The Tennessee Supreme Court has adopted amendments to Rule 54. The court noted that the changes were requested by the Administrative Office of the Courts. The rules will take effect immediately. View the red-line changes to the rule in the court’s order.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has adopted amendments to the Rules of Appellate Procedure and the Rules of Civil Procedure, which now are subject to legislative consideration. If approved by the General Assembly, the rules will take effect on July 1, 2025.

The Washington County Long Term Recovery Group — a community-led group working to assist those impacted by Hurricane Helene — is putting together an advocacy committee of volunteer attorneys to be a resource to case managers working with affected individuals. As case managers identify legal issues, they will refer those to the advocacy committee. Practioners in a range of fields are invited to participate. For more information or to join the effort contact Melissa Reading, 423-794-4009. The Washington County Bar Association announced the new group in an email today.

The Memphis Bar Association recently held its annual meeting. Lauran Stimac with Glassman, Wyatt, Tuttle and Cox took over as president of the association from Adam Johnson with Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz. Seven new board members also were announced. In addition, five individuals were recognized with the association’s annual awards. Walter Bailey received the Judge Jerome Turner Lawyer’s Lawyer Award, which recognizes a Memphis attorney who has practiced law for more than 15 years and embodies professionalism, civility and courtesy; Lee Whitwell received the Sam A. Myar Jr. Memorial Award, which honors an attorney under 40 years old who has shown dedication and commitment to their practice and the legal community; Haavi Morreim received the W.J. Michael Cody Access to Justice Award; and Justin Joy and Memphis City Councilwoman Janika White received President’s Awards. Read more about Stimac or see a recap of the award recipients in the MBA Facebook post.

The state lost two civil rights leaders this week. Knoxville native Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni, a poet, civil rights legend and educator, died Monday at the age of 81 after her third cancer diagnosis. Giovanni attended Fisk University in Nashville and rose to prominence during the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. She later taught for 35 years in the English Department at Virginia Tech, according to the Tennessee Lookout. Just two days later, on Wednesday, Vencen Horsley, a Nashville civil rights leader and community advocate, died. Horsley was a prominent figure in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, peacefully demonstrating alongside the late Rep. John Lewis during Nashville’s sit-in movement. WKRN has more on his life.

State Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and the nonprofit Adoption Project are teaming up to boost public awareness about “adoption facilitators”: unlicensed, unregulated persons or entities that act as middlemen between expectant birth parents and adoptive parents. The groups say these “matchmakers” — who often are from out of state and charge large, nonrefundable upfront fees — are an increasing problem in the state. Skrmetti spoke to the issue in a video released last month as part of National Adoption Month. Local News 3 has more on the story.

Tennessee’s hemp industry is making a last-ditch legal effort to halt new rules from the state Department of Agriculture that would ban the sale of hemp products, which have been legally available in the state since 2019. The Tennessee Lookout reports that attorneys representing hemp retailers and producer associations will be in court next week to fight new testing rules scheduled to take effect Dec. 26. The rules would bar the manufacture, distribution and sale of many of the best-selling hemp products that have helped drive a nascent state industry to generate $280-$560 million in sales annually. The rules require products to be tested for the first time for so-called TCHA content, a naturally occurring and still-legal substance found in all hemp plants.

Memphis-area defense attorneys are sounding the alarm about conditions at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center, also known as 201 Poplar, following the November death of an inmate in the jail’s intake area. Attorneys who spoke with The Daily Memphian noted long wait times for booking and processing into the jail and inadequate living conditions in intake, including a lack of beds and overcrowded holding cells. Booking and processing, which should normally take just a few hours, is taking days, the lawyers said. Data from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office confirms these observations, the paper reports.

The struggle over the Swan Ball is over, the Nashville Business Journal reports. The annual gala, which has benefited Cheekwood Botanical Garden for the last 61 years, will live on but no longer will benefit that nonprofit. The agreement settles competing lawsuits filed by the tourist attraction and a group of volunteers who plan the white-tie gala. The dispute between the two groups burst into public view midsummer, when planners accused the garden of "planning a coup" to take control of the gala. Cheekwood hit back, arguing in a countersuit that it controlled the Swan Ball. It also accused the volunteers of "increasingly extravagant" spending that made the gala costlier to hold. The volunteer group will retain the Swan Ball trademark and name. Its 2025 event will take place on June 7 and benefit Friends of Warner Park, a nonprofit that raises money to beautify and improve the Edwin Warner and Percy Warner parks, which border Cheekwood's property.

Scott Golden, chair of the Tennessee Republican Party, has been reelected to a fifth term as leader of the party. Golden was challenged by Nashvillian Lulu Elam, a party executive committee member, but received 49 votes to Elam’s 10 votes. Golden will be the first person in more than 80 years to serve a fifth term in the role. "It's just amazing how intertwined I've been with this organization throughout my life," Golden told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "It's really been my life calling, and it's a great honor to serve as chairman."