Why We’re Different
Tennessee Law Institute was founded by Don Paine, who was a former president of both the Knoxville and Tennessee Bar Associations and a founding member of the Tennessee Bar Journal Editorial Board. Paine, who also authored the original Tennessee Law of Evidence, strongly believed that attorneys must pursue up-to-date knowledge of changes in state and federal laws and statutes. Because of these convictions, he founded the Tennessee Law Institute even before the requirement of obtaining mandatory CLE hours in order to maintain an active license to practice law.
The first Annual Review Seminar was first presented in 1972. In 1973, John Walker joined Paine in leading TLI, and for many years attendees affectionately referred to the Annual Review Seminar as the “Donnie and Johnny show.” Sarah Sheppeard joined TLI in 1987 and was followed by Lucian Pera in 2002, Wade Davies in 2011, and Ed lanquist in 2021. They, too, utilize an innovative style of presenting the most relevant information in ways to which attendees can relate, often interjecting humor. Paine, for example, used an oversized stuffed panda during his evidence seminars. The panda, Mr. Bear, still participates in today’s CLE seminars, and wears one of Paine’s ties. Paine passed away in 2013 and Walker passed away just a few years later in 2016.
Well before passing away, Don Paine had elicited the help of Sarah Sheppeard, who co-wrote the 2nd through 6th editions of the treatise Tennessee Law of Evidence with him and Neil Cohen. She wrote the seventh edition, released last year. Sheppeard was recognized as the first recipient of the Knoxville Bar Association’s Don Paine Lawyer Legacy Award.
As Sheppeard, Davies, Pera, and Lanquist continue to deeply honor the legacy of Don Paine, they have become legacies in their own right. Throughout each year they collect and analyze all Tennessee appellate cases, statutes, and changes in court rules, as well as various federal statutes and opinions. This voluminous material is carefully reviewed, and the most important items are condensed into a two-day seminar intended to give the practitioner the most up-to-date knowledge of these important developments.
Now in its 55th year, the Annual Review Seminar has the largest attendance of any continuing legal education program in Tennessee. In addition to teaching many of the state’s attorneys, the lecturers have also given CLE presentations to other local, statewide and national conferences, including the Tennessee Judicial Conference.
“The best comprehensive review in the state. TLI is the only seminar I attend each year.”
ATTORNEY IN JOHNSON CITY
How The Annual Review Seminar Works
The other factor that differentiates TLI from other CLE providers is how the Annual Review Seminar is structured. In order to make it easy and accessible for attorneys to attend, the Seminars are presented in 5 locations throughout the state from September through December.
These seminars offer 15 hours of state required CLE— 3 hours or Ethics/Professionalism and 12 for general hours—over the course of two days. The Ethics hours are optional as to registration for the seminar. Participants can “mix and match” course locations to best suit their schedule, and can easily reschedule for another location should they need to cancel. Full refunds, or credit for the following year, are given with a 48-hour notice.
Participants learn in a classroom setting and the informative environment supports attorneys in elevating many areas of their law practice. Because we deeply believe in the value of our program, we commit to the following agreement:
