Frank Lee Watson Jr., an attorney who played a key role in bringing FedEx to Memphis, died on Aug. 25. He was 81. Watson practiced at some of Memphis’ most historic firms and represented many significant clients. While practicing in Little Rock, Watson was part of the legal team that helped the Rolling Stones enter the United States after their work visas were threatened due to some of the band members’ drug issues. After moving to Memphis, Watson joined Waring Cox as partner and helped secured landing rights for FedEx at the Memphis International Airport and helped take the company public. He later worked at Baker Donelson and retired in 2019. Funeral services will take place tomorrow at 10 a.m. CDT at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, 3863 Summer Ave. in Memphis. Read more from the Commercial Appeal.

Downtown Memphis Commission CEO Paul Young has announced he will run for mayor of Memphis in 2023, the Commercial Appeal reports. Prior to the downtown commission, Young headed up the city’s Housing and Community Development for five years. "Over the last few years, I've gotten the opportunity to participate in the revitalization of this community," Young told the Commercial Appeal on Monday. "And I want to see it continue. I want to see us continue to move down a path where we are finding opportunities for our people.” Young’s announcement came on the same day as one from former Shelby County Commissioner and NAACP President Van Turner.  They are the first two to announce campaigns in what is expected to be a crowded race to succeed Mayor Jim Strickland, who will term out next year.

Several East Tennessee lawyers and former Governors Bill Haslam and Phil Bredesen have been appointed inaugural board members of the University of Tennessee’s Institute for American Civics, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. The center, funded by taxpayer money, was a bipartisan effort approved this past legislative session. According to Gov. Bill Lee and UT, the center will support "statewide efforts to advance civic education and constructive debate and to foster a deeper understanding of American government and the principles that contributed to the country’s founding." The Board of Fellows is made up of 13 members, including the two former governors and Tennessee lawyers Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., former U.S. Ambassador to Australia, and Glenn Reynolds, a distinguished law professor at UT. UT will appoint a director for the center by March after a nationwide search.  

Catholic Charities of East Tennessee is seeking to hire a managing attorney for its Knoxville Office of Immigrant Services (OIS). The position is new due to the growing demand for immigration legal services throughout East Tennessee. The Office of Immigrant Services is a DOJ-recognized program that provides immigration legal services to immigrants and refugees in the East Tennessee region. The office’s managing attorney oversees the activities and work products of legal representatives, DOJ accredited representatives, and support staff. Learn more about the role and read instructions on how to apply on the TBA’s JobLink site or browse all available jobs.

The Tennessee Bar Association will close at 1 p.m. CDT on Friday and remain closed through Monday in observance of Labor Day. The TBA's office will reopen on Tuesday at 8 a.m. CDT. Visit the TBA.org website for information on CLE or other TBA programs and for staff contact information.

Mark your calendars for TBA CLE’s Corporate Counsel 2022: How to Be a Strategic Business Partner. The webcast will take place on Oct. 18 from noon until 1 p.m. CDT and will be worth one hour of general CLE credit. Check back on the program’s webpage for more details coming soon.

It’s time to introduce the glue that holds everything at the TBA together! For this week’s #TeamTBA, meet TBA Executive Director Joycelyn Stevenson! Joycelyn directs and manages operations, strategic planning, staffing and program development for over 13,000 members and the TBA Board of Governors. She also manages all personnel decisions for 20 employees, member development, government affairs and TBA’s participation in state and national conferences. And hey, she just happens to be the best boss ever! When she’s not running the show, Joycelyn unwinds by watching cooking competition shows on TV. In a movie about her life, she’d like to be played by Kerry Washington — we agree!

The #TeamTBA series offers members a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the TBA and how each staff members makes the association run. See past staff profiles on the TBA's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

The sentencing hearing for former Rep. Robin Smith has been delayed until Jan. 30, the Tennessee Lookout reports. Originally set for Oct. 17, the hearing was postponed after attorneys for Smith filed a motion to delay “given the projected length of the Casada case with multiple defendants.” The state did not oppose the motion. Smith, who pleaded guilty to honest services wire fraud charges in March, is expected to testify in United States v. Casada before Judge Eli Richardson, set for Oct. 25. Casada and his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, were arrested at their homes last week on 20 federal counts of a variety of charges, including bribery, kickbacks, conspiracy to commit money laundering and more. The charges stem from a company called Phoenix Solutions, which allegedly funneled money from the state to Casada, Cothren and Smith.

Memphis attorney and Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner is expected to announce on Thursday that he is running for Memphis mayor in 2023, the Daily Memphian reports. The announcement will take place at Health Sciences Park, which was sold to Memphis Greenspace Inc., a nonprofit headed by Turner, in 2017. The organization then had a monument of Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest removed from the grounds. Turner was also instrumental in the removal of the remains of Forrest and his wife from beneath the monument last year. Turner’s second term as commissioner will conclude on Wednesday. He is the first to announce a campaign in what is expected to be a crowded field of contenders to succeed Mayor Jim Strickland, who is terming out.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today held that, unless the legislature says otherwise, a person who commits an offense that is later repealed must be prosecuted under the law in effect when the offense was committed. The high court reinstated the sentence of Marvin Maurice Deberry, who was convicted of driving after being declared a motor vehicle habitual offender (MVHO). While Deberry awaited his sentencing hearing, the legislature repealed the MVHO offense and replaced it with alternative procedures. After being sentenced, Deberry filed for a reduction of sentence, citing a state law known as the criminal savings statute. According to the statute, if a new law “provides for a lesser penalty,” then any punishment imposed must be in accordance with the new law. The Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with Deberry, but the Supreme Court today reversed that decision and reinstated Deberry’s sentence. The justices found that when a statute repeals a criminal offense altogether rather than reducing the punishment for the offense, the defendant must be convicted and sentenced under the law in effect at the time of offense. Read more from the Administrative Office of the Courts.