The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (LAS) will host a free legal clinic Wednesday at Operation Stand Down, 1125 12th Ave S., Nashville 37203. The clinic will offer help to veterans on a variety of civil and criminal legal issues. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT . Call 615-248-1981 to schedule or for more information. To volunteer, contact Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131. Watch the LAS website for clinics coming in August.

The National Conference of Bar Examiners released a selection of sample questions for the so-called NextGen bar exam, which is set to debut in July 2026, and the reaction has been “lukewarm,” Reuters reports. Comments range from concerns that the questions are too easy to complaints that the revamped test will not be significantly different from the current one. The bar exam group began developing the new test in early 2021, partially in response to criticism that the existing exam does not reflect the actual practice of law. This fall's incoming class of law students will be the first to take the new exam when they graduate.

A news item in yesterday’s issue of TBA Today had the incorrect RSVP deadline to attend the investiture ceremony for incoming Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Dwight E. Tarwater. Responses will be accepted through Aug. 25. The event will take place Sept. 5 at 3 p.m. EDT at the Tennessee Theatre, located at 604 S. Gay St., Knoxville 37902. View the invitation. RSVP to tscrsvp@painetarwater.com to attend.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti recently announced a partnership with the Federal Trade Commission and other law enforcement agencies nationwide to crackdown on illegal telemarketing operations responsible for billions of calls to U.S. consumers. The joint state and federal “Operation Stop Scam Calls” initiative targets telemarketers, the companies that hire them, lead generators and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers, who facilitate illegal robocalls, which often originate from overseas. The effort includes law enforcement actions as well as an educational campaign.

An investiture ceremony for incoming Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Dwight E. Tarwater will take place Sept. 5 at 3 p.m. EDT at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville. The oath will be administered by Gov. Bill Lee and a reception will follow. The theatre is located at 604 S. Gay St., Knoxville 37902. View the invitation. RSVP by Aug. 25 to tscrsvp@painetarwater.com to attend.

The National Conference of Bar Examiners released a selection of sample questions for the so-called NextGen bar exam, which is set to debut in July 2026, and the reaction has been “lukewarm,” Reuters reports. Comments range from concerns that the questions are too easy to complaints that the revamped test will not be significantly different from the current one. The bar exam group began developing the new test in early 2021, partially in response to criticism that the existing exam does not reflect the actual practice of law. This fall's incoming class of law students will be the first to take the new exam when they graduate.

Knox County lawyer Charles Scott Justice received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday. Justice filed a lawsuit for a client alleging faulty construction of a deck at the client’s residence. The trial date was continued several times and then taken off the court’s active docket. For several months, the client contacted Justice about the status of the matter with no substantive response. Justice sent an email to the client stating that he wanted to withdraw from the matter, but the client did not receive the email. Justice did not move to withdraw from the case and took no further action. The court found that these actions violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.16, 3.2, 1.3, 1.4 and 8.4(d).

The Tennessee Supreme Court issued a public censure for Craig Thomas Phelps yesterday. Phelps, who is licensed in Tennessee, is serving in the U.S. Air Force in Montana. The court found that though Phelps intended to file a motion to place his license on military exempt status he did not do so. Believing that he did take this action, Phelps did not pay his annual registration fee for 2021. His license was suspended for failure to pay the fee but he continued to practice law. On March 7, 2022, he stopped practicing law. The court found his actions violated Rule of Professional Conduct 5.5.

Vanderbilt University Law School has named Jennifer Safstrom as the new director of its Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic. Safstrom previously taught at the clinic as a visiting assistant clinical professor of law. Before joining Vanderbilt, Safstrom was the Dunn Legal Fellow at the ACLU of Virginia, where she litigated in federal and state court. Following her fellowship, she served as counsel to the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law Center and as supervising attorney and clinical teaching fellow in the school’s Civil Rights Clinic.

Rachel Bloomekatz, an Ohio litigator whose work on gun control drew Republican scrutiny, was narrowly confirmed to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Appeals Court yesterday, Bloomberg Law reports. Bloomekatz, once a clerk to former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, has been a solo practitioner in Columbus since 2019. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on a vote of 50-48 more than a year after being nominated. She will fill the Ohio seat being vacated by Judge Ransey Guy Cole. Read past coverage of her confirmation journey from TBA Today.