The Tennessee Supreme Court recently appointed a new member to the state’s Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization.
Kyonzté Hughes-Toombs will take her seat on the Commission effective January 1, 2021. She replaces outgoing Commission Chair John Alexander, whose second three-year term on the Commission expires at the end of the year. Commission members are limited to two terms.
Hughes-Toombs is a Nashville-based attorney who currently serves as the deputy general counsel for the Tennessee Department of Health. Previously, she had a solo practice specializing in family and criminal law. She also spent time working as an associate at a firm in Nashville and as a litigation attorney with the Department of Children’s Services.
Hughes-Toombs received her Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt Law School in 2004, after having graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2001.
She has been involved in a number of professional and community organizations throughout her career. Hughes-Toombs presently serves as Secretary and General Counsel of the Equity Alliance, a nonprofit that works to engage African Americans and other communities of color in the civic process. She was also a founding board member of that organization.
She recently completed a term as secretary of the Nashville Bar Association and currently serves on the NBA’s Membership Committee. Hughes-Toombs also currently serves on the Board of the Lawyers Association for Women – Marion Griffin Chapter. She is a past president of the Napier-Looby Bar Association.
Hughes-Toombs was named to the 2017 class of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Leadership Law program and was a member of the 2015 class of Nashville Emerging Leaders. In 2017, she was named a fellow of the Napier-Looby Bar Association, and in 2015, she was named a fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation. She was recently chosen to represent the Department of Health as a member of LEAD TN, a program that seeks to identify and train new leaders in the state.
The Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization tracks CLE hours for 24,000 Tennessee attorneys and also approves or denies CLE credit for over 9,000 continuing legal education courses across the country each year. Additionally, it registers over 300 Tennessee attorneys as specialists in 14 areas of law.
The Commission is composed of 11 members, nine of whom are attorneys and two of whom are non-attorneys. The Supreme Court appoints the Commission’s chairperson, whereas its vice chairperson, secretary, and treasurer are elected by Commission members. The Supreme Court has selected Kirk L. Moore as the next chairperson. Moore is an associate at Elam Glasgow and Chism in Union City.
Supreme Court Justice Connie Clark serves as the Court’s liaison to the Commission.
To read more about the Commission and its duties visit its website.
