The judges of the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Tennessee will hold a memorial service next month to honor the judges who have recently passed away. The event will pay tribute to District Judges Todd J. Campbell, Thomas A. Higgins, John T. Nixon and Thomas A. Wiseman Jr., Magistrate Judges E. Clifton Knowles and Kent Sandidge III and Circuit Judge Gilbert S. Merritt. The memorial will take place on Jan. 20 at 3 p.m. CST in the rotunda of the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse & Federal Building, 719 Church St., Nashville. A reception will follow. Read the invitation.

The Tennessee Comptroller today released findings from its audit of the Department of Children’s Services, reporting that DCS failed to adequately investigate dozens of reports of sexual abuse and sexual harassment, the Tennessean reports. The audit also found that children remained in abusive or unsafe locations while DCS struggled to conduct “timely investigations,” that case workers failed to make “essential monthly supervision contacts” with those children, families and school providers in probation cases and that DCS didn’t move in a “timely manner” to investigate a large number of sexual abuse cases that fell under a federal rape law. The department is currently struggling with critical staffing and placement issues. Under a new bill filed by Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, DCS case workers would have a hard cap of 20 assigned cases. WKRN has more on that story.   

Brandon S. Griffin of the Griffin Law Group PLLC in Sparta has been named president of the White County Bar Association. Griffin graduated from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 2013 before returning to Sparta and founding his law practice. He can be reached at Griffin Law Group, 621 North Spring St., Sparta or at 931-837-2050.   

Davidson County Chancellor I'Ashea L. Myles this week ruled that a Tennessee man on death row must exhaust the prison grievance process before his case can continue, the Tennessean reports. Henry Hodges filed a lawsuit over the psychological and physical care he received after an October incident in which he severely injured his own genitals. He was kept in full restraints nearly continuously for eight days after the incident. Myles stayed the case over a procedural need to exhaust the state's internal process, but expressed frustration with the narrow avenue prisoners have to raise issues with their care in extreme situations like Hodges'. News outlets the Associated Press and the Nashville Banner have filed freedom of information motions over the case. The AP is fighting the state’s request for a protective order that would seal broad categories of documents. The Banner seeks to unseal all documents that have already been filed.  

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti recently announced that a $10 billion agreement has been reached with CVS and Walgreens for their role in the national opioid crisis. The agreement requires CVS to pay $5 billion and Walgreens to pay $5.7 billion. Both companies must also monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions. Should all incentives be met, Tennessee is expected to receive a combined total of $265 million. Skrmetti said the funds will be sent “to the Opioids Abatement Trust Fund to assist in bringing the epidemic to a halt.” Read more from the AG's office. 

Parnassus Books in Nashville is hosting the launch of former Tennessee Bar Journal editor Suzanne Craig Robertson's book, He Called Me Sister: A True Story of Finding Humanity on Death Row. The event will be on Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m. CST. The event is free, but seating is limited and registration is required. With a foreword by Sister Helen Prejean and preface by Bill Moyers, the memoir recounts the Robertson family's 15-year friendship with Cecil Johnson, who was on Tennessee's death row and was executed in 2009. Drawing from Johnson's own memoir, news accounts and court documents, the book also features interviews with many lawyers involved in the case. Preorders are available from Parnassus and other online retailers.

From an initial client interview to completing a representation, a lawyer’s duty of communication with a client creates on-going potential for ethics missteps and legal malpractice liability. The Lawyer’s Duty of Communication webcast, worth three hours of dual credit CLE, will teach you how to effectively meet this important attorney-client duty. Use the prepaid CLE credits that come with your TBA Complete Membership and save on this course. Not a TBA member? Join now to start saving.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will hold a veterans clinic next Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT at Operation Stand Down, 1125 12th Ave. S., Nashville 37203. To volunteer for the clinic, contact Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131. See all December clinics.

An investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services’s Office of Inspector General has found that the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence unlawfully retaliated against and then forced out an employee who blew the whistle about potential misuse of federal funding. Employee Veronica Quinonez was “constructively discharged” in 2019 after raising concerns about being forced to answer phone calls from victims, some who were in crisis. She said answering the calls violated the strict rules of the Centers for Disease Control grant that paid her salary. The investigation found she was also made to keep two timesheets – one for work she was supposed to be doing under the grant and the other reflecting what she was actually doing, which included handling calls from abuse survivors. A joint report from WPLN and the Tennessee Lookout details the investigation and prior troubling findings about the nonprofit.  

The Tennessee Supreme Court today suspended Brian Kirk Kelsey from the practice of law until further orders. Kelsey pleaded guilty to two felonies involving conspiracy to defraud the United States and aiding and abetting the acceptance of excessive contributions. The matter has been referred to the Board of Professional Responsibility to institute formal proceedings to determine the extent of the final discipline to be imposed upon Kelsey as a result of his plea of guilty to conduct constituting a serious crime.