The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) announced today that is awarding $19.8 million to 14 legal services organizations to support the delivery of legal services to low-income people impacted by hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, floods and severe storms that occurred in 2022. Among the recipients is West Tennessee Legal Services (WTLS), which will use $849,009 to provide legal services to those impacted by severe winter weather in 2022, including two storms that were FEMA-declared disasters. WTLS also may use the funds to hire additional staff to educate affected populations on disaster-related issues and strengthen disaster-response networks.The money was made available by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.

The abortion pill mifepristone will remain available to patients but with restrictions, a three judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today. By a vote of 3-0, the panel blocked changes made by the Food and Drug Administration in 2016 to make the drug more accessible, but noted that its decision is subject to a prior U.S. Supreme Court order, which “stayed the district court’s order pending resolution of this appeal.” In addition, it ruled 2-1 to overturn a lower court ruling that suspended overall approval of the drug. Read more from Reuters or read the ruling.

Make plans now to attend the annual TBA Health Law Primer and Health Law Forum CLE programs to be held in Nashville in November. The primer will take place Nov. 1 followed by the forum on Nov. 2-3. Designed for those new to health practice, the primer will provide an introduction to the U.S. health care system, issues of fraud and abuse, provider licensing and employment and contracting. The two-day forum will dig deeper into topics such as The False Claims Act, telehealth, antitrust, artificial intelligence and legislative developments. A block of hotel rooms is reserved for those traveling to the event. Get details at the links above.

Retired NFL star Michael Oher, whose supposed adoption out of poverty by a wealthy, white family was immortalized in the 2009 movie "The Blind Side," told a Tennessee court last week that a central element of the story was a lie concocted by the family to enrich itself at his expense. The 14-page petition, filed in Shelby County Probate Court, alleges that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, who took Oher into their home as a high school student, never adopted him. Instead, the petition says, the couple tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators, which gave them legal authority to make business deals in his name, including millions of dollars from the movie. Oher is now petitioning the court to end the conservatorship and bar the Tuohy family from using his name and likeness. ESPN has more on the story. The Daily Memphian reports that Sean Tuohy responded to the allegations saying, “We’re devastated. It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children. But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.” Asked if he would support ending the conservatorship, Tuohy said, “Of course. I want whatever Michael wants.”

Memphis Area Legal Services will host its Attorney of the Day clinic this Thursday beginning at 1 p.m. CDT. During the clinic, volunteer attorneys will meet with pro se litigants to provide help and make referrals. Clients are seen on a first come first serve basis. The clinic takes place in Room 134 of the Judge D'Army Bailey Courthouse, 140 Adams Ave., Memphis 38103. Volunteer attorneys are needed to help. Sign up here.

The Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed a reinstatement petition filed by Blount County lawyer Charles David Deas on Aug. 8. Deas was suspended on Oct. 12, 2020, and remained suspended until the court transferred his law license to disability inactive status on March 18, 2022. The Board of Professional Responsibility opposed reinstatement. The court agreed, saying Deas failed to provide a factual or legal basis for reinstatement; that he failed to attach evidence demonstrating a change in his physical or mental health; and that he sought relief only from the temporary suspension, which was dissolved when he was transferred to disability inactive status.

Mark P. Chalos, managing partner in Lieff Cabraser's Nashville office, has been appointed as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in a nationwide marketing and sales practices and products liability suit against Generac Solar Power Systems. The suit claims the company’s PWRCell System components are defective and potentially dangerous following reports of solar panels catching fire in homes. Chalos was appointed by Judge Lynn S. Adelman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, who will oversee all federal cases filed against Generac. Read more about the case.

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, Nashville law firm Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison has established a renewable, need-based scholarship fund at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. Scholarships will support students pursuing two- or four-year degrees at technical schools, community colleges or universities. The firm recently hosted a reception to honor Finn Pritchett, the first recipient of the scholarship. Pritchett will attend Belmont University. Read more about the program, which the firms says exemplifies its “sense of social responsibility through tangible action and the spirit of giving in a meaningful and measurable way.”

The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility issued two new ethics opinions last week. The first, 2023-F-169, addresses what steps lawyers should take when departing a law firm and what steps firms should take to protect clients. The second, 2023-F-170, addresses acceptance of credit card payments and the use of payment platforms such as Venmo. TBA CLE ethics speaker Brian Faughnan provides his take on the opinions in his blog Faughnan on Ethics.

Memphis lawyer Patrick H. Morris, a senior employment llitigator at Federal Express and a member of the TBA Young Lawyers Division Board, was elected assembly clerk of the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (ABA YLD) at the group’s meeting in Denver last week. As clerk, Morris will chair the ABA YLD Credentials Board and sit on the ABA YLD Executive Committee, Executive Board and Elections Committee. The position also puts him in the line of succession for ABA YLD speaker, a position he will assume for the 2024-2025 bar year. Morris also recently was appointed to the ABA Commission on Governance by ABA President Mary L. Smith. In this role, Morris will take part in the decennial review of the ABA House of Delegates, Board of Governors and Nominating Committee.