The TBA’s Federal Law Section will hold a one-hour webcast on Dec. 15 from 1-2 p.m. CST. The session will cover Ruan v. United States charging considerations, expert witness testimony in opiate prosecutions and sentencing guideline considerations/compassionate release. The program will be worth one general credit hour of CLE. Learn more and register here.

Witness an all-star lineup of women attorneys discuss resiliency in our profession during times of change, nontraditional legal careers, women supporting other women and much more during the “Raising the Bar” program tomorrow. Produced by the TBA Women in the Profession Committee, the in-person event will kick off with a keynote address from retired Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle now with JAMS: Mediation, Arbitration and ADR Service on withstanding career adversity, overcoming challenges and growing from those experiences. Programming will run from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. CST at Baker Donelson’s Nashville office and will be immediately followed by a networking reception. Learn more and register for the program.

Belmont University College of Law and the Administrative Office of the Courts' Access to Justice Initiative hosted an expungement clinic at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center and Work Center this month. TBA YLD Board members Alix Rogers and Savannah Quintero worked with 13 Belmont law students to assist 37 incarcerated clients during the clinic, completing paperwork to expunge over 140 charges.

A new analysis from non-partisan think tank ThinkTennessee has found that the state’s policy of suspending driver’s licenses for failure to pay court debt has little impact on how much money the courts are able to recoup. According to the report, the practice creates additional challenges for people who are often living in poverty. “By making it harder to get to work and earn the money needed to pay off court costs, driver’s license revocations risk being a counterproductive policy, potentially trapping low-income Tennesseans in a cycle of court debt and poverty,” the report’s authors wrote. They added that the state should consider ending the practice. The practice was stopped and ruled unconstitutional in 2018, but the pause was temporary and was restarted in July 2021. The Commercial Appeal has more on the story.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Monday authored her first Supreme Court opinion – a dissent from the court’s refusal to hear a death penalty case, the ABA Journal reports. Jackson said the Supreme Court should have heard the appeal by Davel Chinn, who argued that a federal appeals court used the wrong standard when evaluating the impact of the prosecution’s failure to disclose that a star witness had an intellectual disability. Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined Jackson’s dissent. Read the dissent here.  

The TBA Committee on Racial & Ethnic Diversity will host a free event on Monday featuring a panel discussion on diversifying the judicial branch. “Increasing and Retaining Judicial Diversity: the Why, the When and the How” is the first part in a series that will focus on providing minority lawyers the tools needed when seeking judgeships. The panel will be moderated by TBA Chief Diversity Officer Mary Beard and will feature 20th Judicial District Chancery Court Judge I'ashea Myles and Kingsport attorney Jimmie Miller who previously served on Gov. Bill Lee’s Council for Judicial Appointments. The virtual event will take place on Nov. 14 from noon until 1:30 p.m. CST. Read more and register here.

Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judges Camille R. McMullen, Robert H. Montgomery Jr. and Tom Greenholtz on Tuesday heard arguments in the death sentence commutation case of Byron Black, the Tennessean reports. Black filed a motion last year to be deemed intellectually disabled which, per a new state law, could make him ineligible for the death penalty. A Nashville judge tossed the case earlier this year, saying that two prior decisions on Black’s intellectual disability ruled out a review under the new law. Black’s legal team argued that since their client’s claim wasn’t heard under the new standard, the pathway should apply to him. Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk had agreed with Black’s team on the trial level, but the Tennessee attorney general’s office is fighting their appeal. The state argues the new law was intended to be extremely limited and not to include anyone who has previously had an intellectual disability case decided on the merits. The appeals judges are expected to issue a written order.

Belmont University College of Law and the Administrative Office of the Courts' Access to Justice Initiative hosted an expungement clinic at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center and Work Center on Friday. TBA YLD Board member Alix Rogers and attorney Savannah Quintero worked with 13 Belmont Law students to assist 37 incarcerated clients during the clinic, completing paperwork to expunge over 140 charges.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear four cases tomorrow in Jackson. Arguments will begin at 9 a.m. and will be livestreamed to the Administrative Office of the Courts YouTube page. Cases to be heard include Paul Zachary Moss v. Shelby County Civil Service Merit Board; James A. Welch et al. v. Oaktree Health and Rehabilitation Center LLC d/b/a Christian Care Centers of Memphis et al.; Commercial Painting Company Inc. v. The Weitz Company LLC et al.; Roger Baskin v. Pierce & Allred Construction Inc. The AOC has more details on each case.

Wimberly Lawson Wright Daves & Jones PLLC has an immediate opening for an associate attorney in its Knoxville office. Two years of experience in workers’ compensation and general liability is preferred. Applicant must have excellent written and oral communications, legal research, analysis and problem-solving skills. Visit the TBA’s JobLink site for instructions on how to apply or browse all available job openings.