The state Senate on Monday overwhelmingly passed a bill banning gender transition health care for minors in Tennessee, the Tennessean reports. SB1 bans minors in Tennessee from accessing gender dysphoria and transition treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapies as well as surgeries. Those who received such treatments as minors also would be able to sue parents, guardians and physicians for authorizing that care. The legislation includes a 30-year statute of limitations. Ahead of the vote yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union threatened legal action if the bill becomes law.

The Nashville Scene takes a look at the new book from former Tennessee Bar Journal Editor Suzanne Craig Robertson. Her book, “He Called Me Sister,” documents the relationship between death row inmate Cecil Johnson and her family as Johnson’s case winds its way through the legal system ultimately culminating with his execution. The book will be out next Tuesday. Watch for a review by former TBA President and columnist Bill Haltom in the March/April issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal.

Nashville Public Radio’s podcast “This is Nashville” is out with a new episode remembering the sit-ins at Nashville lunch counters. As the episode reports, it was 12:40 p.m. on Feb. 13, 1960, when Black college students sat down at lunch counters in downtown Nashville and asked to be served. They sat in silent protest against segregation at the city’s lunch counters, but were met with racial slurs and abuse. John Lewis, who would go on to become an icon of the civil rights movement and later a U.S. representative, was arrested for the first time at Woolworth and would spend weeks in jail along with dozens of fellow activists. By May, six of the downtown lunch counters had begun serving Black customers. Tune in and hear veterans of the sit-ins talk about their experience.

The partners of Nashville law firm Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings are splitting and forming two new firms, the Nashville Post reports. Ben Gastel, Tricia Herzfeld, Joe Leniski Jr., David Suetholz and Michael Wall will leave the firm to form Herzfeld, Suetholz, Gastel, Leniski and Wall (HSGLaW). All will work in Nashville except for Suetholz, who will be based in Louisville. The new firm will focus on civil rights, union-side labor law and complex civil litigation. It also will assume work on neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) cases previously handled by Branstetter, Stranch. The original firm will rebrand as Stranch, Jennings & Garvey with managing partner Gerard Stranch IV (grandson of firm founder, the late Cecil Branstetter) and Jim Stranch III, Jan Jennings, former state Rep. Mike Stewart, Jack Garvey and Nate Ring. Garvey will be based in St. Louis while Ring will work from Las Vegas. The firm will focus on class actions, mass torts, ERISA trust funds, labor unions, bank fees, data breaches and personal injury cases. It also will continue to handle governmental opioid work

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tennessee legislature made it more difficult to sue hospitals and health care providers in cases related to COVID-19. Now, Republicans are proposing to make those temporary rules permanent, WPLN reports. The legislation also would make permanent previously enacted restrictions on mask and vaccine mandates. The Senate version of the measure, SB0011, passed that body yesterday.

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday transferred the law license of Maury County lawyer James Thomas DuBois Jr. to disability inactive status. DuBois may not practice law while on inactive status and must comply with the requirements of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, Section 28. He may petition for a return to active status by showing the disability has been removed.

The Tennessee Supreme Court this week issued a revised order amending Rule 31(14)(g) to increase the number of training hours needed to obtain a “Specifically Trained in Domestic Violence Issues” designation. The court had issued its original order last week, approving a proposal from the Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission to increase the requirement from 12 to 16 hours. The revision, which appears at the end of the second paragraph, adds the phrase "effective June 1, 2023."

The TBA Business Law Section will present its annual forum on April 21 both online and in person. The focus of the program will be business transactions in the news and how they apply to those practicing in the state of Tennessee. Participants include Nathan Harris, James Oliver and John Rodgers, Bradley Arant; A.J. Bahou, Waller; Alexander Davie, Riggs Davie; Joan Heminway, University of Tennessee College of Law; Justin Joy, Lewis Thomason; and Matthew Lyon, Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law. Join the event virtually or in person at the Nashville office of Bass, Berry & Sims from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CST. A networking reception will follow the program.

Lang Wiseman, the former deputy and chief counsel to Gov. Bill Lee, will be honored as Tennessee’s SEC Basketball Legend and will represent the University of Tennessee at the SEC Tournament next month in Nashville. Wiseman, who earned a bachelor’s degree in business from the university and a law degree from Harvard Law School, is a former Academic All-American, starring as a guard for the Volunteers from 1989-1993. He is also the most decorated scholar athlete in Tennessee basketball history. Wiseman was set to be honored in 2020, but that year’s tournament was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. Wiseman is now a shareholder in the Nashville office of Baker Donelson. Read more from Williamson Source.

A recent decision by Tennessee's attorney general could soon pave the way for 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds to carry a gun without undergoing background checks or training. State law allows permitless carry for adults aged 21 and over. Soon after the law passed, a lawsuit was filed alleging the exclusion of adults under 21 was unconstitutional. Last month, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sided with the plaintiffs and signed an agreement that would allow anyone 18 or older to carry without a license. While the judge in the case has not signed off on the proposed settlement, Republican leadership in the state House say they are moving forward with a bill on the issue soon, WPLN reports. Republican members of the General Assembly introduced a similar bill last year, but it failed to pass in the Senate.