Alicia Campbell, the director of victim services within the Williamson County District Attorney General’s Office, recently entered a guilty plea to charges of fraudulent use of a debit card, the Tennessean reports. Campbell, who resigned her position in August, entered the plea after investigators discovered she had made 14 personal purchases totaling $1,804.55 using a debit card assigned to the Victims of Crime Assistance Program. Campbell was granted judicial diversion relief, placed on a year probation and ordered to pay restitution. The full investigative report is available from the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.

Local and state elected officials, members of the local legal community and judges gathered with the family of former Hamilton County judge and state representative Mike Carter this week to unveil his official portrait in the Hamilton County Courts Building. Carter was praised for his four decades of service to the community, which included serving as general counsel for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, as a Hamilton County General Sessions judge and as a state representative for District 29. Carter died in 2021. Chattanoogan.com has photos from the ceremony and comments from local officials.

The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear a bid by the Biden administration to preserve broader access to the abortion pill, SCOTUSblog reports. The court will review a ruling by a federal appeals court that would significantly restrict, but not eliminate, access to mifepristone, which now accounts for over half of all abortions performed in the United States. A federal judge in Texas suspended federal approval of the drug in 2000 as well as an expansion of its availability in 2016 and 2021. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld the ruling on the expansion, but said the challenge to the original approval of the drug came too late. The high court will consider the expansion of availability but will not consider the appellate court’s ruling related to initial approval of the drug.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd was indicted yesterday for coercion of a witness and harassment, the Daily Memphian reports. She was booked into the Shelby County Jail today, posted $5,000 bail and was released. The indictment accuses Boyd of attempting to coerce her campaign manager Lashanta Rudd to testify falsely or withhold truthful testimony in 2022 while Rudd was a witness in an unidentified “official proceeding.” The indictment came from Judicial District 28 District Attorney Frederick Agee since the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office recused itself from the case. Boyd has received two reprimands from the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct for failing to abide by the terms of an earlier suspension. The board referred her case to the Tennessee General Assembly last month following issuance of the second reprimand.

Chicago-area lawyer Philip Pomerance died Dec. 9 at the age of 67. A graduate of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, he began his practice in the Chicago area. He also lectured across the country on health care law and legal ethics, and taught at Loyola University’s Beasley Institute for Health Law. In 2007, he left private practice to become the chief operating officer and general counsel for Best Practices Inpatient Care Ltd. in Long Grove, Illinois. He retired in 2017 due to health issues. Pomerance was a longtime speaker at the TBA’s Health Law Forum, presenting on legal ethics at no fewer than 20 seminars. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be sent to Congregation Kneseth Israel, 330 Division St., Elgin, IL, 60120, or to the animal shelter of the donor’s choice.

TBA's Year End CLE event brings you quick and easy content, right from the comfort of your own home or office, whether you need one hour of CLE or 15. Hourly packages make it easy to get just what you need. Check out our 15.5 hour package, 12.5 hour package, 10.5 hour package, 8.5 hour package or 6 hour package, or choose your own CLE options anytime by visiting cle.tba.org to find more than 200 on-demand programs.

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Legal Aid of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will host two clinics this week. Tomorrow, the group will hold a clinic specifically for veterans from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CST at Operation Stand Down, 1125 12th Ave. S., Nashville 37203. On Thursday, the group will hold a clinic from 3-4:30 p.m. at Greenhouse Ministries, 309 South Academy St., Murfreesboro 37130. All times central. Get additional information on the LAS website or volunteer to help at any of these clinics by contacting Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131.

Registration is now open for the next free advice clinic for Black-owned small businesses and nonprofits. The clinic, sponsored by the Arts & Business Council's Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts and Bradley, provides assistance with business formation and corporate governance, review of contracts and guidance in navigating local ordinances and state regulations. The next clinic will take place Jan. 18, 2024. Attorneys should email vlpa@abcnashville.org to volunteer.

State Sen. Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun, is proposing Tennessee adopt a uniform process for conducting recalls of non-constitutional public officials, WATE reports. Calhoun says the bill would not affect constitutional officers such as governor, secretary of state, attorney general or any county leadership. Instead, it would deal with city leadership and school boards. He says a situation in his own district motivated him to propose the legislation.