U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper’s wife, Martha Cooper, died today after a years-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, the Tennessean reports. She was 66. The Coopers were married for 35 years and share three children, according to an obituary written by the congressman. Davidson County District Attorney General Glenn Funk extended his condolences, commenting that the grace and dignity "she shared with all Tennesseans throughout her life should serve as an inspiration and example to us all.” A private ceremony will be held for family only due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee has announced vacancies for student trainees in its Memphis and Jackson offices. The positions are part-time and provide general office support to one or more professional, program or technical staff members in the U.S. Attorney's Office. Students must be taking at least a half-time academic, vocational or technical course load leading to a degree, diploma or certificate and must have at least a 2.5 GPA. The announcement will close on Feb. 17. Apply online.

The Nashville Bar Association and the Nashville Bar Foundation will host their annual golf tournament on May 13 at the Hermitage Golf Course. Range balls will be available at noon ahead of the shotgun start at 1 p.m. CST. Dinner will be served and prizes will be awarded to teams and individuals at the conclusion of play. Register online.  

Attorneys for the daughter of executed man Sedley Alley argued before the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals last week that DNA evidence should be tested to prove Alley’s innocence, the Associated Press reports. Alley died by lethal injection 14 years ago after being convicted of murder. His daughter, April Alley, petitioned a Memphis court to test the evidence in April 2019, after investigators in a Missouri murder case found a possible connection to an alternative suspect. That court ruled she did not have legal standing to make that request. Senior Assistant Attorney General Andrew Coulam argued yesterday that Sedley Alley’s estate is not entitled to seek testing. Paul Clement, representing April Alley, argued that the purpose of Tennessee’s DNA Analysis Act is to exonerate the innocent and to identify the true perpetrators of an offense. “Both purposes continue to be served even after a person has served his sentence or been executed,” Clement argued.

Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s office has reached a $573 million settlement with consulting firm McKinsey and Company for its role in helping opioid companies promote their drugs, the Tennessean reports. The settlement money will be split between the coalition of attorneys general from 47 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories that filed the suit. Tennessee could see more than $15 million in a matter of weeks. McKinsey was sued in part over its connections to OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma. Per the settlement, McKinsey must prepare tens of thousands of its internal documents detailing its work for Purdue Pharma and other opioid companies for public disclosure online. “We appreciate McKinsey taking responsibility for its part in the opioid crisis,” Slatery said in today’s press release. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court today agreed to take up an appeal of Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher program, the Tennessean reports. A three-member panel of the Court of Appeals in September upheld Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Anne Martin’s ruling that the bill was unconstitutional, prompting the state to appeal to the high court. The program would allow students from school districts in Davidson and Shelby counties to attend private schools and pay for it, in part, with public funds. The bill, one of Gov. Bill Lee’s signature initiatives, was passed by the General Assembly in 2019. The case has not yet been set for oral arguments.

Baker Donelson attorney and TBA member Christian Schuetz was last month appointed Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Tennessee. Schuetz was appointed to the position by the president of the Federal Republic of Germany and was sworn in by the German Consul General in Atlanta on Jan. 13. In this role, he will support Germany's diplomatic and consular mission and help promote bilateral relations in the areas of culture and foreign trade between Germany and Tennessee. Schuetz practices in the areas of real estate and finance and economic development in Baker’s Nashville office and is a member of the firm’s Global Business Group. He is a German native who earned his law degree in Germany and is a member of the Tennessee chapter of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern U.S.

Attorney General Herbert Slatery today announced that he has sued Food City Supermarkets LLC and K-VA-T Food Stores Inc. for unlawful sales of prescription opioids. The state’s suit, filed in Knox County Circuit Court, alleges Food City pharmacies violated the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, violated the public nuisance statute at three Knoxville-area stores and created a common law public nuisance by endangering the health of Tennesseans and interfering with the commercial marketplace. The state claims Food City intentionally profited from and directly contributed to the ongoing opioid epidemic by failing to maintain the required effective controls against abuse. The lawsuit says Food City has unlawfully sold tens of millions of prescription opioids, specifically immediate release oxycodone, for more than a decade. Read the entire 208-page complaint.

Ahead of tax season, the Tennessee Department of Revenue is trying to spread the word about the taxability of relief payments received through the Tennessee Business Relief Program (BRP) and Supplemental Employer Recovery Grant (SERG) program. The department says that BRP and SERG payments are subject to Tennessee franchise and excise tax, but they are not subject to business tax. A webpage has been created to help answer questions in this area. Those needing assistance should call 615-253-0600 or email revenue.support@tn.gov.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake yesterday announced he has implemented several changes in his department to stop an “absolutely unacceptable” rise in violent crimes and to pull repeat offenders out of the justice system, the Tennessean reports. In an attempt to address criticism that officers are too aggressive toward low-level offenders, gang unit detectives and juvenile crime task force officers have been rerouted to create six new teams dubbed the TITANS. Drake said those groups would supplement the work of MNPD's homicide unit and fight an uptick in gun crimes. An “enhanced shift” has been implemented at all precincts, adding 80 personnel on a shift from 5 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. Drake also touted the creation of the Office of Alternative Policing Strategies as a long-term focus on reducing violence with crime intervention by connecting individuals with services and advocates.