Historical NBA CLE Seminars
The NBA Historical Committee's CLE Committee produces annual historical CLE seminars that are offered free to the public. These seminars are graciously funded by the Middle District Court's Bench & Bar Fund. The live seminars are accredited for CLE, and the recordings of each seminar are made available online after the event for no CLE credit. We hope that you enjoy this resource to learn about Nashville legal history!
Explore the story behind the origin and early years of Middle Tennessee’s legal aid program. This seminar dives into Ashley Wiltshire’s recent book, Everyday Justice, and employs first-hand accounts of the lawyers who participated in the legal aid program during its infancy. These lawyers confronted legal, ethical, and political hurdles, wielding the Constitution and statutes in creative ways. This program also discusses ethical challenges, the legislative advocacy of the program, and ground breaking cases that opened the doors to the courtroom for many people who could not have previously afforded counsel.
The Legal Aid Revolution: Challenging the Status Quo
Nashville has seen countless murder trials, but only one in which the transcript of the daily proceedings appeared in both the morning and evening newspapers from opening arguments to jury verdict. Bill Powell, a part owner of Capitol Chevrolet, and Haynie Gourley, who had the controlling share, went for a drive one morning in 1968. Powell returned with a bullet in his leg. Gourley returned with multiple gunshot injuries and died in the General Hospital ER. The trial that resulted pitted the District Attorney and John Hooker, Sr. against Cecil Branstetter and Jack Norman, Sr. It was a battle of the Titans. Everyone had an opinion on Powell’s guilt or innocence.
Capitol Chevrolet: An Unsolved Murder (2022)
In a case that shook Nashville to its foundations 41 years ago, the TN Department of Human Services was authorized to amputate the frostbitten and gangrenous feet of Mary Northern, 72, who would not grant permission to her physicians. The case went from Chancery to the US Supreme Court in a matter of day.
The Case of Mary northern (2019)
Nashville's Most Tragic Country Music Murder Case and the Lawyers Who Litigated It. On Saturday night, November 10, 1973, David "Stringbean" Akeman and his wife Estelle returned home after he performed at the Grand Ole Opry. Both were shot dead shortly after their arrival. The killers had waited for hours. Their corpses were discovered the following morning by their neighbor, Grandpa Jones. This on-stage presentation was recorded live at the Nashville Public Main Library on November 8, 2018.
THE STRINGBEAN MURDERS (2018)
On Tuesday, February 25, 1975, the Nashville Police Department had a problem. A nine-year-old Girl Scout in Green Hills was missing and no one seemed to know how it happened. For 33 days the city was in a collective turmoil. Then, on Easter Sunday, March 30, Marcia Trimble's strangled body was found in a neighbor's garage. And the entire city began asking: How did the dogs and searchers miss the body? How long has she been in the garage? When did she die? And the most vexing question of all—who did it?
MARCIA TRIMBLE (2017)
Forty years ago, Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton and scandals in our state government were a national news sideshow. This on-stage presentation was recorded live at the Nashville Public Main Library, November 10, 2016.
BLANTON (2016)
HOFFA! is an in-depth study of the 1962 “Test Fleet” trial and its lasting impact upon Nashville lawyers. In October 1962, the nation’s most powerful labor leader, Teamsters President James R. Hoffa, went on trial in a Nashville federal courtroom: The People vs. Jimmy Hoffa. The labor leader’s Nashville trial became a hornet’s nest of jury rigging, attempted assassination, and tragedy. This on-stage presentation was recorded live at the Nashville Public Main Library, September 17, 2015.
HOFFA! (2015)
The cases and lawyers caused one of the greatest reforms in American history without one riot, without one shot being fired in anger and without polarizing the political system. Chief Justice Earl Warren called it “the most vital decision” of his turbulent years on the Court. Baker vs. Carr was the Nashville Bar Association’s finest hour. Its story, one that few know, will be told.
Baker vS. CarR (2012)
