The U.S. Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with Hawkins County Schools to resolve allegations of race-based harassment and other discrimination of Black students. The investigation, conducted with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, found that incidents of harassment — including a mock “slave auction” to sell Black students to their white counterparts — created a racially hostile environment. Under the agreement, the school system will take several concrete steps, including hiring a compliance officer and a consultant to help create a discrimination-free learning environment, creating an online portal to track complaints, updating its racial harassment and school discipline policies, and conducting training and educational events for staff and parents. Read more from the department.

Eleven residents of Sumner County have been charged with illegally registering to vote and illegally voting. While performing a routine check of registered voters in the county, officials found 15 individuals who had registered to vote after felony conviction but four of them have since died. District Attorney Ray Whitley says the individuals committed a felony crime when filling out the voter registration form and when voting. “On those papers the question is: Have you ever been convicted of a felony in the state of Tennessee? … And they had apparently checked the box that they were not convicted of any felonies when in fact they were,” said Whitley. Nashville Public Radio has more on the story.

Nashvillians gathered last week to weigh in on the city budget, and there was one proposal — the Varsity Spending Plan — that received more support than any others, WPLN reports. The plan, developed by the Black political organizing group Southern Movement Committee, calls for more than $10 million to be spent for restorative justice and violence prevention efforts for young people. The funding includes $4 million to increase community center programming, which includes adding a restorative justice staff member at centers, $2 million to add designated restorative justice personnel in impacted high schools, and $4 million to establish a new “Office of Youth Safety" to stop escalation from becoming violent.

The TBA’s 2024 Convention gets underway Wednesday with a meeting of the TBA House of Delegates, training for new section chairs and a welcome reception for all attendees. Pre-registration for the event is now closed but those still interested in attending may register on site at TBA Registration, which will be located in Grand Ballroom Salon C on the Mezzanine Level of the Peabody Hotel,  beginning at 1 p.m. CDT Wednesday. Those unable to attend this year’s convention in person are invited to join us for a livestream of the annual Lawyers Luncheon at noon CDT Friday on TBA’s Facebook page. Watch as President Jim Barry closes out his year of leadership, Tennessee lawyers are recognized for their contributions to the profession and TBA President-elect Ed Lanquist Jr. is sworn into office. Questions about this year’s event? Visit the event webpage or email convention@tnbar.org.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today referred a petition for reinstatement to the Board of Professional Responsibility. Bradley County lawyer Kent Thomas Jones filed the petition on June 3 after being suspended by the court on Feb. 26 for 90 days. The board requested that the court refer the petition to it, noting that attorneys suspended for less than one year must file petitions for reinstatement with the board, not the court. The court referred the petition to the board for its consideration.

Plaintiffs in four class actions are alleging that Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster failed to protect users' private information after a cyberattack. The suits, filed in the Central District of California, allege that the personal data of 560 million customers was taken and listed on the black market. Live Nation notified regulators last week that "a criminal threat actor'' tried to sell Ticketmaster data on the dark web. The Tennessean has more from USA Today. The suits come on the heels of an announcement that the U.S. Department of Justice and 30 states, including Tennessee, are suing Live Nation for antitrust violations related to Ticketmaster’s unrivaled control of concert ticket sales.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-0 today that insurers have a broad right to weigh in on bankruptcies that may put them on the hook for paying claims. The decision is a victory for an insurer challenging the restructuring plan of a manufacturer of asbestos-containing products, Reuters reports. The opinion, written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, held that Truck Insurance Exchange should have been allowed to object to Kaiser Gypsum's proposed $50 million settlement of thousands of asbestos-related lawsuits through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, because the deal would be funded largely by the company's insurance policies.

Gov. Bill Lee announced today that he will back three state House candidates who are aligned with him on the issue of school vouchers, Tennessee Journal reports. The beneficiaries of his support are: Jason Emert in District 20 in Blount County, Lee Reeves in District 65 in Williamson County and Aron Maberry in District 68 in Montgomery County. The seats are being vacated respectively by Republican Reps. Bryan Richey of Maryville, Sam Whitson of Franklin and Curtis Johnson of Clarksville.

Pittsburgh-based boutique law firm, the Cozza Law Group PLLC, said this week it has opened a Nashville office and is looking to hire attorneys in the new location. “We are absolutely thrilled to begin to work with clients in Nashville," managing partner Rocco Cozza said in a statement. “When looking at strategic locations to expand, we were drawn to Nashville’s rich business community, hospitality industry and, of course, its renowned music scene. We believe our values closely align with the area’s mission for continued growth, honesty and collaboration.” The firm, which focuses on business, entertainment and employment law, will occupy space at 611 Commerce St., Nashville, TN 37203. Read more in the Nashville Business Journal.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have reached a deal that clears the way for potential antitrust investigations into the dominant roles that Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia play in the AI industry. Reuters reports that the agreement means regulatory scrutiny is gathering steam amid concerns over concentration in the industries that make up AI. Microsoft and Nvidia not only dominate their industries but are also the world's two biggest companies by market capitalization.