Engage & Grow: Career & Intellectual Well-Being is the theme of today’s #WellbeingWeekinLaw! Want to better enjoy your work? Tune in to the Happiness Lab Podcast to hear Yale psychologist Dr. Leslie Santos discuss finding greater happiness at work. All week long, you can head over to the Institute for Well-Being in Law for more tips on career and intellectual well-being and much more.

The TBA LGBT Section will host its Annual Forum on June 24 from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. CDT. Additionally, the Section will host a booth at the Nashville Pride Festival to answer basic questions and provide attendees with relevant resources. If you are interested in volunteering to assist at the Nashville Pride Festival, please contact section coordinator Jarod Word at jword@tnbar.org. Read more and get registered for the program.   

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday reinstated John Louis Dolan Jr. to the active practice of law conditioned upon engagement of a practice monitor. Dolan filed for reinstatement on April 26. The Board of Professional Responsibility found his petition satisfactory and submitted an Order of Reinstatement to the high court. 

The U.S. Supreme Court last week agreed to review a request for DNA testing of evidence from death row inmate Rodney Reed, The Hill reports. Reed was convicted in the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop County, Texas. He has maintained his innocence and has long sought genetic testing of items found at the crime scene. The technical issue before the high court deals with when the window closed for Reed to request DNA testing. Lower federal courts are divided on whether the clock begins when a trial court denies the request or whether it begins after the appeals process plays out. Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham said the Supreme Court’s review of the case has “big stakes” and “major implications for either redressing miscarriages of justice — or institutionalizing them.”

Voters will head to the polls tomorrow to cast a ballot in their county’s primary elections. While it’s too late to register to vote, you can check the status of your registration here. According to the Tennessean, Davidson County residents could have a new polling location due to redistricting. Voters should have received new voter registration cards in the mail with information on the new locations, but you can also find your polling location online. Voters in Tennessee must bring a valid photo identification card, but do not need to bring their voter registration card.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases tomorrow at 9 a.m. EDT in Knoxville. Brittany Borngne ex rel. Miyona Hyter v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority et al. is a health care liability action stemming from injuries suffered by a minor during her 2014 birth. City of Knoxville, Tennessee v. Netflix, Inc., et al. will consider whether streaming services Hulu and Netflix should be required to pay a fee to local governments like a traditional cable company. The cases will be livestreamed on the Administrative Office of the Courts YouTube page. The AOC has more on both cases.  

Kristin Priesol Smart has been named the new director of communications and engagement for the Nashville School of Law, the Nashville Post reports. Smart has 20 years of media experience, most recently as a public relations specialist and local news director at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Prior to that, she was a reporter at WTVF NewsChannel 5 in Nashville. She’ll now be responsible for the law school’s marketing strategies, media relations, event planning and internal communications.

The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar on Monday released new data on the bar exam results of various racial and ethnic groups and genders. According to the report, white candidates who took a bar exam for the first time in 2021 had the highest pass rate, 85%. For people of other races or ethnicities, the first-time pass rate ranged from 47% to 84%. The data also examines what is known as an “ultimate pass rate.” It is based on graduating classes from two years ago, which for this year is 2019. Deborah Merritt, a recently retired professor who taught at the Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, said there are “stark differences” in pass rates by race and ethnicity from 2019 and 2021. Merritt says the current bar exam requires expensive prep classes and ability to put off everything except bar study, essentially making the exam “a test of financial resources—and graduates of color have fewer financial resources, on average, than white graduates.” The ABA Journal has more on the story.

Well-Being Week in Law kicks off today with an emphasis on physical well-being and staying strong. The Institute for Well-Being in Law suggests listening to The Joy of Movement podcast interview with Dr. Kelly McGonigal about the latest research on why movement is so important for many facets of our well-being. As a special challenge for today’s theme, peruse the Get Moving Activity Guide and try out a physical activity you haven’t tried before. Inspire others by posting about it on social media using the hashtag #WellbeingWeekInLaw. Stay tuned for more well-being tips and resources throughout this week.

The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance, the Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, and the Tennessee Department of Revenue are altering consumers to problems related to the online purchase of vehicles in Tennessee. Buyers have filed complaints about purchased vehicles arriving with damage not disclosed in the online ad and some have experienced problems obtaining a clear title and registering vehicles purchased online. With few remedies available to consumers who purchase a vehicle online from an unlicensed seller, Attorney General Herbert Slatery is urging the public to “Take your time, check for a license before you buy.” The AG's Office has more.