Chattanooga attorney Samuel Lee Akers died Jan. 16 at age 80. A native of Chattanooga, he served in the Navy as an operational intelligence officer and then earned his law degree from the University of Memphis in 1974. A member of the Jaycees, Akers taught public speaking in Memphis high schools and won an Outstanding Young Men of America award. After serving as an FBI special agent, Akers was legal advisor for the bureau's Orlando and Cocoa Beach offices. He later was appointed Hamilton County Clerk & Master, serving 18 years before retiring in 2014. Akers was a member of the Chattanooga and the Tennessee Bar foundations. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer and the Spacekind Foundation: Cosmic Odyssey Scholarship. Akers will be interred at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

Womble Bond Dickinson has named Josh Mullen as the new managing partner of offices in Nashville and Huntsville. This, and other leadership appointments, were effective as of Jan. 1. Mullen will focus on government contracts and business litigation, and assist various government contractors with litigation and general counseling in all aspects of procurement law. In addition to Nashville, Womble Bond Dickinson has 24 offices in the United States and eight in the United Kingdom.

Miller & Martin's Women's Network has announced a new community partnership with The Launch Pad, a Chattanooga non-profit organization offering support to local women in recovery. The Launch Pad provides residential, 12-step based sober living to women recovering from alcohol and drug addiction, and currently serves as a safe haven for 49 residents in five group homes. Residents attend AA/NA meetings, participate in weekly group therapy and obtain gainful employment. “The members of Miller & Martin’s Women’s Network are honored to partner with The Launch Pad and have been inspired by its commitment to ... its residents in 2024," said Lynzi J. Archibald, Chattanooga co-chair of the network.

Taylor English Duma LLP announced it has expanded its fractional GC practice "tle General Counsel" to Nashville. The firm, which currently employs nearly 200 attorneys, also announced that David “DC” Roberts joins the practice as a partner in Nashville. “The addition of DC to t|e General Counsel is a continuation of our expansion across the country,” said co-founder Allen W. Nelson. Prior to joining t|e General Counsel, Roberts was corporate/in-house counsel and chief medical compliance officer for The Providence Groups LLC and corporate/in-house counsel for Providence Consulting and Design.

The TBA’s next book club discussion event will take place Wednesday with Preston Lauterbach, author of “Beale Street Dynasty: Sex, Song and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis.” The event will take place virtually on Zoom. Register to attend. The book, selected by TBA President Jim Barry, centers on an ex-slave who becomes the south’s first Black millionaire in Prohibition-era Memphis. Lauterbach brings history and the realities of race relations to life in his works, which also include “The Chitlin’ Circuit” and “Bluff City.” He also has co-authored three memoirs on significant figures in Black music: American blues musician and song writer Robert Johnson; Memphis soul drummer Howard Grimes; and a soon-to-be released biography of the Blind Boys of Alabama.

If you missed the TBA's 2023 Labor & Employment Law Forum, sessions are now available to watch on demand. The forum featured topics such as the new NLRB, FLSA case law updates and an ethics presentation on interviewing witnesses in the workplace. Check out the courses available. Watch one or purchase the full forum as a 1-Click Package.

The ABA Task Force for American Democracy, a nonpartisan task force formed to bolster voter confidence in elections, recently announced its roadmap for the 2024 election season. The group says it will work to mobilize the legal profession to uphold its duty to support and defend the Constitution and the rule of law, educate lawyers regarding their professional obligations, and leverage the legal profession to educate the public on importance of democracy and the rule of law. The task force also announced a listening tour across the country. Stops are scheduled in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Arizona. Each session will feature local election officials and community leaders discussing ways to enhance public confidence in the election process. Read more about the Task Force's work.

Due to inclement weather, the Nashville Bar Association reported by email the following closures, cancellations and rescheduling: The Circuit Court’s Order of Protection docket is canceled for today. The First Circuit Court will hold court virtually today. Please contact the court directly with questions about dockets. For the Second Circuit Court, Judge Amanda McClendon will continue Friday’s cases one week to Jan. 26. The Third Circuit Court will be closed today. For tomorrow’s motion docket, the court will offer the Bridge line as an option for their docket. In order to participate by phone, contact Catherine Jackson ahead of time. The Fourth Circuit Court will postpone the show cause docket for today and will be operating virtually by Zoom tomorrow. A Zoom link is provided. Additional information can be found at CircuitClerk.Nashville.gov. The Fifth Circuit Court will be closed today. Canceled motions will be reset for Jan. 26. Sixth Circuit Court scheduled conferences will be conducted via WebEx. Contact the court directly with questions for other dockets. The Eighth Circuit Court will be operating virtually today and tomorrow. In addition, the Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims announced in an email today it will be open tomorrow as scheduled for settlements between 8 -11 a.m. CST, depending on any developments in the weather overnight Thursday. Judges will be at the Judicial Conference Jan. 25-26 so the court will be closed then, but the Nashville office will be open for settlement approvals Jan. 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The 2024 ABA Midyear Meeting will take place Jan. 31 through Feb. 5 in Louisville. Lawyers from across the country will gather for networking and learning opportunities, award presentations and governance meetings. Sessions at the conference will address qualified immunity, gun control, post-pandemic challenges for eviction cases, science in the courtroom, navigating racial equality after the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Students for Fair Admissions, and elevating the voice of Native American women attorneys. Learn more about the meeting on the ABA's website.

A group of freelance writers and editors filed a lawsuit in Georgia federal court Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Labor, claiming a new rule making it more difficult for companies to treat workers as independent contractors is vague and should be struck down, reports Reuters. The rule is scheduled to take effect March 11. In their complaint, freelancers said they would seek an order temporarily blocking the rule while their lawsuit plays out. The rule was intended to clarify the test for determining whether workers are independent contractors or employees and who was entitled to legal protections. More legal challenges are expected, the news source says.