The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday issued two orders naming 75 individuals to the state’s nine disciplinary district’s hearing committees. The first order appointed 49 individuals while the second order re-appointed 26 individuals. The new terms for all will expire on March 16, 2025. Justice Sharon Lee dissented to both orders but no additional information was provided.

The Tennessee Supreme Court suspended 10 attorneys last week for failure to pay the annual registration fee. Seven of them also failed to file proof that client funds are held in an IOLTA-compliant account. View the April 22 fee suspension order and IOLTA suspension order. See the list of all lawyers suspended for fee and IOLTA violations in 2022 or access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.

The Nashville Arts & Business Council is seeking lawyers to volunteer for its online legal clinic “Ask The Experts.” The pro bono clinic offers free 30-minute sessions for artists, musicians and other creatives to get their legal and business questions answered. Volunteers are asked to sign up for two-hour shifts. The next clinic will take place May 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. CDT. First time volunteers should register here while returning volunteers can sign up here.

Three Republican candidates for Rhea County General Sessions Court — incumbent Shannon Garrison, Jace Cochran and David Shinn — met recently for a public debate moderated by Melody Shekari, president of the Chattanooga Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division. The candidates answered questions about their qualifications and the drug problem in the county, Chattanoogan.com reports. Cochran, who currently serve as Graysville municipal judge, and Assistant District Attorney General David Shinn both said they would like to create a drug court. Judge Garrison said he has sent people to rehab but until the person decides they want to stop “resources will be wasted on them.”

Knox County Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin recently presented the Susan D. Kovac Award to three outstanding child welfare attorneys in the county. Christina Kleiser with the Knox County Public Defender's Community Law Office received the 2020 award, John A. Anen received the 2021 award and Knox County Juvenile Court Magistrate Irene B. Joseph received the 2022 award. The awards for 2020 and 2021 were not presented in person in those years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The award ceremony took place as part of an annual fundraiser for the Volunteer Advisory Board, which hosts an appreciation dinner for foster care parents and helps meet the emergency needs of children in foster care.

A federal judge in Louisiana yesterday said he will block the Biden administration from rescinding Title 42, siding with Republican-led states that asked the courts to temporarily retain the pandemic-era border policy. The decision from Judge Robert Summerhays will prevent the president from ending Title 42 on May 23 as planned. Title 42 has been used more than 1.5 million times by the administration to rapidly expel migrants without letting them seek asylum. The Hill reports that the judge has not yet issued the order so the parties can “confer regarding the specific terms to be contained in the [order] and attempt to reach agreement.”

During nearly two hours of oral arguments, U.S. Supreme Court justices considered whether to let President Joe Biden rescind the "remain in Mexico" immigration policy begun under his predecessor. The policy forced tens of thousands of migrants to stay in Mexico while awaiting U.S. hearings on their asylum claims. Some of the conservative justices questioned the extent of the administration's discretion to release migrants into the United States, but also questioned whether Texas, one of the states that sued to maintain the program, could use the courts to constrain the government in an area over which there typically is broad federal authority. Reuters reports on the proceedings.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee “quietly signed” legislation on Friday that imposes penalties on public schools that allow transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports, the Associated Press reports. Last year, the governor signed a measure mandating that student athletes must prove their sex matches what is listed on their “original” birth certificate. This year’s bill adds penalties to that ban, which already has been challenged in the courts. Under the new law, the Tennessee Department of Education would withhold a portion of state funds from local school districts that fail to determine a student’s gender for participation in middle or high school sports. The measure does not specify exactly how much money should be withheld by the state. The law will go into effect July 1.

Read about the lawyers who have recently been reinstated, disbarred, suspended, censured, or transferred their licenses to disability inactive status.

Tennessee Bar Association members who have died recently are memorialized.