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The American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates (HOD) will meet in Chicago next week as part of the ABA’s 2024 Annual Meeting. The body consider more than three dozen policy matters, including experiential opportunities for law students, flexible work arrangements for lawyers and law firm policies requiring lawyers to take off one week a year with no expectation of checking in with the office. Other resolutions will focus on issues such as heightened judicial security, criminal justice, involuntary civil commitment, homelessness and global human rights. In addition, the HOD will hold a naturalization ceremony, feature a special panel discussion on how the legal profession is changing, and hear from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

President Joe Biden on Monday proposed significant changes to the U.S. Supreme Court, including a binding code of conduct and term limits for the nine justices, Reuters reports. The president called on Congress to pass binding and enforceable rules that would require justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest. He also urged lawmakers to adopt an 18-year term limit for justices and proposed a constitutional amendment to eliminate the broad presidential immunity recognized in a July 1 Supreme Court ruling involving former President Donald Trump. The president laid out his arguments for these changes in an opinion piece in the Washington Post and at a speech at the presidential library of former President Lyndon B. Johnson. In April 2021, Biden convened a commission to study changes to the court. The commission released its final report in December 2021.

The Upper Cumberland Young Lawyers Association and Upper Cumberland Lawyers Association for Women will hold a school supply and backpack drive on Aug. 8 from 5-7 p.m. CDT at Red Silo Brewing Company, 118 W. 1st St., Cookeville 38501. All donated items will be given to the Department of Children’s Services to help children in the foster care system. Red Silo will provide a complimentary beverage to anyone who donates. Learn more about Packs for Pints on the event webpage or email Amber Vargas at avargas@las.org. View an event flyer.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on July 23 approved a motion from the Board of Professional Responsibility to file a petition for temporary suspension and transfer to disability inactive status under seal in the case of Greene County attorney Francis Xavier Santore Jr. The court also found that Santore should be given an opportunity to file a response to the board’s petitions.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on July 25 referred the case of Madison County lawyer Reagan Nicole Brock (formerly Reagan Brock Wallace) to the Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR). The court took the action after Brock pled guilty to one count of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon in violation of Tenn. Code. Ann. § 39-13-103(b)(2). Brock received judicial diversion. The court also approved a motion from the BPR to file documents in the case under seal.

The TBA has added two new staff members in recent weeks. Jen Robinson is the new technical systems administrator. She holds a bachelor's degree in education from Western Kentucky University and several IT certifications, including ITIL 4 and Google IT Professional Support. She also has an extensive background in customer service. Prior to joining TBA, Robinson was a systems administrator at Integrated Management Strategies in Vienna, Virginia. In addition, Azya Thornton has joined the staff as the new communications coordinator. She handles TBA’s social media and podcasts and helps produce the TBA Today daily e-newsletter. Prior to joining TBA, Thornton handled communications at an environmental nonprofit managing web content, social media and membership communications. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Connecticut. Access contact information for each of them on the TBA staff webpage.

Nashville lawyer Ashley L. Upkins recently was elected president-elect of the National Bar Association (NBA) at the group’s annual meeting in Las Vegas. She will take over as president in 2025 and will be the first Tennessee woman to serve in the role. During her year as president-elect, Upkins will help plan the organization’s landmark 100th Annual Convention in Chicago next year, where she will be sworn in as president. Upkins has been an active NBA member since her days as a member of the inaugural Belmont University College of Law class and has held several leadership positions. She is a graduate of the TBA YLD'S Class of 2013 Diversity Leadership Institute. She currently leads litigation at Silicon Ranch, an independent power producer. Founded in 1925, the NBA is the nation’s oldest and largest association of Black lawyers, judges, law professors and law students. Read more in a release from the group.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently extended its suspension of 97-year-old Judge Pauline Newman for another year. The court’s judicial council suspended Newman in 2023 saying she refused to cooperate with an investigation into her fitness after staff raised concerns about her mental health. The members of the council now say that Newman did not convince them that the suspension should be lifted given the “voluminous record” showing “serious concerns” about her cognitive state. Newman’s lawyer vowed to continuing fighting the suspension, Reuters reports.