Knoxville and Memphis Lawyers To Take Offices In Tennessee Bar Association

  • Monday, June 13, 2016
Jason H. Long
Jason H. Long

Knoxville lawyer Jason H. Long will take office as president of the Tennessee Bar Association at the group's annual convention this week in Nashville. Mr. Long previously served as president-elect during the 2015-2016 bar year.

"The TBA plays a preeminent role in promoting civility and professionalism within the bar and facilitating access to justice and an understanding of the legal system throughout the state," Mr. Long said. "It is a great honor to follow in the footsteps of those who have led this association so well and to continue their work."

During his tenure, Mr. Long said he will lead the TBA to focus on educating and empowering Tennessee lawyers to adapt to and thrive in today's evolving legal marketplace. The TBA will facilitate the use of greater technology and innovative practice to promote efficiency in legal work and to increase opportunities for Tennesseans to secure quality representation, he said.

Mr. Long is a partner with Lowe, Yeager & Brown and works primarily in the areas of professional malpractice defense and licensure issues, commercial litigation, general civil litigation, municipal zoning and adoption law. He joined the firm in 2014. Mr. Long previously worked at Sheppeard & Swanson PLLC and London & Amburn PC. He graduated in 1996 from the University of Tennessee College of Law.

Mr. Long has been an active member of the TBA since 1998, serving in multiple roles, including president of the Young Lawyers Division and chair of the Operations Committee of the Board of Governors. He received the President's Award in 2009 for his service as coordinator of the "Justice 4 All" statewide public service day project. Mr. Long also has been active in his local legal community, having served as the president of the Knoxville Bar Association Barristers Division and chair of the KBA Membership Committee. 

Memphis lawyer Lucian T. Pera will take office as president-elect of the Tennessee Bar Association.  He will serve in that position during the 2016-2017 bar year and move into the presidency in 2017.

"The TBA is the coolest and most vibrant bar association in the country, and it's a really unique opportunity to serve as president," Mr. Pera said.

Mr. Pera is a partner in the Memphis office of Adams and Reese LLP, where he practices in the area of commercial litigation, media law, legal ethics, and professional responsibility. A Memphis native, Mr. Pera has practiced law in his hometown since 1986. He practiced law for 20 years with Armstrong Allen PLLC before joining and helping open the Memphis office of Adams and Reese in 2006. Mr. Pera graduated from Princeton University with honors and earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1985.

Mr. Pera has been active in the TBA since his first year of law practice, beginning in the bar's Young Lawyer Division and rising to serve as YLD president in 1993-1994. For almost a decade starting in 1995, he led the bar's legal ethics committee, which wrote and successfully proposed to the Tennessee Supreme Court a completely revised set of lawyer ethics rules patterned after the American Bar Association's model rules. At the same time, he also served on the ABA Ethics 2000 Commission, which overhauled the model rules for the entire United States in 2002.

Mr. Pera has also been active in the American Bar Association, serving in its governing House of Delegates since 1990 and serving as ABA treasurer from 2011-2014. He serves as chair of the ABA's Center for Professional Responsibility, the home of the ABA's core lawyer ethics and professional responsibility committees. He also serves as president of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government. TCOG is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that seeks to improve citizen access to public information and open government in the state, officials said.

Taking office along with Mr. Long and President-elect Lucian T. Pera of Adams and Reese LLP in Memphis, will be Vice President Jason Pannu of Lewis Thomason in Nashville. Bill Harbison of Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison in Nashville served as TBA president during the 2015-2016 bar year. 

The 2016 TBA Annual Convention will be held June 15-18 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel. The annual meeting allows legal groups in the state to address common issues and concerns and offers opportunities for additional education, long-range planning, and recognition of attorneys who have performed outstanding legal work and community service.
Lucian T. Pera
Lucian T. Pera
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