Nashville attorney and former TBA president Jacqueline Dixon was recognized as the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program's (TLAP) Volunteer of the Year at the Annual Camp TLAP held April 4 -6 at Montgomery Bell State Park in Dickson. She currently serves as board chair of the Tennessee Bar Foundation, vice-chair of the TLAP Commission and chair of the TLAP Foundation. She is a past president of the Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women. Dixon also currently gives back to the community by serving on the boards of two non-profit organizations: A Step Ahead Foundation of Middle Tennessee, a provider of free long-acting reversible birth control, where she is a founding board member and past board president; and First Steps Inc., a provider of education and care for special needs children alongside their typically developing peers. Dixon has been instrumental in advancing TLAP as a top program and providing financial assistance via the TLAP Foundation to those in need of mental health or substance use disorder services through TLAP according to the organization.

The TBA Creditors Practice Section Executive Council will hold a section social event at Noble's Central, 2292 Rosa L Parks Blvd., Nashville 37228 on April 30 from 5:30-8 p.m. CDT. Section members are invited to join colleagues for drinks, appetizers and opportunities to network with the executive council and fellow section members. Get more information and RSVP here.

Tennessee Attorney General (AG) Jonathan Skrmetti has announced that his office has filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court seeking judicial dissolution of the National Foundation for Transplants Inc. (NFT), a Memphis-based nonprofit that raised funds for organ transplant patients. According to a press release, the lawsuit follows an investigation into the organization’s business practices and handling of patient donations. NFT announced in 2024 that it would cease operations due to financial difficulties. The AG’s Office launched the investigation after receiving complaints from patients and donors who alleged NFT had misrepresented that donations made to specific patients would be restricted for their use. Instead, NFT later claimed those donations were unrestricted and placed in a general fund. Many patients discovered they could no longer access the funds they believed had been raised for their medical needs. The lawsuit, filed under the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act, seeks to dissolve the organization on the grounds that it acted in a persistently fraudulent manner, abused its authority or can no longer fulfill its charitable mission. If granted, the court would oversee the distribution of NFT’s remaining assets to a nonprofit with a similar purpose.

Morristown attorney Gary E. Brewer died March 31 at age 79. He received his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1969. Brewer was a member of the Hamblen County and Tennessee Bar Associations and the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, where he served as president from 1988-1989. He was also a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the Tennessee Appellate Court Nomination Committee from 1988 to 1992, and a member of the Tennessee Judicial Selection Commission from 1994 to 2006, serving as chairman for two of those years. Brewer was senior partner at Brewer & Terry PC in Morristown. A memorial will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. EDT on April 19 in the East Chapel of Allen Funeral Home, 200 Jaybird Rd., Morristown 37814, followed by a Celebration of Life service at 3 p.m. Memorial donations may be made to Friends of Hospice Serenity House, 421 N. High St., Morristown, TN 37814.

The TBA is offering an on-demand webinar, “8 Things Killing Your Law Firm and How to Stop Them,” aimed at helping attorneys identify and eliminate wasteful practices that do not add value from the client’s perspective. As legal clients increasingly seek value and shop around for efficient representation, the webinar provides practical guidance on streamlining operations by targeting the eight most common sources of inefficiency in a law firm. The session is available for viewing on both laptops and mobile devices. More information can be found on the TBA website.

Rainess Holmes pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated burglary and one count of second-degree murder in the 2021 death of Andrew “Drew” Rainer, a Rhodes College student. The Daily Memphian reports that Holmes was sentenced to 20 years in prison and received credit for the three and a half years he has already served. He will be required to serve 100% of the remaining sentence. Prosecutors said Holmes and several others broke into an off-campus home in October 2021 where Rainer, other students and a guest were staying. Rainer was shot in the chest during the break-in and pronounced dead at the scene. According to a statement from the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, Holmes was one of four men who entered the home but was not the shooter.

For four consecutive weeks, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in West Knoxville has been closed for routine check-ins, causing heightened anxiety among immigrants, Knox News reports. Many affected residents are in the process of seeking asylum and could face removal if they miss scheduled check-ins. The office serves individuals who are either authorized to be in the United States or are working with the government to remain. Those awaiting immigration court dates, undergoing the asylum process, or subject to removal orders but considered low priority are typically required to check in every few months. Prior to the closure, three individuals were arrested without warning during a Feb. 12 check-in, despite facing no criminal charges.

The Knoxville Bar Foundation is now accepting grant proposals for its 2025 funding cycle, with applications due by May 30. Established in 1992 to promote justice, legal education and support for the legal profession, the Foundation has awarded more than $580,000 to local law-related programs and projects. Individual grants are typically $5,000 or less and must be used for specific initiatives, excluding operating costs and endowments. Grants will be awarded in June, and interested organizations are encouraged to apply online here.

Dean John Sauer was confirmed as U.S. solicitor general and the Trump administration’s top lawyer for Supreme Court cases in a 52-45 Senate vote, Bloomberg reports. Sauer, a former federal prosecutor and Missouri solicitor general, successfully argued before the Supreme Court last year on behalf of former President Donald Trump in his bid for immunity from criminal prosecution related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. Additionally, the Senate confirmed attorney Harmeet Dhillon, Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, also in a 52-45 vote. Dhillon will oversee both criminal and civil matters, including hate crime prosecutions, voting rights litigation and investigations into law enforcement agencies for patterns of discrimination.

Nine international students at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UT) have had their immigration statuses changed, resulting in revoked student visas and the risk of deportation as of Friday, Knox News reports. The students are listed as “individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their visa revoked.” UT discovered last week that the statuses had changed for three students and a former student working on campus. The terminations — entered directly into the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, bypassed the university’s traditional role in initiating such changes and left students without the opportunity to contest the revocations beforehand. International students across the country are now pursuing legal challenges to the SEVIS terminations, arguing the actions may violate constitutional due process protections and the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires federal agencies to provide notice and an opportunity to respond before taking adverse administrative action.