A trial date of March 24, 2025, has been set in a civil wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow of an inmate who died at the Shelby County Jail last year, Daily Memphian reports. The federal suit alleges that Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr., chief jailer Kirk Fields and the Shelby County government were complicit in the deadly beating of Gershun Freeman and seeks $100 million in damages. Freeman died at the jail Oct. 5, 2022, after being beaten by corrections officers. Nine of the officers are facing criminal charges for their alleged roles in his death.

The Washington County Bar Association has announced new officers for 2024. They are: President Thomas J. Smith, President-elect Jerome Cochran and Treasurer Jesse J. Campbell with the Garza Law Firm; and Vice President Grace Studer and Secretary LaRae Ganger with Spurrell, Studer & Ganger. Hunter Shepard with Herrin Booze & McPeak Attorneys at Law moves into the immediate past president spot. All are in Johnson City. Board members elected for the new year are: Nora Koffman, Solange McDaniel and Hunter Shepard. Congratulations to all.

Information about fall 2023 admissions and other matters reported by law schools to the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is now publicly available. Data on admissions, tuition, living costs, financial aid, class and faculty demographics is summarized and searchable. Bar passage rates and employment reports will be released separately next year in March and April, respectively. Read more in a news release from the organization.

The Tennessee Supreme Court recently reinstated three lawyers to the practice of law who had been suspended for failing to complete annual continuing legal education requirements. Two were reinstated after failing to complete requirements in 2023. One was reinstated for failing to complete requirements in 2015. View all administrative suspensions and reinstatements here.

Four candidates are vying for the Davidson County Fourth Circuit Court seat in the March 5, 2024, Democratic primary, the Nashville Post reports. They are: Stan Kweller, who was appointed to the seat in January following the death of Judge Phil Smith, Tusca Alexis, Audrey Anderson and Stephanie Williams. No Republican candidate filed for the circuit, which hears family law cases. Alexis has worked as a public defender and in private practice for more than 33 years. She handles family law, criminal defense, medical malpractice, worker’s compensation, personal injury, wrongful death and immigration cases. Anderson has been a divorce and family law attorney for nearly 25 years. She says she would prioritize collaborative law and mediation for simpler divorce cases. Williams has more than 20 years of family law experience, including founding the Family Justice Center and working as special master under former Judge Smith. She has pledged to make the family court system “more accessible and affordable.”

A U.S. delegation is meeting with Mexico’s president today in an attempt to have Mexico do more to limit a surge of migrants at the southwestern border, the Associated Press reports. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said he is willing to help, but wants to see progress in U.S. relations with Cuba and Venezuela, two of the top sources of migrants, and more aid for the region. The number of people apprehended at the southern border exceeded two million in both 2022 and 2023. In September alone, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended more than 200,000 migrants crossing the border and a new caravan of some 7,000 people recently left southern Mexico bound for the U.S. border. The BBC has more on that story.

U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee announced yesterday that his office has reached an agreement with the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County to settle allegations that Metro violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide reasonable modifications that would allow disabled individuals to attend public meetings remotely. As part of the settlement, Metro will revise its ADA policies and pay $500 to the complainant. Read more in a news release from the U.S. attorneys office.

As 2024 approaches, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office Division of Consumer Affairs urges Tennesseans to make a renewed effort to protect themselves and the elderly from scams in the new year. The office has provided key tips to help consumers avoid scam loss, including being aware of fake debt collectors, using only verified customer service contacts for questions about accounts, thoroughly scrutinizing online offers, hiring only licensed contractors, and avoiding transactions involving gift cards, cryptocurrency or wire transfer. Consumers also can sign up for fraud alerts and learn more about reporting scams from the Federal Trade Commission.

The 35th Annual TBA Health Law Forum is now available for online purchase and viewing. This mainstay for health care lawyers provides 12 general and three dual hours of CLE credit bundled together in our 1-Click package format. Sessions include updates on regulatory fraud and abuse, federal antitrust enforcement, telehealth, the False Claims Act, and legislation and case law, as well as topics such as state privacy issues, price transparency rules and preparing for the next pandemic. Buy the package today!

A number of lawyers have been reinstated after being suspended for not paying their annual registration fee to the Board of Professional Responsibility. They include 25 lawyers who did not pay their fee in 2023, three who did not pay the fee in 2022, one who did not pay the fee in 2021 and one who did not pay the fee in 2012. The TBA has records of all administrative suspensions and reinstatements going back to 2005. See all lists here.