The University of Memphis School of Law and Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law will hold open houses for prospective students in the coming days. Memphis Law will hold its Diversity & Pre-Law Day on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. CST. Then on March 1, Duncan Law will hold an open house from 5:30 to 8 p.m. EST.

Leaders with the Tennessee Intergovernmental Affairs Court Improvement Program recently attended a workshop with court improvement staff from other states, the Administrative Office of the Courts reports. Director Stacy Lynch and Project Coordinator/Staff Assistant Elizabeth Whitt traveled to the “Liberating Structures Immersion Workshop,” which was designed to teach attendees how to utilize liberating structures to facilitate meetings, trainings, projects and more in a more collaborative, effective and productive manner. The two-day program was organized by the Oregon Court Improvement Program.

The Tennessee Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases today in Nashville. The first case, James Williams v. Smyrna Residential, LLC et al., concerns enforceability of an arbitration agreement. The second, Pratik Pandharipande, M.D. v. FSD Corporation, centers on a dispute about the scope and applicability of certain restrictive covenants between a property owner and a homeowners’ association. Read more about the cases from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted Friday to resubmit to the ABA House of Delegates its proposal to eliminate a requirement that accredited law schools use a standard admissions test like the LSAT or GRE. The House rejected the proposal at its midyear meeting several weeks ago. The council has asked the House to reconsider the proposal at its annual meeting in August, the ABA Journal reports. In other action last week, the council approved a suggestion from its Strategic Review Committee to allow up to 50% of a law school’s credits to be offered online without special permission. Currently, schools may offer up to up to one-third of their credit hours online. That recommendation will now be subject to a comment period.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper sent the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) similar letters of intent to move forward in the bidding and hosting process for the 2028 conventions, the Nashville Business Journal reports. The letters are not binding and require the Metro Council to approve any agreement. The council declined to pursue a bid to host a political convention in 2024 citing concerns over logistics and safety. In response, a number of Republican members of the state legislature introduced bills targeting the city’s autonomy. Proposals included defunding the convention center, giving the state control over the airport and sports authorities, and cutting the number of council members, the Tennessean reports. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, recently suggested that lawmakers might pull back on these efforts if Cooper showed the city was open to an RNC bid.

The Rutherford County juvenile detention facility is expanding its reach, housing youth from across the state, despite being under increased oversight. The county system came under fire in 2021 and was forced to pay more than $5 million for arresting and detaining children. Now, Nashville Public Radio reports that the system has contracts in place to house juveniles from 41counties across the state. One more is in the works. The station also reveals that the former juvenile court judge attempted to expand contracting across state lines. That effort, however, has been abandoned under the new administration.

The U.S. Supreme Court will not consider when criminal defense attorneys are obligated to start negotiating plea deals for their client, Bloomberg Law reports. The justices decided yesterday not to hear a Florida man’s claim that his attorney failed to adequately advise him on his plea. Quartavious Davis chose to plead not guilty. He was convicted and sentenced to 159 years for seven armed robberies. His co-defendants pleaded guilty and got lighter sentences. In a dissenting opinion, Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor wrote that they would have heard the case, saying it was “a clear opportunity … to resolve a circuit split regarding whether having an actual plea offer is an indispensable prerequisite to making the necessary showing of prejudice.”

A bill passed yesterday by the K-12 Subcommittee of the Education Administration Committee aims to shield educators who do not use the preferred pronoun of a student, WTVC reports. Under HB1269/SB0466, teachers or other public school employees would not be required to use a pronoun that is not consistent with the student's biological sex. Employees also would be insulated from civil liability and adverse employment action for their use of non-preferred pronouns.

A fourth Memphis Fire Department employee is under investigation related to the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, Memphis' chief legal officer said yesterday. The identity, rank and status of the employee is unknown. Chief legal officer Jennifer Sink told the Commercial Appeal that the individual came to the scene “much later and provided medical care and transported Mr. Nichols to the hospital.” She said the department has not "come to a final decision as to the action against him." Sink also told area media that officials may wrap up their internal investigations in the "next couple of weeks."

Two University of Memphis School of Law mock trial teams recently competed in regional competitions and will move on to national contests. The team of Peyton Barrow and Annika Rush won Region 8 of the National Trial Competition. They will head to the national competition in Texas next month. The event was held at the school under the leadership of student Harley Chapman. Additionally, the Memphis Law BLSA Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Advocacy Team of Jaske Goff and Iasia Peoples took home third place and won “best brief” at the Southern Region of the Black Law Students Association (SRBLSA) Conference and Competition. They will advance to SRBLSA's national competition in March in Washington, D.C. Read more about all the competitors.