U.S. News & World Report’s law school rankings have little impact on the decision-making of aspiring lawyers, according to a new study by two law professors. Reuters reports that University of Kentucky law professor Brian Frye and Indiana University law professor Christopher Ryan investigated whether the academic credentials of entering classes rose or fell in correlation with a law school's rise or fall in the rankings in the previous year. The study, according to the researchers, found little to no correlation between ranking changes and the behavior of applicants.

Henry Martin will retire in 2025 after 40 years as the federal public defender for the Middle District of Tennessee, the Nashville Banner reported in a recent newsletter. The office represents people accused of federal crimes who cannot afford an attorney and has a unit dedicated to representing Tennessee death row inmates in federal court. Martin recently announced his retirement plans internally and the court announced the forthcoming vacancy online, with a June 20 deadline for applications from those interested in the position. Martin joined the public defender’s office in 1985. His service has included membership on the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and as president of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In 2020, Martin received the TBA’s first annual Claudia Jack Award, which recognizes a public defender or court-appointed lawyer who serves their clients in an exemplary fashion.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard arguments in a case testing Tennessee’s redrawn congressional map, the Tennessee Journal reports. The Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP is suing over the state legislature’s decision to split a Nashville-based congressional district among three outlying districts. The group argues that the move was illegal gerrymandering designed to dilute the voting power of Black residents in urban Davidson County. The state is seeking dismissal of the suit.

Gov. Bill Lee has signed legislation designed to block adults from helping minors get an abortion or receive gender-related care without parental consent, the Associated Press reports. Lee signed the bills yesterday without comment. Both go into effect July 1. Those convicted of breaking the abortion trafficking ban will be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which requires a nearly one-year imprisonment sentence. Tennessee is the second state in the nation to enact such a law but is the first state to pursue penalizing adults who help minors receive gender-related care without parental consent.

An individual claiming to be a scammer from Nigeria has sent emails to various press outlets taking credit for the recent attempt to foreclose on Graceland, the Commercial Appeal reports. The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, which is looking into the attempted sale, said it is aware of an email “from someone purporting to be Gregory Naussany that says, essentially, that he is a scammer from Nigeria.” The email, which was riddled with grammatical errors, states in part: “the Presly is all made up and a hoax, my ring preys on the dead and the elderly for money, we make things up by finding things on the Intanet to scam US citizens out of money.” Emails received by other newspapers varied slightly but carried the same basic message.

National law firm Husch Blackwell has announced it will open an office in downtown Nashville during the third quarter of this year. The firm will occupy more than 11,000 square feet at the Fifth + Broadway Building. Husch Blackwell partner Tim Capria, who joined the firm in July 2023 from Bradley Arant Boult and Cummings, will serve as office managing partner. The firm has been recruiting local attorneys over the past few years, adding more than eight since May 2023, but the office will be its first physical location in Nashville. “Establishing roots in Nashville has been a priority for the firm for the past few years due to the number of opportunities that align with our focus on health care, education and life sciences,” said Jamie Lawless, the firm’s chief executive. Read more in a release from the firm.

Kevin Gene Steiling of Franklin died May 25 at the age of 69. A 1983 graduate of the Boston College Law School, Steiling moved to Nashville and began his lengthy career at the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office. From 1983 to 2016, he served as an assistant attorney general and then a deputy attorney general working on civil rights, employment discrimination and contract and construction litigation with jury and non-jury trials in federal and all state courts and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Steiling also spent three years working in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office as an assistant attorney general in the Trial Division/Real Estate Section, handling eminent domain cases. A memorial gathering will be held on June 8 from 1-4 p.m. at Williamson Memorial Funeral Home, 3009 Columbia Ave., Franklin 37064.

Richard Randolph Ruth Jr. of Walden died May 25 at the age of 86. Originally from Pennsylvania, Ruth earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1965. He practiced in Chattanooga from 1965 until 2002, including time with the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office; Luther, Anderson, Ruth & Cleary; Ruth & Foster; and Ruth & McCarthy. After retiring, Ruth volunteered with the Legal Aid of East Tennessee and was instrumental in advocating for the Tennessee Supreme Court’s adoption of the “Pro Bono Emeritus Rule” in 2010, which provides special status to retired attorneys who volunteer to assist indigent clients. Ruth also was honored with the Jac Chambliss Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chattanooga Bar Association in 2010. A private memorial service will be held for the family. Memorial contributions may be made to Legal Aid of East Tennessee, National Kidney Foundation or Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.

The upcoming TBA Convention offers eight hours of CLE programming, including Friday’s session on “Preventing Attorney Burnout.” Sponsored by the TBA's Attorney Well Being Committee, the program will feature retired Judge Robert "Butch" Childers, now with Childers Mediation and Arbitration Services, and Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program Executive Director Buddy Stockwell — two seasoned lawyers with extensive experience and knowledge in the field of attorney well-being. The discussion will be moderated by Chase Pittman with the Kardia Collective, a Memphis-based counseling company. Learn more about this program or other CLEs being offered at this year's convention.

Microsoft 365 offerings combine an always up-to-date install of Microsoft Office with email hosting, mobile apps and web-based apps. Compare Microsoft’s 365 options with this link. Find this and more in the Opening a Firm section of TBA’s Law Practice Management Center.