A growing number of law schools are adding courses and degree programs in artificial intelligence (AI) as a way to meet employer demand and capitalize on the booming AI industry. According to a recent American Bar Association (ABA) survey, more than half of schools now offer classes on AI, while at least two law schools — Arizona State University and University of California Berkeley — are launching special degree programs focused on AI. Reuters reports on the developments. The TBA launched an AI Task Force this past spring to explore the intersection of AI and the legal profession with the goal of ensuring that Tennessee attorneys are well-equipped to navigate this evolving technology.

The Metro Nashville Council approved a new budget Tuesday night, including $400,000 to launch an Indigent Defense and Excellence in Advocacy program. Developed by former Davidson County Public Defender Dawn Deaner and veteran defense attorney Jodie Bell, the program mirrors a federal model program to improve representation for poor criminal defendants and more thoroughly vet attorneys appointed to take their cases. The council also approved use of the funds to hire additional staff for the public defender’s office. Nashville’s public defenders, like those around the country, regularly carry a far heavier caseload than state guidelines recommend, Nashville Banner reports.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has permanently disbarred Davidson County lawyer Robert Allen Doll III after he was convicted on three criminal charges. The decision upholds the recommendation of a Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) hearing panel and the Davidson County Chancery Court, both of which Doll had challenged. The court found that Doll, while representing a client in post-divorce proceedings, signed the client’s name to a petition and instructed the client to tell the court she had signed the document. The client testified that Doll never informed her she could be charged for lying under oath, and in fact, she was indicted on two counts of aggravated perjury. A jury convicted Doll on two counts of subornation of aggravated perjury for having his client lie under oath and one count of criminal simulation for forging the client’s signature. Read the opinion or more about the case in a release from the court or access the BPR press release.

A bipartisan group seeking to draw more moderate Tennessee Republican and Democrats into voting in state primary contests plans to roll out its first ad next week during the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Tennessee Journal reports. Organizers of the group — known as The Best of Tennessee — say that only about 22% of voters have participated in party primaries in recent years. According to Tennessee Lookout, the group was founded by Nashville lawyer Chloe Akers.

President Joe Biden has approved Gov. Bill Lee’s request for federal disaster relief following severe storms in Tennessee in May, including deadly tornadoes and flooding. WPLN reports that the aid is approved for recovery efforts by local governments and qualified nonprofits in 12 counties: Cannon, Cheatham, Giles, Hamilton, Jackson, Macon, Maury, Montgomery, Polk, Smith, Sumner and Warren. Lee’s request for individual assistance for residents in the counties hit the hardest is still pending. The storms on May 8 and 9 included 10 tornadoes, damaging hail and record-setting rainfall in some areas.

More than a dozen lawyers were in Davidson County Chancery Court on Monday expecting a hearing on whether the Tennessee Star should be held in contempt for publishing leaked documents related to the Covenant School shooting. Instead, according to the Nashville Banner, lawyers on both sides argued that issues around the leak and subsequent publication should not delay a ruling on the underlying case of whether the Covenant documents are subject to Tennessee’s Open Records Act. Chancellor I’Ashea Myles indicated that a decision on that question is imminent. She also revealed that she had an opinion ready to release on June 14 when she learned about the Star’s coverage.

Attorneys general from 19 Democratic-led states have pledged to help defend the American Bar Association’s (ABA) requirement that law schools advance diversity goals. The move comes after a coalition of Republican-led states, including Tennessee, questioned the ABA accreditation standard earlier this month, Reuters reports. The Democratic group argues that the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 ruling curtailing the consideration of race in college admissions does not extend into ABA policies or corporate diversity programs. The ABA previously announced it is revising its diversity standard and could adopt changes as early as August.

On June 17, the Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed a petition for reinstatement from Julia Givens Williams, a lawyer in Alabama. Williams was seeking reinstatement from inactive status. Because she had been on inactive status for less than five years, the court directed her to refile the petition with the Board of Professional Responsibility.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has asked the Board of Professional Responsibility to take whatever action it deems necessary after Greene County lawyer Edward Lee Kershaw pled guilty to driving under the influence (DUI) in violation of T.C.A. 55-10-401 in the Loudon County General Sessions Court.

The Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed a petition for reinstatement from Howard Macarthur Romaine, a lawyer in North Carolina, on June 17. Romaine was seeking reinstatement from being on disability inactive status since January 2017. The Board of Professional Responsibility recommended dismissal of the petition based on Romaine’s failure to satisfy outstanding obligations with it as well as the Tennessee Department of Revenue and the Appellate Court Cost Center. On April 24, the court gave Romaine until June 10 to satisfy his outstanding obligations — which he did not do — or face dismissal of his petition.