In this installment of "Day on Torts," John Day clears up a common misconception about the statute of limitations for wrongful death cases in Tennessee.

The TBA Administrative Law Section will host its Annual Forum on Dec. 13 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. CST in Nashville. The program is a staple for Tennessee administrative lawyers, designed to keep practitioners current in their field. Stay tuned for more details here. 

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights today announced that Memphis-Shelby County Schools violated federal civil rights law by not adequately responding to complaints of sexual harassment and assault of students over a three-year period. Chalkbeat reports that district documents reflect reports that teachers or substitute teachers sexually assaulted students in seven incidents across three school years at all school levels in the district. Documents also show 53 more cases of reported staff-to-student sexual harassment, not including sexual assault, as well as a total of 88 cases of student-to-student sexual harassment during the same time period.

A study by the Law School Admission Council found that the number of law school applicants rose nearly 6% this year, making it the second-largest applicant pool of the past five years. Figures show that 3,478 more people sought admission to the 197 American Bar Association-accredited law schools this year. Applicants of color accounted for nearly 48% of the pool, up from about 47% in 2023. The number of Black applicants increased 7.4%, while Hispanic applicants rose 9.6% and Asian applicants were up 6.7%. White applicants posted an increase at 3.3%. According to Reuters, the increase resulted from a stronger push by the council and individual law schools to promote legal education to historically underrepresented groups, said Susan Krinsky, interim president of the council. The current application cycle suggests the national applicant pool could expand again in 2025, with the number of people who took the LSAT earlier this month up 21% over the previous year. Registrations for September’s test are up 14%.

Nashville lawyer Brooks R. Smith, a partner at Bradley, has authored a new treatise on Tennessee real property law, providing comprehensive guidance on topics such as estates, deeds, leasing and title insurance. According to Legal Newsline, Smith's treatise will be a valuable resource for legal professionals and real estate practitioners. Smith has extensive experience in real estate transactions. He has served as group leader of Bradley’s Real Estate Practice Group and is a past chair of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Real Estate Section. The firm has more on the publication.

Henry Beecher Hicks III, the former CEO of the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), has filed a lawsuit alleging that he is owed close to $300,000 of promised payments as part of a separation agreement with the museum. NMAAM disputes that claim, telling the Nashville Business Journal, "We are continuing to gain a clearer picture of Mr. H. Beecher Hicks III's fiscal management practices during his tenure." Hicks led the museum from 2013 to 2023, which included the museum's opening in 2021 at the prominent Fifth + Broadway development in downtown Nashville, capping a planning effort that lasted more than two decades.

Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) chair Hendrell Remus will not seek another term when party leadership elections happen in January. The Nashville Banner reports that Remus was elected in 2021 as the first Black chair of the TNDP and reelected in 2023. In his two terms, he says he focused on making the party function as “a political operation, not a social club” and has sought more than short-term wins. Remus told the news outlet that the final test of whether his tenure was effective would be this year’s general election when the party aims to exceed the Democratic voter turnout seen during the 2020 presidential election and flip at least two state house seats.

Tennessee Ethics Commission members reviewed an ethics complaint against Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds in a closed-door session on Thursday, the Tennesean reports. The complaint, filed by Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville, alleges that Reynolds accepted paid travel from her former employer ExcelinEd for two out-of-state trips after being named to the state position. After the complaint surfaced, Reynolds repaid approximately $2,000 in travel expenses and was reimbursed by the state. Reynolds’ attorney argues that the travel was covered by ExcelinEd, not ExcelinEd Action, and thus was not a violation of the law. In a letter to the commission, Hemmer criticized Reynolds’ repayment as a reactive measure rather than a genuine correction, citing previous issues with tuition reimbursements as evidence of a pattern of non-compliance. He also is calling for formal reprimands and civil penalties to address and deter the alleged unethical behavior.

Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that raised the standard for obstruction charges, federal prosecutors have decided not to pursue a similar charge against Joseph Fischer, a former police officer involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. According to Reuters, the court’s 6-3 decision requires prosecutors to prove that obstructing an official proceeding impaired or attempted to impair the integrity of documents or records. The ruling is reported to affect over 250 cases from the Capitol attack. The U.S. Justice Department has dropped obstruction charges in more than 60 cases, but plans to continue to pursue them in specific cases where the stricter standard can be met, such as those involving direct tampering with documents.

The Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk's Office has launched a new smartphone app, Hamilton County Judicial Services, to help reduce recidivism rates and improve communication with residents. Developed by GovApp, the app provides quick access to information such as court dockets, payment options and upcoming court dates. The app is expected to save taxpayers money by reducing the failure to appear rate and associated costs, according to Chattanoogan.com.