The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) has issued a new Formal Ethics Opinion after adopting significant comments from the TBA. In November, the TBA filed a comment with the BPR in response to the proposed opinion, which dealt with the circumstances that establish a systematic and continuous presence in Tennessee for the practice of law as in-house counsel. The BPR adopted those changes and has issued Formal Ethics Opinion 2022-F-168. Read the finalized opinion here.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has joined 21 states in calling on President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) under federal law. The letter from the coalition contends that Mexican cartels are responsible for producing deadly synthetic opioids at a low cost and trafficking the drugs across the U.S. boarder. Skrmetti’s office said in a release today that an FTO designation would provide state and federal law enforcement agencies increased authority to freeze cartel assets, deny entry to cartel members, and allow prosecutors to pursue stricter punishments against those who provide them material support. Read more from the AG’s office.

Computer servers belonging to the Florida Supreme Court and several universities in the U.S. and Central Europe have been scrambled in a global ransomware outbreak, Reuters reports. Those organizations are among more than 3,800 victims of a fast-spreading digital extortion campaign that locked up thousands of servers in Europe over the weekend. Although this particular extortion campaign was not sophisticated, it drew warnings from national cyber watchdogs in part because of the speed of its spread. The extent of the disruption to the affected organizations, if any, was unclear.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is joining 23 state attorneys general in sending a letter to Yelp opposing the company’s practice of “discriminating against crisis pregnancy centers in online consumer notices.” According to the AG’s office, Yelp announced last year it would begin issuing notices to the profiles of crisis pregnancy centers informing customers that the centers “typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals onsite.” The coalition also took issue with Yelp recategorizing the services of crisis pregnancy centers as they “are in high demand.” Read the letter.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today disbarred Wilson County lawyer Jennifer M. Porth from the practice of law. Porth failed to file accountings for three different clients she was representing in conservatorships. Porth also represented three estates in probate matters and failed to file any accountings and failed to timely and diligently represent her clients. She misappropriated and converted funds from these estates to her own personal use, failed to abide by her clients’ wishes relative to various assets of the estates, failed to properly communicate with the clients, failed to obtain permission from the Court for attorney fees and failed to turn over client materials in a timely manner. Porth consented to disbarment because she could not successfully defend the alleged charges.

Six more Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers will be charged with violating department policies in the killing of Tyre Nichols, the Daily Memphian reports. MPD Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis told city council members today that the total of officers facing internal police charges now stands at 13. During a three-hour committee session today, Davis said the charges against the additional officers should be made formal this week with appeal hearings to come next week. The charges of violating MPD policies do not rule out, or guarantee, criminal charges against the officers.

The parents of Tyre Nichols, the Memphis man killed by police last month, will be in attendance during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address tonight in Washington, the Commercial Appeal reports. RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, Nichols’ mother and stepfather, have vowed to fight for police reform in the wake of their son’s death. In addition to discussing police brutality, NPR reports that Biden is expected to address expanding veteran benefits, investing in resources to aid in a national mental health crisis and working with international leaders to crush the opioid epidemic. You can watch the State of the Union tonight at 8 p.m. CDT.

Gov. Bill Lee proposed a $55.6 billion budget Monday night during his fifth State of the State address at the Tennessee Capitol, WPLN reports. Highlights from the budget include funding to help the in-crisis Department of Children’s Services and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, teacher raises, a promise to increase TennCare eligibility for postpartum coverage and pregnant patients and millions for state parks and recreation areas. The big-ticket item was a $3 billion proposal for state road projects. “I say with great pride that Tennessee is leading the nation,” said Lee in a nod to his speech’s theme. “The state of our beloved state is prosperous, hopeful and unrivaled.” Read more highlights from the Nashville Post.  

Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton yesterday announced his candidacy for another term in the role, the Commercial Appeal reports. “We need proven leadership,” Herenton said of the office. “This is not the time for on-the-job training." Herenton, 82, served as Memphis mayor from 1992 until 2009. He ran for an additional term in 2019, but ultimately conceded to Mayor Jim Strickland. Herenton joins 10 others in the race for mayor.  

The Chattanooga Bar Association elected three new members to its board of governors late last month. Keith Grant of Robinson, Smith & Wells; Logan Threadgill of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel; and Katherine Lentz of Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison were selected by members to join the board. They will replace outgoing board members Jeffrey Maddux, Mark Litchford and Melody Shekari who reached the end of their terms. The Hamilton County Herald has more on each new board member.