A new analysis from Law360 Pulse shows that, during the last seven years, U.S. law firms have made minimal gains in achieving diversity, Bob Ambrogi’s LawSites blog reports. According to the Diversity Snapshot 2021, since 2014, the percentage of minority attorneys in law firms rose just four points, from 14.1% to 18.1%, with the numbers of partners and equity partners rising even less. The study also suggests that a disproportionately higher number of minority lawyers leave law firms. Of those who left in 2020, 24% were lawyers of color. “The progress is trending in the right direction toward more diversity,” Law360’s Director of Series, Surveys and Data Kerry Benn says, “but it’s just so slow.” The ABA's "Profile of the Legal Profession" found similar results last month, reporting that lawyers of color made up 11.2% of all attorneys in 2011, and now comprise 14.6%. However, those gains were not seen in all minority groups. 

A law that went into effect this summer could provide some counties with a one-time grant of up to $5,000 to create new waiting areas for crime victims and/or their families as they wait during court proceedings, the Murfreesboro Post reports. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, and Rep. Michael Curcio, R-Dickson, establishes a “grant program within the District Attorneys General Conference (DAGC) to award grants to county governments to provide a safe and accessible space for victims to meet with attorneys, law enforcement, counselors and others.” 

Lebanon attorney Frank Lannom has been elected to serve as president of the Tennessee Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers (TACDL), the Wilson Post reports.  Lannom is a partner at Lannom & Williams, where he represents clients in a broad range of complex criminal charges. In a press release, Lannom credited TACDL’s “teaching and mentorship of young lawyers,” for getting him where he is today. “I will continue to uphold the values of TACDL and to defend the citizens of Tennessee accused of crimes, wherever justice demands,” he said.

Arizona-based Guidant Law Firm yesterday announced it is expanding its entertainment practice with the opening of a new office in Brentwood. Entertainment attorney James Kuzmich will lead the new office in helping artists negotiate legal contracts, such as record deals, management, production, publishing and licensing agreements, trade name protection and copyright registration and termination. The Brentwood office will be located at 9005 Overlook Rd., Ste. 224. Read more on Guidant’s website.

A coalition of Nashville residents is calling on state lawmakers and Metro Council members to regulate the entertainment vehicles that operate downtown after a 22-year-old fell off a party bus and was run over late last month, the Tennessean reports. The group, Safe Fun Nashville, has launched an online petition asking for the creation of common sense safety standards for party vehicles and for the Nashville Transportation Licensing Commission to “step up and enforce existing rules.” Local governments are prohibited from regulating party vehicles under state law. An operator must obtain a state license to hit the road, and enforcement of safety standards after that is lax. "Nashville should also be for Nashvillians," wrote one petition signatory. "This industry is under-regulated, and it impacts our day-to-day life. It’s a safety hazard and a blight on our community."

The University of Tennessee College of Law is hosting the American Bar Association's 19th Amendment traveling exhibit, "100 Years After the19th Amendment: Their Legacy, and Our Future,” Aug. 13-26 in the Joel A. Katz Law Library. The traveling exhibit, co-sponsored by the Library of Congress, celebrates the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment with historic photos and artifacts. It also provides details about the story of the battle for ratification, its influence on subsequent movements related to equal rights and gives focus to the challenges that remain. Read more from the college of law.

The University of Tennessee has been billed for more than $756,000 in legal fees for the investigation into football recruiting violations, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. The investigation is a cooperative effort between the university and the NCAA into allegations of rules violations pertaining to recruiting that are said to have happened under former coach Jeremy Pruitt. Bond, Schoeneck and King, a law firm from Overland Park, Kansas, that specializes in athletics compliance reviews was hired last November for the investigation. UT athletics director Danny White said the university is working to prevent a years-long investigation, but noted that he “can’t really put a time frame on it.” Pruitt was fired in January in what his lawyer called an “orchestrated event” focused on "financial convenience and expediency" over fairness.

Kentucky lawyer and former American Bar Association President Leonard Stanley Chauvin Jr. died on May 12. He was 86. Chauvin was licensed to practice in 11 states, including Tennessee, where he had many friends. Chauvin earned his law degree from the University of Louisville School of Law and began practicing in 1961. He argued cases at every level of state and federal court including the U.S. Supreme Court. Chauvin served as president of the Louisville Bar Association, president of the American Judicature Society, chairman of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation and president of the American Bar Association. He is remembered for his advocacy of the legal profession, his mentorship of young lawyers and for “not letting the truth get in the way of a good story.” 

The Shelby County Commission on Monday overrode County Mayor Lee Harris’ veto of a new ethics advisory panel, the Daily Memphian reports. The panel would advise the commission on anyone the mayor appoints to the county’s ethics commission as well as any proposed amendments to the county’s ethics ordinance. The veto and subsequent override come during longstanding differences between Harris and County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. Ford is currently the subject of an ethics probe surrounding s grant he allegedly proposed for Junior Achievement of Memphis & the Mid-South in 2019. In his veto letter, Harris said the panel might look like “possible interference into a current criminal investigation of an elected official,” which he cautioned was “dangerous ground.” Ford said Harris crossed a line by mentioning the investigation. He also questioned the mayor’s “timing of his focus on ethics,” alleging that someone has filed an ethics complaint against Harris. Several commissioners abstained on the veto override, including Van Turner, who urged a delay on both the ordinance and in considering any of Harris’ proposed changes to the ethics code.

Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston did not attend today’s County Commission meeting after having been asked to appear by Commissioner Tim Boyd, the Chattanoogan reports. Boyd, who was once prosecuted by Pinkston on an extortion charge, had previously called for the DA to appear before the commission to answer questions on whether he has been using county funds to pay relatives. County Attorney Rhuebin Taylor told the commission they had no subpoena power and cannot require Pinkston to answer questions.