Members of the Tennessee legal community met for the second day of the TBA Annual Convention in Memphis today. The morning began with a Public Service Awards Breakfast featuring the presentation of the Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year to Memphis-based Assistant Federal Public Defender Tyrone Paylor, the Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award to Memphis attorney John Golwen, and the Law Student Volunteer of the Year Award to University of Tennessee College of Law student Kim Riddett. Lawyers then heard from two panels exploring the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the practice of law.

At the annual Bench Bar Luncheon, J. Daniel Breen, a senior judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, received the Judge Pamela L. Reeves Tennessee Professionalism Award, while Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby received the Justice Frank F. Drowota III Award. Kirby was recognized for her efforts spearheading an increase in the hourly rate of reimbursement for appointed cases, which the state legislature approved this spring. In her acceptance remarks, Kirby thanked the many judges and lawyers who contacted leaders about these “shockingly low rates,” and pledged to continue working on this “righteous cause” in the future. Following the awards, Memphis lawyer Charles Newman gave the keynote address in which he recounted his experience representing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, and thanked his law firm Burch Porter & Johnson for allowing him to work on cases throughout his career that did not add to the bottom line. He challenged those in the room not to allow the pressure of making the practice of law more profitable to squeeze out important values. See pictures from the programs.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission has notified Gov. Bill Lee that only two candidates have applied for a chancellor vacancy in the 19th Judicial District, which includes Montgomery and Robertson counties. Under state law, if the commission is unable to provide the governor with the names of three persons qualified to fill the vacancy, then the governor may fill the vacancy with any person who is qualified to serve. The commission reports that it did send the two applications it received to the governor. Read the letter and more about the applicants, Christina M. Bartee and Tracy P. Knight, on the Administrative Office of the Court's website.

Tennessee election officials are asking the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to postpone changes to how people with felony convictions can register to vote until after this year’s elections, Tennessee Lookout reports. Officials argue there is not enough time to make the changes a federal court judge has ordered them to make. That order came in case challenging the state’s requirements for people with felony convictions who want to regain the right to vote after they have been released from prison. U.S. District Judge William Campbell ruled in May that the state violated federal voting law when requiring a group of formerly incarcerated felons convicted before 1981 to prove they were entitled to register to vote, even though the group never lost the right to vote. He also ordered the state to develop new policies and procedures for processing felony voter registrations and train election workers how to follow it.

The Nashville NAACP has written an open letter to Mayor Freddie O’Connell, demanding a meeting to discuss the city's current situation involving the Nashville Community Review Board, a civilian police watchdog agency. The NAACP and National Action Network (NAN) said it released the letter after learning of a complaint filed by retired Lt. Garet Davidson, in which he alleged that high-ranking Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers helped lobby legislators behind closed doors to get a state bill passed to reduce the power of civilian oversight boards. He also alleged that officer discipline measures were not carried out, preferential treatment was shown towards higher ranking officers, and a zero-tolerance sexual harassment policy was not followed. WZTV has the news.

Earn three general hours with this Bankruptcy 1-Click package. The first session will feature a Chapter 13 trustee and a staff attorney to the Chapter 13 trustee for the Eastern District of Tennessee (Southern Division) who will highlight differences between their areas and highlight current issues in Chapter 13 cases. Also, learn about recent developments impacting mortgages in bankruptcies in the second session. Last up is a 1.5 hour long presentation highlighting bankruptcy case law updates.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted today to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over audio recordings of a special counsel interview with Democratic President Joe Biden. The measure passed 216-207 on a party-line vote with one Republican joining Democrats in voting no. Garland is the third attorney general to be held in contempt: both Eric Holder (under President Barack Obama) and Bill Barr (under President Donald Trump) were held in contempt, but the Justice Department did not pursue charges in either case. Reuters has the story.

In a letter to Tennessee’s attorney general, state Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, is questioning the legality of an agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Shelby County District Attorney’s office to stop prosecuting aggravated prostitution. Action News 5 reports that Taylor claims the agreement is an attempt to “attack a state law that they know they can’t win in trial.” He also is calling for the state to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the agreement, WREG reports. District Attorney Steve Mulroy said the DOJ has spent a year investigating the office and concluded that it has been violating federal anti-discrimination laws in the prosecution of prostitution cases. According to Mulroy, the office will continue to address the problem of prostitution using different laws.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Dumitru on Tuesday ruled that Demetrus Coonrod, a Chattanooga City Council member representing District 9, lives within her district and can continue to represent it. Chattanoogan.com reports that a residency challenge was made after Coonrod purchased a house in Harrison, but she testified that she lives primarily in District 9. The judge directed the city to reimburse Coonrod's legal bills.

Nashville Chancellor I'Ashea Myles has ordered a conservative media organization to appear in court on June 17 over its publishing of information taken from allegedly leaked documents related to the 2023 shooting at The Covenant School. The outlet, Star News Digital Media — which also is suing for the records to be released to the public — is being asked to explain why its recent reporting does not violate court orders placing certain documents and information under seal. The Tennessee Star, a Star News publication, recently published information about the case, but said it did not violate any order as it did not publish any of the actual leaked images or documents, only some of the information contained within them. Tennessee Ledger has the story.

The chair of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, Hank Fincher, told the Tennessee Journal in a text message that the registry's referral of a collusion complaint to the state attorney general is "very serious." The complaint states the treasurer of the East Tennessee Conservatives PAC, which has published ads attacking incumbent Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, is also the treasurer for U.S. Rep. Diane Harshbarger, a Kingsport Republican. The chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger said such referrals "happen all the time," but Fincher maintained that referrals reflect "probable cause" that violations occurred.