Early data from the February bar exam suggests that pass rates will increase and the attorney licensing test has stabilized after several years of volatility attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the national average score on the Multistate Bar Exam — the 200 multiple-choice question portion of the exam — ticked up 0.7 of a point to 131.8. That increase comes after two years of declines in the average score. In addition, the number of February examinees across the country was the highest in five years, at 19,496. Read more projections about this year’s data from Reuters.

The TBA has hired Lanny Brown as its next assistant executive director. Brown, who joined the TBA on April 8, is a 20-year veteran of the non-profit sector with more than 15 years of management experience. He most recently served as vice president of the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee and previously as curator of the Nashville Zoo. With a diverse background in all aspects of operations, Brown has extensive experience in organizational efficiency and utilizing available resources and technology to add value to the member experience. Brown also enjoys playing an active volunteer role in the community, specifically helping small fledgling non-profits navigate the early stages of founding and launch. An Arizona native, Brown and his family moved to Nashville in 2012. He replaces longtime Assistant Executive Director Barry Kolar, who retired at the end of 2023.

The TBA's upcoming Dispute Resolution Forum will be in person this year! An annual staple for Tennessee attorneys, the event provides insight from top professionals in the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) vocation while allowing attendees to meet with other mediators from across the state. Sessions include ethics grievance and arbitration demos, a discussion of community mediation centers, changes in the arbitrability of sexual assault and harassment claims, and a course that covers settlement malpractice. Join us May 9 in Nashville at the Tennessee Bankers Association Barrett Training Center, located at 211 Athens Way, Nashville 37228. Reserve your spot today!

If you missed the TBA's Law Tech Lunch & Learn Series, one of the more popular programs on artificial intelligence (AI), "Harnessing ChatGPT and Generative AI in Your Law Practice," is now available on demand. The two-hour session features Memphis lawyers Greg Siskind and Zack Glaser, who provide an introduction to AI and how it can be incorporated into the practice of law. The second session features Siskind and fellow Memphis lawyer Lucian Pera discussing ethical considerations around AI.

The Tennessee Bar Association’s online renewal for 2024-2025 is now open! Renew your membership to continue your access to TBA Today, the Tennessee Bar Journal, three free hours of CLE, the TBA’s Practice Management Center and free legal research through Fastcase, as well as savings on a range of products and services. Be sure to check out TBA's Preventing Legal Malpractice providers and new pet insurance program, and watch for more information this fall about TBA’s Group Health Insurance enrollment. Attorneys not participating in the TBA's firm billing program can log in and renew through their MyTBA dashboard. The TBA membership team will be working with firm administrators for those participating in firm billing.

Launching a new firm, whether fresh out of law school or starting a new career stage, can be exhilarating and terrifying. You can do everything the “right” way, but a lot of factors go into launching a business, and you probably haven’t thought about all of them. Let us help! Get checklists, white papers and technology advice in the Opening a Firm section of TBA’s Law Practice Management Center.

Deans from 26 law schools, including three from Tennessee, are asking the American Bar Association (ABA) to pull back on a proposal to accredit fully online law schools, saying more employment and bar pass data for graduates of online and hybrid programs is needed before making the change. The public comment period on the proposal opened Jan. 23 and ended March 25. The deans of the University of Memphis School of Law and Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law signed on to the group letter, Reuters reports. Alberto Gonzales, dean of Belmont University College of Law and former U.S attorney general under President George W. Bush wrote in a separate comment that, “Despite offering a lesser educational experience, online schools would be able to out-compete traditional law schools on cost, convenience and scale.”

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (LAS) has received a grant totaling $684,475 over three years from the U.S. Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) under its Legal Aid for Victims program. The grant will be used to fund the Survivors Immigrant Legal Project, which provides legal assistance to immigrant victims of domestic and/or sexual violence across the 48 counties in Middle Tennessee served by LAS. In addition to continuing its direct work with clients, LAS will produce two client-centered educational brochures that will be available in Spanish, Arabic, Burmese, Kurdish, Nepali, Somali, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese and Lao. Read more in a release from the organization.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd has resigned her position effective immediately, rather than wait until May 31, as she previously planned. According to the Daily Memphian, the resignation will stop a planned vote by the state legislature on Thursday to remove her from the bench. Boyd was recommended for removal in January by the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct, which oversees disciplinary proceedings for judges in the state. A joint committee of state legislators voted unanimously March 14 in favor of that recommendation. Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, who co-chaired the committee, told the news outlet Monday that if Boyd were to resign effective immediately, it would be accepted and there would be no need for a vote.

Coffee County Mayor Judd Matheny was found dead at his Tullahoma home Tuesday morning. He was 53 years old. WKRN reports that no cause of death was released and the investigation has since been handed over to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). Matheny had been mayor of Coffee County since September 2022. He served in the state House of Representatives from 2002 to 2018, representing Coffee and parts of Warren counties.