State Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Eads, has revealed nine allegations that he says are grounds for the removal of Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy. According to the Daily Memphian, Taylor laid out his case at the Memphis Police Association headquarters this week. Among his allegations, Taylor says that Mulroy unethically colludes with judges and circumvents the authority of the Tennessee legislature, and that his office no longer opposes parole for first-degree murder convictions, no longer opposes waivers for court costs and fines, and engages in race-based prosecution. Mulroy has mounted a public defense campaign, recently posting videos that push back on calls for his removal and demonstrating his compliance with Taylor’s record requests.

The American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has released Formal Opinion 514 to provide guidance on a lawyer’s obligations when advising an organization about conduct that may create legal risks for the organization’s constituents. According to the opinion, lawyers should advise organizations’ constituents — employees, officers or board members — about the lawyer’s role early and often during the relationship. “When an organization’s lawyer provides advice to the organization about proposed conduct that may have legal implications for individual constituents, the constituents through whom the lawyer conveys advice may misperceive the lawyer’s role and mistakenly believe that they can rely personally on the lawyer’s advice,” according to the opinion. It cites Rules 4.1, 4.3 and 1.13(f) that require an organization’s lawyer to take reasonable measures to avoid or dispel constituents’ misunderstandings about the lawyer’s role. Read more in a release from the association.

The Tennessee Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection met recently to consider claims from clients alleging financial loss due to the illegal actions of their lawyers. The fund approved one claim against Knox County attorney Christopher Shawn Roberts in the amount of $2,405.50. It also directed Roberts to reimburse the fund for the expense. The Fund for Client Protection was established by the Tennessee Supreme Court to reimburse individuals for losses caused by dishonest conduct by attorneys. The fund is operated by a board, which meets quarterly to consider claims. In September 2022, the Tennessee Supreme Court amended Rule 25 to require the fund to notify the Tennessee Bar Association of claims paid. News releases also are posted online.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Jan. 3 rejected a reinstatement request from Florida lawyer Katherine Kemp. On Oct. 25, 2024, Kemp filed a petition for reinstatement of her Tennessee law license. After the court determined she had outstanding obligations with the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education, it issued an order on Nov. 8, 2024, directing her to resolve those obligation by Dec. 3, 2024. The court now reports that Kemp failed to satisfy her outstanding obligations by the deadline and therefore her petition for reinstatement has been dismissed.

The Tennessee Supreme Court issued a public censure to Montgomery County lawyer Cleo Greer Hogan on Jan. 8. Hogan represented two clients in pursuing social security disability benefits when he received notice from the Social Security Administration of the denial of each client’s request for reconsideration of their claims. The court found that due to inadequate case management protocols, Hogan missed the appeal deadline for both clients. After discovering the error, Hogan told both clients that their only option was to file a new application rather than advise the clients that he could request a good cause extension of the appeal deadline. The court determined that these actions violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.4, 5.1, 5.3 and 8.4.

UPDATE: This month's clinic has been canceled due to inclement weather. The Memphis Bar Association (MBA) will host its Second Saturday Legal Advice Clinic this week on Jan. 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. CST at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. Attorneys are always needed to give legal advice and basic guidance on a range of issues, from divorce to employment law. To sponsor a future clinic, contact Mary Ann Upchurch at maupchurch@memphisbar.org. Questions about the clinic should be directed to Memphis Area Legal Services Pro Bono Managing Attorney Heather Staggs at hstaggs@malsi.org.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands, the Nashville Metro Office of Conservatorship Management and Belmont University College of Law are joining forces to offer a free conservatorship training course. The event will take place on Jan. 21 from 12:15-1:15 p.m. CST at Belmont Law. Lunch will be provided. For more information contact Belmont’s Public Interest Coordinator Ginny Blake at ginny.blake@belmont.edu. Register here.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky has found that the U.S. Department of Education exceeded its constitutional authority when it adopted changes to Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972. The Biden administration had sought to expand the law’s prohibition of sex discrimination in education programs to LGBTQ+ students. U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves scrapped the entire regulation after deciding it was “fatally” tainted by legal shortcomings, the Associated Press reports. A suit against the rules was brought by Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. Reeves had temporarily blocked the regulations last summer. In a statement after the ruling, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called the decision “a nationwide win” against rules that would have “compromised girls' privacy in locker rooms and bathrooms and required teachers and administrators to use pronouns that do not align with students’ biological sex.”

Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 13 provides for the appointment of counsel for indigent parties with a statutory or constitutional right to legal representation. Recent posts from TBA's Indigent Representation Primer have included an overview of the process for appointing counsel, which follows a determination by the the court that a litigant is indigent, and eligible for appointed counsel. For criminal cases, district public defender offices are typically the initial source for appointed counsel; however, due to inherent limitations such as conflicts of interest or high caseloads, it is impossible for public defenders to serve all the state’s indigent defendants. In these cases, as well as juvenile dependency and neglect cases or when a Guardians ad Litem (GAL) is required, the court may appoint a private attorney instead. In Tennessee, a court's selection of an appointed attorney may be based on a combination of factors, including availability, expertise and conflict checks. Read all past primer posts and look for new topics each week. 

McGlinchey Stafford has announced the appointment of Will Wojcik as the new managing member of its Nashville office. Wojcik replaces Shaun Ramey, who opened McGlinchey’s Nashville office and had served as office managing member since 2018. Ramey will continue his role as chair of the firm’s national financial services litigation practice. Wojcik, who joined McGlinchey in 2023, focuses his practice on corporate, transactional, governance and tax matters, as well as construction defect, real estate, contract and zoning disputes. He earned his law degree from Vanderbilt Law School and a master of laws in taxation from New York University School of Law.