The Memphis Bar Association has released the results from its Judicial Qualification Poll for Shelby County’s contested judicial and court clerks’ races on the Aug. 4 ballot. All licensed, practicing attorneys in the county were polled and 1,199 participated in the survey. “The work of our judges ranks at the very top of importance for the stability of the American System of Justice. Lawyers appear every day in our courts and are best able to determine who is most qualified to preside over the cases brought by citizens seeking justice,” added David Wade, chair of the Judicial Practice & Procedures Committee which oversaw the poll. Read results of the poll.

Stacey Shrader Joslin, the TBA’s advertising, sponsorship and media content coordinator, is responsible for recruiting advertisers for the Tennessee Bar Journal and TBJ Select e-newsletter, section Connect e-newsletters and TBA.org; recruiting sponsors for CLE programs and events such as convention and mock trial; helping produce the TBA Today newsletter three days a week; writing several standing features for the Tennessee Bar Journal; and regularly contributing content for TBA.org. Stacey is chief of the TBA’s Grammar Police – she can spot an error in a news story from a mile away! She also loves reading, watching crime shows of all varieties and traveling!

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. Check back every Wednesday for a new staff profile in TBA Today and on the TBA's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Lewis Thomason’s Knoxville office has announced the addition of six attorneys to its statewide Health Care Practice Group. “This is exciting for our firm and for the city of Knoxville,” said Rodney Fields, managing shareholder of the Knoxville office and chairman of the firm's Board of Directors. “Health care law is a growing practice in the Knoxville area, so we are pleased for the possibilities in adding these six accomplished and capable attorneys to our team.” Attorneys joining the Knoxville office are Heidi Barcus, Jeff Thompson, Gina Vogel, Hillary Jones, Jason Long and Meagan Davis Collver. Read the press release.

The TBA is hitting the road for its biggest Court Square Series yet! Between August and May 2023, be on the lookout for programming in a city near you that will provide networking opportunities, developments and updates in multiple areas of the law and much more. The next six stops in the series will kick off in Hendersonville on Aug. 24, followed by Greeneville on Sept. 7, Covington on Sept. 21, Jamestown on Oct. 26, Clarksville on Nov. 2 and Savannah on Nov. 16. Get more information on these events from TBA CLE.

Attorney David Price has been selected as the University of Tennessee College of Law’s new assistant dean for finance, administration and operations. Price will oversee the College of Law business office with overall responsibility for budgeting, human resources and facilities. He replaces Teresa Peterson who retired earlier this year. Price earned his law degree from the Nashville School of Law and has more than 18 years of experience in administration and finance operations with more than 14 of those years in higher education. He was previously the assistant director of the financial information office with the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business. He will assume his new role July 1. Read more from the College of Law.

Judges in Louisiana and Utah have temporarily blocked abortion bans triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, while a Texas judge has also temporarily blocked an abortion ban that was passed before the Roe decision. In Louisiana, two abortion rights groups argued it was unclear which of the state’s trigger laws are in effect and what conduct is banned. A district court judge granted them a temporary restraining order until July 8. In Utah, Planned Parenthood argued the state’s trigger laws violate the state constitution. They were granted a two-week temporary restraining order. Abortion providers in Texas filed suit to block an abortion ban passed before the Roe v. Wade decision. A judge temporarily blocked the law, allowing abortions up to six weeks into pregnancy to continue in the state. The ABA Journal has a breakdown of lawsuits that have been filed.  

Results from a Knoxville Bar Association member survey show strong support for retaining all five of the state's Supreme Court justices and six Eastern Section judges on the Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals. Two judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals for the Eastern Section have announced their retirement and were not included in the poll: Judge Norma McGee Ogle and Judge D. Kelly Thomas Jr. The survey, which was voluntary and not representative of a scientific sampling of KBA members, is available to voters to assist them at the polls. Read all results from the KBA.

A retirement celebration for Davidson County Seventh Circuit Probate Court Judge Randy Kennedy will be held on Aug. 23, 2- 4 p.m. CDT, on the sixth floor of the Historic Davidson County Courthouse. A committee is actively planning the event and more information will follow. Please contact Adam Hill with questions or ideas.

Fifteenth Judicial District Public Defender Shelley T. Gardner has been elected president of the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference —a statewide system made up of 400 public defenders from Tennessee’s 31 districts. Gardner will lead an executive committee tasked with assisting public defenders across the state discharge their duties. Gardner was appointed to the 15th District, serving Jackson, Macon, Smith, Trousdale and Wilson counties, in 2018 by then Gov. Bill Haslam and was re-elected in 2020. She has been with the office since 2002, first as an assistant public defender, and has been a member of the district’s Drug Court Team for 20 years. Read more from the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has granted a request from Juul Labs Inc. to temporarily block a government ban on its e-cigarette production, NPR reports. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week said Juul must stop selling its vaping device and its tobacco and menthol flavored cartridges, an action the company called “extraordinary and unlawful.” Juul said that the FDA cannot argue that there was a "critical and urgent public interest" in immediately removing its products from the market when the agency allowed them to be sold during its review. A three-judge panel from the appeals court granted Juul's request for a hold while the court reviews the case.