The Nashville Arts & Business Council's Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts (VLPA) will hold a pro bono legal clinic for the creative community on Nov. 6. The clinic for income-qualified artists, musicians and creatives will take place from 6-8 p.m. CST at the Country Music Association, 35 Music Square E, #201, Nashville 37203. Those in need of legal services can register for a 30-minute appointment. The deadline to register is Nov. 1. Lawyers who would like to volunteer for the clinic sign up here.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Oct. 23 suspended 30 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee; 20 of them also failed to file proof that client funds are held in an IOLTA-compliant account. View the fee suspension order and IOLTA suspension order. See the list of all lawyers suspended and reinstated for fee and IOLTA violations in 2024 or access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.

Lang Wiseman in November will join Memphis-based First Horizon from Baker Donelson's Memphis office. Law.com reports that Wiseman will come onboard as deputy general counsel and then transition to general counsel in January, on the retirement of current General Counsel Charles Tuggle. Wiseman served as deputy governor and general counsel to Gov. Bill Lee for three years. He previously was a founding partner of Wiseman Bray, counsel to the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and a law clerk for Harry W. Wellford of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. He currently serves as chair of the Governor's Council for Judicial Appointments. Read more in a release from the company.

The law license of Georgia lawyer Robert Andrew Free has been transferred from disability inactive status to inactive status pending resolution of an outstanding disciplinary complaint. Free filed a petition for reinstatement on Sept. 12. Earlier this month, the Board of Professional Responsibility recommended removal of the disability status and transfer to inactive status. He will remain on inactive status until further order of the court.

Florida lawyer Diane Joyce Geller was reinstated to the practice of law in Tennessee on Oct. 16. She had been placed on inactive status more than five years ago on May 16, 2013. The Board of Professional Responsibility reviewed her petition for reinstatement and determined it was satisfactory. The Tennessee Supreme Court issued the order on Oct. 23.

Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway is urging parents to talk to their children about the seriousness of school threats. WKRN reports that dozens of teens have been arrested for threatening Metro Nashville schools just since school started. “They absolutely don’t understand what they’re doing,” Calloway said in an interview with the news outlet. “They don’t understand how serious that can be. They’re not really thinking about all of the trauma our community has suffered from true school violence.” She said that when teens are in her courtroom, she has heard myriad reasons why students make threats. “It’s anything from ‘I was being bullied and didn’t know how to respond,' to 'I didn’t want to take a test’, ‘I wasn’t ready for my homework’, or ‘I was not wanting to go to school today.'”

Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, this week stated that he will file a new universal school voucher proposal on Nov. 6, and expects House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, to do the same in the House. Chalkbeat reports that Johnson plans to have the new bill be the first filed for Tennessee’s upcoming legislative session. Gov. Bill Lee has continued to promote the plan after it did not pass in the last session. The 114th Tennessee General Assembly convenes on Jan. 14, 2025.

Due to damage from Hurricane Helene, several East Tennessee counties have alternate polling places for early voters and for Election Day. Knox News details the changes in Carter, Cocke, Greene, Johnson, Unicoi and Washington counties. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Tennessee Secretary of State say they are working with local election administrators to ensure every county maintains its access to voting in the lead up to election day on Nov. 5.

Amy Willoughby Bryant, director of the Metro Nashville Office of Conservatorship Management and a member of TBA's Board of Governors, last week was elected as National Guardianship Association (NGA) president at the group's national conference. She will take office in January 2025. NGA represents more than 1000 guardians, conservators and fiduciaries from across the United States. It seeks to protect adults by ensuring that their guardians receive quality education and access to resources. The NGA also partners with other organizations such as the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the American Bar Association, the National College of Probate Judges and the AARP to affect positive change in guardianship and conservatorship policy.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission will consider five applicants when it meets Nov. 12 in Sevierville to select nominees for a circuit court judge vacancy in the 4th Judicial District, which includes Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson and Sevier counties. The applicants are Jeremy D. Ball, Lu Ann H. Ballew, Susan Joanne Sheldon, Luke A. Shipley and S. Lane Wolfenbarger. The public hearing will be held in the third-floor courtroom of the Sevier County Courthouse, 125 Court Ave., Sevierville 37862 at 9 a.m. EST. The commission is expected to vote immediately following the interviews and forward three names to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration. A vacancy on the court was created following the death of Judge O. Duane Slone on Aug. 24. Learn more about the candidates in a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts.