Pop star Britney Spears has been granted the right to hire her own attorney amid the legal battle over her conservatorship, the ABA Journal reports. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge yesterday approved Spears’ request to hire Greenberg Traurig shareholder Mathew Rosengart, who immediately called on the star’s father, Jamie Spears, to resign as his daughter’s conservator. Spears accused her father of “conservatorship abuse” in yesterday’s hearing. She has previously claimed that the conservatorship has prevented her from getting married and having more children by forcing her to have an IUD. An attorney for Spears’ father told the court yesterday that her client had his daughter’s best interests in mind and would not be stepping aside. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 29.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the law license of Johnny Leon Woodruff be transferred to disability inactive status. Woodruff cannot practice law while on disability inactive status. Woodruff’s license may be reinstated by the high court if he is able to show that his disability has been removed.   

Chattanooga attorney and TBA Young Lawyers Division President-elect Brittany Faith has been elected to serve on the Board of Governors  for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Chattanoogan reports. Faith is an immigration law attorney at the Chattanooga law firm Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison PC. Last month she was honored with AILA’s 2021 Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award for the outstanding contributions she has made as a young lawyer in the field of immigration and nationality law.

The TBA will hold its 2021 Elder Law Forum virtually tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT. This year's program will feature information on elder abuse and undue influence, VA benefits, Medicaid updates and more. Speakers include Julie Price with Elder Law of East Tennessee, Christopher Johnson of Takacs McGinnis Elder Care Law, Amy Bryant with the Metro Nashville Office of Conservatorship Management, Bryson Eubanks with Kane and Crowell, Abby Rubenfeld of Rubenfeld Law Office, Travenia Holden with Holden Law Office, Barbara Moss of with Elder Law of Nashville and Michelle Poss of A. Michelle Poss Attorney at Law. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from seasoned experts and catch up on the latest developments in the field.

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) has extended the nominations deadline for its annual access to justice awards to July 20. The Janice M. Holder Award, the B. Riney Green Award and the New Advocate of the Year award recognize those who have contributed to Tennessee’s equal justice community. The recipients will be recognized during the annual Equal Justice University (EJU) virtual conference Sept. 21-23. Visit TALS’ award nomination page for nomination instructions, the awards nomination form, and specific eligibility and criteria for each of the three awards.

James “Jim” Exum, an attorney at Chattanooga law firm Chambliss Bahner & Stophel, has announced he will run for judge in Hamilton County Circuit Court Division II, the Chattanoogan reports. Exum seeks to fill the seat of current Judge Jeff Hollingsworth, who recently announced he will not seek reelection. According to his campaign, Exum has been practicing in Chattanooga for his entire legal career of nearly 15 years and specializes in "defense of police officers, first responders, government officials and private parties.” Local civic leader Nick Decosimo will serve as the campaign’s treasurer.

West Tennessee Legal Services (WTLS) will host a bankruptcy and debt relief advice clinic on July 28 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The event will be held at the WTLS office at 210 W Main St, Jackson, TN, 38301. A virtual option will be available for attorneys. To volunteer for the clinic, contact Andy Cole.  

Local coalition, Save Nashville Now, today sued the Davidson County Election Commission, claiming the commission has taken illegal steps to put a tax referendum on a September ballot, the Tennessean reports. That referendum would give voters the option of rolling back Nashville's 2020 property tax increase and limiting the city's ability to raise taxes in the future. A July 27 election was cancelled late last month by a Nashville judge. The commission voted 3-2 to appeal that ruling and “conditionally” set a new election date for Sept. 21, dependent on whether the appeals court reverses the original decision. Save Nashville Now is suing to block the September election, claiming the commission has violated local and state rules regulating election dates for referendums. The coalition is made up of businesses, faith-based groups and community advocates and is represented by Nashville attorney Daniel Horwitz. 

The Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) has dismissed ethics charges against Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott following an investigation into statements he made on whether gay people and Muslims were entitled to legal protections, Nashville’s News Channel 5 reports. Four ethics complaints were filed after video circulated in 2019 of Northcott saying he would not prosecute domestic violence cases involving same-sex couples and did not recognize gay marriage. He also received complaints after claiming on social media that Muslims are "evil because they profess a commitment to an evil belief system." A hearing panel granted Northcott's motion to dismiss the case in April, and the BPR chose not to appeal.

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis and a group of police leaders and officials yesterday met with President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss quelling the recent surge of violent crime, the Daily Memphian reports. The Biden administration is developing a strategy to combat the uptick in crime, which includes investment in “community intervention,” by using federal pandemic relief funds being sent to cities and states. Memphis set a new record for homicides in 2020 with 332 and violent crime across all categories was up 24% citywide compared to 2019.