A Texas federal judge has stayed a lawsuit by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups that are challenging the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) near-total ban on employee noncompete agreements. U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker said that under the "first to file rule," a nearly identical lawsuit filed by tax service firm Ryan a day earlier should proceed first. Reuters reports on the decision.

Law firms are off to a strong start in 2024 after a lackluster 2023, Reuters reports. New data shows that demand for legal services was up 1.9% in the first quarter of this year over the first three months of 2023. Billing rates also continued to rise with a 6.6% increase in the first quarter compared with a year ago. Get these and other trends in Thomson Reuters Institute’s Law Firm Financial Index, which tracks key financial metrics across 186 large and midsize law firms.

Well-Being Week in Law kicks off today with an emphasis on physical well-being and staying strong. Goals include engaging in regular activity, adopting good diet and nutrition, getting enough sleep, limiting addictive substances, seeking help for physical health when needed and trying out a new physical activity. Get suggestions for implementing today's goals and inspire others by posting about your efforts with the hashtag #WellbeingWeekInLaw. Stay tuned for more well-being tips and resources throughout this week.

A number of lawyers have been reinstated to active or inactive status after being suspended for various administrative violations. They include 14 who had been suspended for CLE violations: 12 in 2023, one in 2022 and one in 2017; 14 who had not paid the professional privilege tax: 13 in 2023 and one in 2020; and 30 who had not paid the annual Board of Professional Responsibility fee: six in 2024, 15 in 2023, three in 2022, two in 2021, one in 2020, one in 2019, one in 2018 and one in 2009. See updated lists at the links above.

The 150th Kentucky Derby, running this weekend in Louisville, will take place without the participation of Muth, a horse that many contend is the fastest in this year's field of three-year-olds. Muth's trainer is Bob Baffert, who also worked with 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, who failed a post-race drug test for steroids. Baffert was subsequently disqualified and given a two year suspension, which was later extended through the end of 2024, from competing at Churchill Downs. The ABA Journal reports that Zedan Racing Stables, which owns Muth, sued Churchill Downs seeking emergency injunctive relief to let Muth race in Saturday's contest. A local court rejected the bid. Churchill Downs applauded the decision, saying the court stopped Zedan from litigating its way into the Derby "at the expense of other owners and trainers who played by the rules."

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has joined a coalition of 21 states in a lawsuit opposing a new rule from The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that would prevent the private sale of firearms. Under the rule, hobbyists who sell firearms to family members, or a hunter who trades a firearm with a friend, could be convicted of a felony, the lawsuit claims.

A three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Thursday over a decades-old Tennessee policy that does not allow transgender people to change the sex designation on their birth certificates, reports the Associated Press. Four transgender Tennesseans first filed the lawsuit in 2019, claiming that the policy is unconstitutional and "subjects transgender people to discrimination, harassment and even violence when they have to produce a birth certificate for identification that clashes with their gender identity." U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson had dismissed the case last year, saying that the term "sex" has a very narrow and specific meaning for the purpose of birth certificates in Tennessee: "external genitalia at the time of birth."

The Davidson County Election Commission on Thursday rejected a challenge from Laura Nelson, R-Nashville, to Democratic Rep. Justin Jones’ qualification for the ballot in his bid for reelection. The Nashville Banner reports that Nelson alleged that several of Jones’ petition signatures were not valid. The GOP-controlled commission, after a hearing of more than two hours, decided to accept the signatures. State law requires 25 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Jones turned in 26, of which 25 were deemed valid.

According to a state report released in February, just 67% of public elementary schools and 75% of public middle and high schools in Tennessee have taken advantage of the $140 million provided by the state last summer to put an armed school resource officer (SRO) in every school. Only $98.4 million has been used, and Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, says that is mainly due to staffing problems. Bailey told WKRN that “There’s currently 500 public schools within the state of Tennessee that are still not equipped with a school resource officer. There just aren’t those individuals available with POST certification to be able to work in those schools.”

Cookeville attorney Laura Dykes will be honored next month with the Tennessee Bar Association’s Fifth Annual Claudia Jack Award. Named for the late Claudia Jack, a long-time champion of the poor and underprivileged and a public defender in Maury County, the award is presented to an outstanding public defender or court-appointed private practitioner who serves the legal community and clients in an exemplary fashion. Dykes has served as an assistant public defender for the past 35 years, working first in the Metro Davidson County office, then joining the 13th Judicial Office in Cookeville after her retirement in Nashville. In both of those positions, Dykes has been recognized for ethically and zealously defending clients. The award will be presented at the TBA Annual Convention in Memphis on June 14 during the Lawyers’ Luncheon. Read more in the TBA’s press release.