Richard Louis Reynolds was today disbarred from the practice of law by Order of Reciprocal Discipline. Reynolds, who now resides in Diamondhead, Mississippi, was disbarred by the Supreme Court of Mississippi on Sept. 23. The Supreme Court of Tennessee gave Notice of Reciprocal Discipline to Reynolds on Nov. 9, but he failed to show why the discipline imposed by Mississippi’s high court should not also be imposed in Tennessee. Reynolds must pay the court’s costs and expenses within 90 days of this order.

Twenty-four lawyers this month completed the TBA’s inaugural Scaling Small Law program – a four-month comprehensive business education and development program for entrepreneurial, small firm and solo practitioners. Beginning in August, the cohort set aside two to three hours each week through December for weekly assignments, which included roundtables with experts, small group activities and self-guided work. The assignments were focused on distinct units of study including strategic planning, business planning, marketing, solo/small firm finance and budgeting, client service and experience, ethical considerations and outsourcing and leveraging technology. Read more on the inaugural group.

Whether you’re in a virtual courtroom, professional conference or informal Zoom meeting, TBA CLE’s Virtual Presentation Skills for Attorneys will help enhance the skills needed to deliver a first-rate presentation. Mimi Bliss of Bliss Communications will cover topics like sharpening your message and engaging your audience and will include important recommendations for technology tools, lighting and set-up, voice, gestures and eye contact you can use for an effective presentation. This program is part of the TBA’s annual Year End CLE Event, which offers a variety of live virtual or on-demand programs, CLE packages and much more to help meet your last minute CLE needs. 

The Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association today announced it has assembled an Elections Committee to vet candidates for races appearing on the August 2022 ballot in Shelby County. The chapter welcomed judicial candidates, district attorney candidates and court clerk candidates to participate in the vetting process by filling out a questionnaire by Jan. 12. After submitting the form, candidates will be scheduled for a 30-minute interview with a panel of attorneys. The Election Committee will then submit a report with recommendations to the Chapter’s Executive Board for further action. Those interested in assisting the Election Committee with interviews should contact BFJElectionsCommittee@gmail.com. Read more information on the press release.

Nashville Metropolitan Chief Public Defender Martesha L. Johnson was last week sworn in as president of the Nashville Bar Association during the organization’s annual meeting. Johnson has served three years as chief public defender and was the first African American and second woman to be elected to the position. Others elected to lead the NBA were First Vice President Judge Melissa Blackburn, Second Vice President Liz Sitgreaves, President-elect Gulam Zade, First Vice President-elect Lora Fox, Second Vice President-elect Marlene Moses, Secretary Charity Williams, Treasurer Flynne Dowdy, YLD President Jeremy Oliver and General Counsel Lela M. Hollabaugh. Additional board members elected include Christen Blackburn, Erin Coleman, Mandy Floyd, Elizabeth Foy, Joseph Hubbard and Marie Scott. The NBA also honored Charles Grant of Baker Donelson with the John C. Tune Public Service Award for outstanding contributions to the greater Nashville community. 

Nashville lobbyist and attorney Erica Garrison has been named partner in the Nashville office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, the Nashville Post reports. Garrison previously practiced at Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis and was an assistant Metro attorney. Garrison will join Bradley’s economic development practice group and will work on land use and zoning issues, state regulatory matters and economic development incentive deals for relocating companies.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has adopted four proposed rules amendments. Amendments to the Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules of Criminal Procedure and Rules of Evidence are all subject to approval by the Tennessee General Assembly.

Legal services provider Legility has been acquired by Consilio, an e-discovery, document review, risk management and legal consulting service provider. "An important consideration for Legility was the shared view on where the market is going, and we are particularly interested in expanding together what we can provide to clients in non-eDiscovery legal and compliance domains,” Legility CEO Barry Dark said in a press release. Originally known as Counsel on Call, Legility was founded in 1991 by lawyer Jane Allen and is headquartered in Nashville.

A new article from the Tennessean profiles Vanderbilt Law School Professor Mike Newton who, alongside his students, is helping judges in Iraq prosecute ISIS cases. Newton had worked on helping the Iraqi judiciary rebuild its court system after the reign of former dictator Saddam Hussein, but his work has now shifted to helping prosecute tens of thousands of ISIS cases and genocide cases previously ignored by the country. Newton’s work, funded by a grant from the U.S. State Department, is aided by students from Vanderbilt’s exclusive International Law Practice Lab. The students last year built a 300-page manual of international criminal law best practices to support attorneys in international criminal tribunals. 

Twenty three witnesses testified before Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan this week during the two-day resentencing hearing of former death row inmate Pervis Payne, the Commercial Appeal reports. Prosecutors, who are asking for Payne to serve two life sentences and a 30-year sentence consecutively, presented the court with graphic crime scene photos and testimony from family members of the victims. Payne’s defense called 19 witnesses, a mix of family members, friends and prison staff, to testify on Payne’s character. They are asking for Payne’s sentences to run concurrently, making him eligible for parole in six years. The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office dropped the death penalty against Payne last month after a state expert found he has an intellectual disability. The Innocence Project reports that Skahan will issue a written ruling by Jan. 24, 2022.