TBA member Linda Warren Seely has joined Butler Snow LLP as pro bono counsel, where she will lead the firm’s pro bono efforts from its Memphis office. Seely has most recently served as director of the American Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section. Prior to the ABA, Seely served as the pro bono projects manager for West Tennessee Legal Services and managing attorney for senior citizens projects at Memphis Area Legal Services. Seely has served on the TBA’s Board of Governors, House of Delegates and Access to Justice Committee and is a prior recipient of the association’s Public Service Attorney of the Year Award and a President’s Award. She is currently a member of the TBA’s CLE and Attorney Well-Being committees. Butler Snow has more on Seely’s new position.  

The Tennessee State Library and Archives will host a one-day-only public display of Tennessee’s three original constitutions in celebration of Statehood Day, TNJ: On the Hill reports. The documents will go on display from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. CDT on June 1 at the New Library and Archives building, located at 1001 Rep. John Lewis Way N. on the northeast corner of the Bicentennial Mall State Park in Nashville. Several additional events and exhibits will be held to celebrate Tennessee’s 225th Statehood Day, including a special exhibit from the Tennessee State Museum and a special event at the Bicentennial Mall State Park featuring remarks from Gov. Bill Lee. Statehood Day events are free and reservations are not required.

The TBA will host a roundtable discussion next week, featuring panelists who will provide present-day insights of judicial independence in the shadows of our separation-of-powers history. In the Shadow of History: Separation of Powers and Tennessee Courts will take place on May 26 from 3 until 4 p.m. CDT. Todd Presnell of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings will moderate a panel that will include Nashville School of Law Dean William C. Koch Jr., University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law professor Steven J. Mulroy and former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice and University of Tennessee College of Law professor Penny J. White. The roundtable is free and open to the public, with optional CLE credit for a fee of $45.

The Tennessee Department of Human Services will soon release details on how the state plans to spend the more than $700 million it has amassed in unused Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grants from the federal government. Commissioner Clarence Carter told the Tennessean he was as “giddy as a 7-year-old on Christmas morning,” to begin spending the funding, which will be doled out based on an agreement between Gov. Bill Lee and state lawmakers. Under the new plan, which was passed by the General Assembly during the legislative session, the state will not be able to stockpile more than $191 million in TANF funding at a time, meaning officials will have to shed hundreds of millions from the current reserves. The final plan will include seven newly designed regional programs and increased funding to help people pursuing trade school, among other things.

A new survey from insurance broker Ames & Gough has found that legal malpractice payouts are the highest on record, the ABA Journal reports. The survey, which asked 11 leading legal malpractice insurers about claims paid from 2019 to the middle of 2020, found that, although payouts surged, the number of claims stayed the same or decreased for nine of the 11 insurers. The 11 insurers surveyed provide insurance to 80% of the top-grossing law firms in the United States. The largest number of claims stem from three practice areas: trusts and estates, business transactions, and corporate securities. According to Ames & Gough, claims for trusts and estates work are increasing as the baby boomer generation ages, and court decisions allow third parties to sue law firms for work on behalf of a client.

A prosecution unit assembled by Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich to target police brutality has filed criminal charges against two law enforcement officers, the Daily Memphian reports. The Conduct Review Team (CRT) was formed last summer after an investigation by the Institute for Public Service Reporting and The Daily Memphian found that the Memphis Police Department was not sending incidents of excessive force, even some severe cases, to prosecutors. A new policy adopted in March now requires MPD to send all excessive force cases to the five-member CRT, which analyzes bodycam video, records and other evidence to weigh officer actions against applicable criminal laws such as assault and official oppression. One MPD patrolman who allegedly pepper sprayed a handcuffed mentally ill man and a Shelby County Sheriff ’s deputy accused of assaulting a motorist have already been indicted following CRT investigations.

A group of Nashville labor unions, businesses, faith groups and community activists has launched a campaign to defeat the city’s property tax referendum, the Tennessean reports. The coalition, Save Nashville Now, says the proposal to roll back Nashville’s 2020 property tax increase and limit Metro government’s power over future increases could lead to “drastic” cuts to city services, undermine public safety and “hamper” Nashville’s recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Metro government and the Nashville Business Coalition sued the Davidson County Election Commission over its decision to place the issue on the ballot, which will go before voters on July 27. Charles Robert Bone of Nashville law firm Bone McAllester Norton PLLC will serve as the group's treasurer.

The U.S. Supreme Court has announced that it will review Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a direct challenge to the standards set by Roe v. Wade, WPLN reports. Tennessee has been among several states putting more restrictions on abortions, last month telling a federal appeals court that the state’s goal is to ban abortion when a fetus might be able to feel pain. SCOTUS will hear the case this fall and a ruling could be possible in a little over a year.

The Hamilton County General Sessions Court has launched a new online dispute resolution (ODR) program offering those with unpaid medical debts a chance to avoid court and negotiate for themselves. Those with debts owed to Erlanger Baroness Hospital can register for free on the TN Med Debt website and chat with a representative from the hospital where they can discuss payment plans or adjusted pricing. Users can also request help from a Rule 31-trained mediator. Tennessee has the 10th highest rate of medical debt in the country. Ninety-three out of 95 counties in the state have medical debt above the national average and one of four Tennesseans report that their credit history has been adversely affected by medical debt. Hamilton County General Sessions Judge Alex McVeagh, who was among the team that helped launch the ODR program, said in 2019 alone, his court handled roughly 15,000 civil cases, many of them for medical debt. The program hopes to make the entire process less costly and time consuming for citizens of the state, while also helping alleviate a clogged court system. 

Former U.S. Attorney for the Western Division, Mike Dunavant, has accepted a position with the state Comptroller’s Office, the Daily Memphian reports. In his new role, Dunavant will be the chief investigative counsel for the office’s Division of Investigations. He will focus on investigating allegations of fraud, waste and abuse in government and other publicly funded entities. “My heart’s desire is in public service, and I look forward to joining the outstanding team in the Comptroller’s Office to make government work better,” Dunavant said in a statement.