Attorney Steve Groom has announced the launch of Dedicated General Counsel PLLC, the Nashville Post reports. The new firm will offer legal services to companies without having to hire in-house counsel. Groom has previously worked at Nashville firms Neal & Harwell, Stites & Harbison and Butler Snow and general counsel and other leadership positions at CapStar Bank, Franklin Financial, CoreCivic and SunTrust. According to Groom, businesses who hire Dedicated General Counsel will pay “for a predetermined ‘fraction’ of the general counsel’s time.” 

Thomas “Tom” Jessee, a well-known attorney with offices in Greeneville and Johnson City, was found dead at his home Tuesday evening, WJHL reports. A spokesperson for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said yesterday that “foul play does not appear to be involved,” but the agency is heading up an investigation into his death. District Attorney General Dan Armstrong requested TBI’s assistance in the investigation. Greeneville’s assistant police chief, Mike Crum, says the TBI was requested due to “due to potential conflicts of interest.”

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services will host its annual Equal Justice University (EJU) virtual conference on Sept. 21- 23. Join members of the state’s equal justice community for three days of sessions covering substantive law, ethics and paraprofessional skills, engaging and inspiring plenary sessions, the annual Access to Justice Awards presentations and much more. Registration for the conference is now open.

If you missed the TBA Labor & Employment Law Section’s annual forum, it is now available in just 1-Click. This bundle of sessions from the forum includes a case law update, a discussion on what the first 100 days under the Biden administration looked like for the practice area, a discussion on controversial topics ranging from court-packing to kneeling and much more. This package is worth two dual and three general CLE credits and can be purchased on the TBA CLE website.

Seven Tennesseans struggling to find work have filed suit against Gov. Bill Lee for opting out of federal unemployment benefits earlier this year, the Tennessean reports. In May Lee withdrew from the federal program, which had given unemployed Tennesseans an additional $300 per week in benefit payments and an extra $100 in weekly benefits for mixed earners. Unemployment benefits now come from the state’s Unemployment Compensation program, which pays up to $275 per week—one of the lowest weekly benefits in the country and below the national average of $387 per week. The plaintiffs asked the court to order Lee to reenter the federal program. The filing also asks the court to open the suit to all members of a proposed class, specifically state residents who have or will continue to receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

Days before a jury trial was set to begin, opioid manufacturer Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to pay $35 million over its role in the state’s opioid epidemic, the Associated Press reports. Nine counties and 18 cities and towns in northeast Tennessee and a child born dependent on opioids, nicknamed Baby Doe, had originally sued Endo for $2.4 billion. An attorney for the plaintiffs, Gerard Stranch of Nashville’s Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, said the settlement was the drug maker’s “last, best and final” offer. He added that a jury verdict could have tied the money up on appeal or the company could have declared bankruptcy. Sullivan County Chancellor E.G. Moody previously entered a rare default judgement in April, ruling the pharmaceutical company was liable despite lack of a civil trial.  Moody said he entered the ruling due to a “coordinated effort” by Endo and its attorneys to delay proceedings and interfere with the administration of justice. The counties will each receive a lump sum big enough to fund mobile addiction units and the money for Baby Doe will be placed in a trust fund.

The TBA Real Estate Section in conjunction with the Tennessee Land Title Association will host Hot Topics in Real Estate 2021 virtually on Nov. 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CDT. The hot topics forum will include programming on legislative updates, cyber security, housing discrimination, consumer protection, elder abuse and more. Be sure to register for this event prior to 7:30 a.m. CDT the morning of the program to receive the link to join the webinar.

President Joe Biden and his administration yesterday nominated eight lawyers to serve as U.S. attorneys, many of them marking the first Black or female prosecutors to lead their districts, the ABA Journal reports. Six lawyers would be the first Black or female Black attorneys in their districts. They are: Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland; Rachael S. Rollins for the District of Massachusetts; Zachary A. Myers for the Southern District of Indiana; Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana; Nicholas W. Brown for the Western District of Washington; and Trini E. Ross for the Western District of New York. Vanessa Waldref is nominated to be the first female U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Washington. Matthew M. Graves was nominated for U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia and would be responsible for supervising the U.S. Capitol riot prosecutions.

Dr. Jason Martin, a pulmonary and critical care specialist in Nashville, is considering running for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2022, the Nashville Post reports. Martin has never run for office but, after working in a COVID-19 unit at Sumner Regional Medical Center, has become more outspoken about health care and critical of Gov. Bill Lee’s response to the pandemic. Carnita Atwater of Memphis is the only other Democrat in the race thus far, with Memphis City Councilmember J.B. Smiley also reportedly considering a run for the nomination. Martin has filed paperwork to establish a fundraising committee, but it has not yet been posted to the state campaign finance website.

Shelby County commissioners on Monday voted to appoint Judicial Commissioner Danielle Mitchell-Sims as the new Division 3 General Sessions Court Judge, the Daily Memphian reports. Mitchell-Sims will complete the term of retiring Judge John Donald, but has indicated that she’ll run for a full eight-year term in the 2022 county elections. She was selected by the County Commission on the third round of voting with a majority of seven required. Seven other applicants have announced they will also run for the post in 2022.