The TBA’s International Law Section will host its annual forum on May 17 in Nashville. Topics include a session on how to use the U.S. Federal Trade Office Market Diversification Tool, an introduction to practicing international law, and a discussion with Brie Knox, director of U.S. Commercial Service Tennessee (a division of the International Trade Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce). Other speakers include Chattanooga lawyer Terry Olsen with the Olsen Law Firm, Nashville lawyer Michael Goode with Lewis Thomason and Hendersonville lawyer George Phillips with Phillips | Ralston. Learn more or register here.

The Bankruptcy Section of the Memphis Bar Association will hold a celebration of the life and career for David S. Kennedy, the late U.S. bankruptcy judge for the Western District of Tennessee, on May 13 from 3-5 p.m. CDT. The event will take place at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, 4th Floor Reading Room, 1 Front St., Memphis 38103. To attend, please email Johnell Goins no later than May 6. Kennedy died Nov. 26, 2023, at the age of 79. Memorial donations may be made through the University of Memphis Foundation to the Hon. David S. Kennedy Bankruptcy Achievement Award Fund (find the fund by clicking on the "search all funds" button). View an invitation to the event.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on April 22 suspended 18 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee; 11 of them also failed to file proof that client funds are held in an IOLTA-compliant account. View the fee suspension order and IOLTA suspension order. See the list of all lawyers suspended and reinstated for fee and IOLTA violations in 2024 or access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.

Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies relocated some inmates after a power surge broke cell locks at the Shelby County Jail, commonly referred to as 201 Poplar. Some doors were able to be manually locked. Others were not, so inmates in those cells were relocated. The locking mechanism, which is electric with a manual back-stop, broke in mid-April after a power surge, the sheriff’s office said. "This did not impact regular operations. The parts have been ordered," Lt. Joseph Fox, a public information officer said in a statement to the Commercial Appeal. No injuries were reported by inmates or corrections officers.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, alongside Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, is leading a coalition of 17 States in suing the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over its new rule mandating workplace abortion accommodations through an “illegal interpretation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022.” Read more in a release from Skrmetti's office.

Retired Memphis lawyer and former Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) President William H. “Bill” Haltom Jr. will be honored in June with the prestigious William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award. Named for former Attorney General William M. Leech and presented by the Fellows of the TBA Young Lawyers Division, the award is given to a Tennessee lawyer who has been of outstanding service to the profession, the legal system and their community. In selecting Haltom for the award, Fellows President Rachel Mancl said, “Bill Haltom exemplifies the values embodied in the Leech Award. His contributions to the Tennessee Bar Association, as well as to the state and Memphis legal communities, demonstrate his lifelong commitment to improving the legal profession and serving the public. The Fellows are proud to award him the 2024 William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award.” The award will be presented at the TBA’s Annual Convention in Memphis on June 14 during the Lawyers’ Luncheon. Read the TBA's full press release on the news.

A lawsuit deciding the fate of health care for transgender children in Tennessee is set to be evaluated by the U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow, the Nashville Banner reports. The case, L.W. v. Skrmetti, is on the court’s list of cases to be evaluated for further action. The case arose out of a challenge to a 2023 law that bans surgery and prescription of hormone blockers for minors. The law was challenged by the ACLU on behalf of a 15-year-old, along with her parents and doctor. While U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson initially blocked the law’s enforcement, a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling in July.

The Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Cumberland County lawyer Melanie Beth Shada from the practice of law after finding that she failed to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility concerning a complaint of misconduct. Shada is immediately precluded from accepting any new cases, and she must cease representing existing clients by May 25. The suspension will remain in effect until dissolution or modification by the court.

The TBA’s 2024 Litigation Forum will take place May 16 as a live virtual event. Programming will include a session covering Tennessee summary judgement, evidentiary privilege and the ethical implications of artificial intelligence from the perspective of the Board of Professional Responsibility. Speakers include Chattanooga attorney David Nagle with Legal Aid of East Tennessee, Nashville attorney Todd Presnell with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings and Tiffany Tant-Shafer with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility. The program will run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT.

The Tennessee House and Senate have come to an agreement on their differences in the franchise tax legislation, the Nashville Post reports. House members of the conference committee agreed to the Senate’s language providing a three-year period for businesses to be able to request a refund, while the Senate members agreed to some transparency. Under that language, the names of businesses that request refunds would be released in May 2025. The exact amount they received would not be given. Instead, the companies would be placed in four broad categories: refund pending, $0 to $750 refund received, $750 to $10,000 refund received, and more than a $10,000 refund received. The compromise bill, HB1893/SB2103, then passed both the Senate and the House floors.