Tennessee Bar Association has been dedicated to serving the Tennessee legal community — providing high-quality educational programs, advocating for the Tennessee justice system and informing lawyers across the state on developments within the profession and its environment.

Today, the TBA is the largest professional association in Tennessee, with nearly 9,000 members who represent the entire spectrum of the legal community, from plaintiff and defense attorneys to judges, government and legal services attorneys, corporate counsel, and a number of attorneys residing outside the state who retain an interest in the Tennessee legal profession.

From online pioneer to pacesetter

The 69 Tennessee lawyers who signed the Charter of Incorporation establishing the Tennessee Bar Association on Dec. 14, 1881, couldn’t have envisioned the day when computers would link attorneys across the state and around the world, but they did establish an organization with high standards and a commitment to improving the practice of the law. Those remain the guiding principles for the association and its TennBarU Online Continuing Legal Education program.

The online CLE program was one of the nation’s first and grew from the TBA’s pioneering TBALink online service. TBALink, launched in 1996, has twice been recognized as the best bar web site in the nation by the National Association of Bar Executives and remains a vital service for lawyers.

The TennBarU online CLE program also has grown to become one of the association’s most popular services. Since the first class was developed by volunteers in 1998, attorneys across Tennessee have been drawn to the convenience and the quality of TennBarU offerings. The value of earning earn CLE credit and building knowledge from the convenience of your home, office or laptop continues to grow as time becomes ever more precious for practicing lawyers.

Looking ahead

Thousands of Tennessee attorneys now enjoy TennBarU’s text-based interactive courses every year, and the TBA is committed to developing new courses on emerging topics as well as maintaining a catalog of the basics. In addition, TennBarU is expanding to offer interactive video courses and is working with developers to ensure that the latest technologies and methods of distance learning are available to attorneys enrolled in TennBarU courses.

As always, the goal of presenting quality information in a manner that is the most effective and convenient for attorneys will remain central. And, as always, the volunteers leading the TennBarU program are open to your suggestions and ideas for new programs and new means of delivery.