The Tennessee Supreme Court today denied a petition for reciprocal discipline from Knox County lawyer Elliott James Schuchardt, who was asking the court to suspend him for two years following a similar suspension by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The district court also imposed conditions on his reinstatement. The state Supreme Court rejected that approach, saying that the factual allegations that served “as an underlying basis” for the federal court order are now the subject of disciplinary proceedings in Tennessee involving a petition for discipline and two supplemental petitions for discipline. The Board of Professional Responsibility alleges that Schuchardt’s purpose in filing the petition was to “execute an ‘end-run’ around the pending disciplinary proceedings prior to a final disposition …”.

The Tennessee Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs announced the top 10 complaint categories for 2022. The division reports that it received a total of 8,088 formal consumer complaints last year. The greatest number of complaints centered around home improvements, repairs and warranties followed by issues related to landlord/tenant, health services and products, debtor/creditor, personal & professional services, Internet sales, motor vehicle sales, motor vehicle repairs, utilities, and imposter scams. Read more about each category and how the number of complaints in 2022 compared to those in 2021.

Knox County lawyer Bethany Taylor Greenoe was reinstated to the practice of law today. She had been placed on inactive status on May 21, 2011. The Board of Professional Responsibility indicated that the petition for reinstatement was satisfactory. The Tennessee Supreme Court made her reinstatement effective as of Feb. 28.

Memphis lawyer William Rowlett Scott died March 5 after a long illness. He was 86. Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Yale College and a law degree in 1961 from Yale Law School. He joined the Army Reserves after law school and was discharged seven years later as a captain in the Judge Advocate General Corps. He simultaneously served as law clerk to U.S. District Judge Bailey Brown Jr. and as an attorney at Armstrong Allen. He later made partner and was named a member of the firm’s management committee. In 2006, Scott joined Burch, Porter Johnson and worked there until his retirement in 2020. He focused his practice throughout the years on real estate and bankruptcy matters. A memorial service will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. CDT in the Sisters Chapel at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, 700 Poplar Ave., Memphis. A reception will follow in Martyrs' Hall. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral or the Tennessee Nature Conservancy.

The Senate voted 23-7 today to give final approval to a measure capping local metropolitan governing bodies at 20 members and Gov. Bill Lee promptly signed it. The bill, HB48/SB87, had cleared the House yesterday. Its effect will be to cut the Nashville Metro Council from 40 members to 20. The law calls for new districts to be drawn in time for elections in August. If that is not possible then current council members’ terms would be extended by a year. Legal challenges to the new law are widely expected, the Tennessee Journal reports.

Two longtime former deputies in the Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk’s office allege in a lawsuit filed this week that their dismissals in 2022 were politically motivated, the Nashville Post reports. Veronica Edmondson and Annecia Donigan name former Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk Richard Rooker, current Circuit Court Clerk Joseph Day and the Metro Government in their suit. Rooker announced in 2021 that he would not seek another term as clerk and supported his deputy, Joseph Day, for the post. According to the lawsuit, Rooker asked court staff to support Day and said “they were expected to work on the campaign.” He also is alleged to have said that those who did not support Day “would no longer have positions after the election.” Both Edmondson and Donigan say they did not support Day and were terminated because of that.

TikTok Inc. is planning to go on a lawyer hiring spree as efforts to ban the popular social media app or force its sale in the United States continue, Bloomberg Law reports. The company — owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. — says it plans to hire 60 lawyers globally this year. An online job board lists in-house legal positions in regulatory affairs, product monetization, privacy, litigation, employment, compliance, and anti-money laundering.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will hold a free low-income legal help clinic next Tuesday in Gallatin. The clinic will run from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. CDT at the Gallatin Civic Center, 210 Albert Gallatin Ave. To volunteer for a clinic, contact Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131. Get more details and see all March clinics.

The 42nd Annual Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition will take place March 17-18 at the Historic Davidson County Courthouse in downtown Nashville. The roster of competitors is now set with 14 teams: Aaron Academy and Signal Mountain High School from Chattanooga; Clarksville High School; two teams from Agathos Classical School in Columbia; Jefferson County High School in Dandridge; Unicoi County High School in Erwin; Farragut High School in Knoxville; two teams from St. Mary's Episcopal School in Memphis; Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro; and Christ Presbyterian Academy, Harpeth Hall School and Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville. The state competition is produced by the TBA Young Lawyers Division and will involve several hundred students, attorneys, sitting judges and law student volunteers. Thank you to Belmont University College of Law, Lincoln Memorial University and Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law for sponsoring this year’s competition.

The Biden administration is reportedly considering reviving the practice of detaining migrant families who cross the border without documentation — the same policy the president shut down over the past two years, the New York Times reports. Under the current policy, migrant families are released into the United States with ankle bracelets, traceable cellphones or other methods to keep track of them until a court hearing date. Some suggest the move may be in response to an expected border surge after May 11, when a public health measure that has allowed authorities to expel migrants expires. Officials told the paper that the Department of Homeland Security is outlining what it would need to do to restart temporary family detention by early May.