Measures specifically impacting local control in three of Tennessee’s largest cities, passed the legislature prior to adjournment. These include a bill turning community oversight boards in Memphis and Nashville into advisory committees, a bill giving state Republican leaders authority to make appointments to boards overseeing Nashville’s airports and sports facilities, a bill limiting how Nashville can spend certain tourism tax revenue from its Music City Center convention center, a bill that reverses a voter referendum designed to save the Nashville fairgrounds racetrack, and a bill expanding school vouchers in Hamilton County. The Nashville Scene has more on these bills. The Tennessean looks at other measures passed during the session.

The Tennessee General Assembly wrapped up business for the session around 7:30 p.m. CDT on Friday. Shortly after the legislature adjourned, Gov. Bill Lee said he would call a special session to consider gun reform. Lee repeated his call for legislative action on a new “Order of Protection” law saying, "there is broad agreement that dangerous, unstable individuals who intend to harm themselves or others should not have access to weapons." Additional details about the session will be announced in the coming days, according to a release from the governor’s office.

Join the TBA Attorney Well Being Committee on Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. CDT for a free webinar on how to find a therapist who fits your individual needs. The program will feature three speakers: Adam Hill, an estate planning lawyer who teaches mindfulness techniques to attorneys; Chase Pittman, a lawyer and coach at Tin Man, a Tennessee-based company focused on helping people learn leadership skills through one-on-one mentoring, education, training and consulting; and Lauren Castor, a clinical case manager with the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP). Sign up here to join the discussion.

U.S. News has removed the preview content for the 2023-2024 Best Law Schools rankings, which had been published on April 11. The media entity said it is continuing to deal with “an unprecedented number of inquiries during our embargo period for the 2023-2024 Best Graduate Schools, including requests from law and medical schools to update data submitted after the collection period.” It notes that the rankings are not final until they are published in their entirety on the U.S. News website.

Tennessee’s former vaccine official, who was fired after becoming a critic of the state's COVID-19 pandemic response, has reached an informal settlement with state public health officials, the Tennesseean reports. Dr. Michelle Fiscus, claimed in her defamation suit that state officials made "false, stigmatizing, and defamatory statements” about her in an effort to discredit her and that they released false information about her job performance. Both parties filed notice in court last week stating they had reached a settlement after taking part in court-mandated mediation. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The law firm of Baker Donelson has received the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Litigation's 2023 John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award. This national award is presented in recognition of outstanding contributions to the quality of justice in legal communities, ensuring that the legal system is open and available to all. Baker Donelson was recognized for its global pro bono work and role creating the online pro bono site Free Legal Answers. The award was presented during the section’s conference in Atlanta this week. Read more from the firm and see a photo of the firm lawyers who were in attendance to accept the award.

Tennessee’s two largest cities, Nashville and Memphis, have been running independent, civilian-led boards to investigate police misconduct allegations and review policing policies for a number of years. Yesterday, the state legislature voted to abolish the groups, WPLN reports. Nashville's community oversight board was created by referendum in 2018 following police shootings of Jocques Clemmons in 2017 and Daniel Hambrick in 2018. The Memphis Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board was established in 1994.

TBA's Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorneys and TBA lobbyists Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin are out with a new Legislative Update podcast. In this episode, they discuss the outlook for adjournment, status of the medical records bill and Gov. Bill Lee's proposal for a new “Order of Protection” law. In a video message released this week, Lee called on the legislature to allow temporary removal of firearms from a person who poses a "current and ongoing" risk of serious harm to themselves or others "while requiring due process and a high burden of proof to preserve the Second Amendment." The trio wrap up the episode with a plug for the TBA Annual Convention set for June 14-17 in Knoxville. Legislative Update airs each week during the legislative session on TBA’s Facebook page. It is also posted on the TBA’s website and wherever you listen to podcasts.

U.S. News now says it will delay the results of its new law school rankings indefinitely. The rankings based on new criteria were supposed to have been unveiled late April. No new release date has been announced. Above the Law reports that law schools have challenged pre-release data as full of errors. It has a copy of the message sent to deans about the postponement. A Yale Law spokesperson told Law.com, “Many scholars and deans have expressed serious concerns about the company’s inability to produce accurate, error-free rankings.”