If you missed the TBA's Law Tech Lunch & Learn Series, one of the more popular programs on artificial intelligence (AI), "Harnessing ChatGPT and Generative AI in Your Law Practice," will be rebroadcast at noon CDT on March 27. The two-hour session features Memphis lawyers Greg Siskind and Zack Glaser, who provide an introduction to AI and how it can be incorporated into the practice of law. The second session features Siskind and fellow Memphis lawyer Lucian Pera discussing ethical considerations around AI. For those not available to join in next week, a recording of the CLE also is available on demand at any time.

The 2024 TBA Leadership Law class met last week in Knoxville for its “Issues in Community Leadership” program. Class members heard from Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Dwight E. Tarwater, who spoke on “Leadership in 6 Words”; University of Tennessee College of Law Associate Professor and Clinical Programs Director Joy Radice, who spoke about pro bono efforts to expunge criminal charges and restore citizenship rights; LMU Duncan School of Law Professor Mohamed Akram Faizer, who presented on “Being Appreciative of Yourself and Others;” and Knoxville lawyer Robbie Pryor, with Pryor, Priest & Harber, who shared his experiences of navigating life as a lawyer. The group also heard from a number of community leaders, including Dr. Charles F. Lomax, president and chief executive officer of the Knoxville Area Urban League; Rev. Reneè Kesler, president of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center; and attorney Chloe Akers, president and founder of The Best of Tennessee Inc.

President Joe Biden has nominated Kevin Ritz, current U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, for the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. If confirmed, he would replace Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, who announced her intention to take senior status on the court following confirmation of a successor. Ritz has served in his current role since 2022. From 2005 to 2022, he worked as an assistant U.S. attorney, serving at different times as criminal appellate chief and appellate chief. Before joining the U.S. attorney’s office, he was a law clerk for Gibbons. Ritz also is a past chair of the TBA’s Appellate Practice Section and past president of the Memphis/Mid-South Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2004. The Commercial Appeal has more on the nomination.

The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a Law Day 2024 Launch Program tomorrow from 4-5 p.m. EDT. The program — which will be held virtually with free registration — will provide suggestions and guidance to inspire people to plan and lead their own Law Day celebrations. The event will include a panel discussion on this year’s Law Day theme, “Voices of Democracy,” which encourages Americans to participate in the 2024 elections by deepening their understanding of the electoral process; discussing issues in honest and civil ways; turning out to vote; and helping to move the country forward after free and fair elections. Law Day is celebrated each year on May 1. Read more about or register for the event.

The American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has released a formal opinion that provides guidance on when a lawyer’s conflict is imputed to all others in the lawyer’s firm ─ specifically when a lawyer discusses a legal matter with a prospective client and the client does not retain the lawyer or the firm. Formal Opinion 510 addresses the “reasonable measures” necessary to avoid imputing the lawyer’s conflict of interest to the firm under Rule 1.18 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Read more about the opinion.

On March 20, the Tennessee Supreme Court ordered former Nashville attorney Brian Manookian to pay the Board of Professional Responsibility $30,251.50 in costs associated with his disciplinary proceedings. The court had notified Manookian of the assessment, allowing him to contest the amount. It said today that it had not received an objection from him in the time permitted. The court permanently disbarred Manookian on Feb. 16.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a Texas law allowing state law enforcement to arrest individuals suspected of entering the United States without documentation, Axios reports. The action comes just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state to enforce the law while the issue is appealed, but directed the appeals court to act quickly on a “stay pending appeal,” noting that the court previously had imposed only a “temporary administrative stay.” Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh wrote a separate opinion saying they would not have intervened in the case at this point. The Biden administration is challenging the law, arguing that immigration enforcement is solely the responsibility of the federal government. SCOTUSblog has more on the case.

The Lawyers' Association for Women Marion Griffin Chapter will hold a celebration to honor its longtime Executive Director Melanie Gober Grand, who is retiring at the end of the month. The event will take place Tuesday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. CDT at the offices of Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella PC, 1310 6th Ave. N., Nashville 37208. Grand has served as director of the association for 24 years. Learn more or register to attend here.

Washington, Colorado and Minnesota are the latest states to transition to the NextGen bar exam, Reuters reports. Washington will begin using the overhauled bar exam when it first becomes available in July 2026. Minnesota will move to the test in 2027. Colorado will do so in 2028. They join 17 other jurisdictions that have announced plans to transition to the new test. In related news, Washington’s high court also approved “in concept” two new licensing pathways for law students, including a six-month apprenticeship program. The state joins New Hampshire, Oregon and Wisconsin in that approach.

U.S. News & World Report will release its 2024 law school rankings on April 9, amid predictions of possible methodology changes. According to Reuters, the publication is expected to modify its formula to make it more difficult for people to use publicly available American Bar Association (ABA) data to forecast results months in advance. U.S. News drastically altered its methodology in 2023 after nearly a quarter of law schools declined to provide any internal data, saying the publication's methodology hurt student diversity. As a result, the rankings were based primarily on ABA data such as employment rates and bar pass rates. That approach made it easier to project the rankings ahead of their official release and made it difficult to compare.