Tennessee House Republicans have nominated Speaker Cameron Sexton to serve a third term in the chamber’s top leadership position, the Associated Press reports. Republican House members also voted to keep Rep. William Lamberth as majority leader and Rep. Jeremy Faison as caucus chairman. They voted to fill several other positions as well. The speaker role requires the full House’s vote when lawmakers reconvene in January for the 2023 legislative session.

A three-judge panel has upheld Tennessee’s Education Savings Account Program, which allows public tax dollars to be given to families to pay for private schooling, the Associated Press reports. The panel, made up of Chancellor Anne Martin, Judge Tammy Harrington and Judge Valerie Smith, said the counties and families who sued couldn’t prove how students would be immediately harmed by the program. The plaintiffs, including Davidson and Shelby counties, maintained that schools and students would be hurt by the voucher program because school districts lose money for every student that participates in the voucher program. But the panel ruled the opponents’ claims “lack ripeness” because the voucher law includes a provision that replaces the diverted funds for at least three years through “a school improvement fund.” Money for the improvement fund is subject to legislative appropriation.

A set of primaries to fill the seat of late Tennessee Rep. Barbara Cooper, D-Memphis, will take place in January, the Daily Memphian reports. Gov. Bill Lee yesterday issued a writ setting a Jan. 24 primary, with Democratic and Republican winners advancing to a March 14 general election. Cooper, who represented state House District 86, died in October while seeking reelection. At the time of her death, early voting ahead of the Nov. 8 Election Day already had begun. Cooper defeated independent challenger Michael Porter. The election commission began issuing qualifying petitions for candidates Monday. The deadline to file primary petitions is noon Dec. 15 with the withdrawal deadline of noon Dec. 19.

The 2022 class of the TBA Public Service Academy met for its final session of the program on Nov. 18-19 at the Nashville office of Adams and Reese. The academy is a nonpartisan training program that provides attorneys with the tools to run for local public offices, such as school board, city council and county commission. The session’s theme was “Your Campaign,” featuring presentations on building a campaign team, media training, finding your message, campaign do’s and don’ts and direct mail. This year’s program was chaired by Jamie Ballinger, Steve Elkins and Circuit Judge Joel Wallace. Class members are Raven Austin, Amanda Bradley, Duncan Bryant, Brian Bush, Jing Geng, Timothy Martin, David O’Neil, Jessica Schultz, Ryan Strain and Angela Washington. Read more on class members and speakers.

Chattanooga radio host David Tulis has filed a lawsuit against Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Page, alleging Page conspired to have him falsely imprisoned, the Tennessee Tribune reports. Tulis was arrested in November 2021 while “covering” the Tennessee Judicial Conference in Franklin and charged with criminal trespass. The charge was ultimately dismissed. In February, Administrative Office of the Courts Director Michelle Long established a new blanket closure policy that prohibits members of the press from attending conference sessions. The policy drew a lawsuit from news organization The Center Square for allegedly violating First Amendment rights of access. In addition to Page, the suit filed by Tulis names his arresting officer, the City of Franklin, the AOC education manager John Crawford and Atrium Hospitality. Tulis seeks $75,000 in compensation and an order to open the judicial conferences to the public.

U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-TN, and Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, are asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) how it plans to combat the use of online bots following an incident involving Ticketmaster’s presale of Taylor Swift tickets. Ticketmaster says it canceled the general public ticket sale for Swift’s upcoming tour after online bots, in this instance used by scalpers, briefly crashed its site. Blackburn and Blumenthal co-sponsored the 2016 Better Online Ticket Sales Act, or BOTS Act, which bans the use of such bots to buy tickets in bulk from online sites for the purpose of reselling them at higher prices. “The recent difficulties consumers have faced while attempting to purchase tickets is a serious concern and reflective of anti-competitive conduct in the online ticket marketplace,” Blackburn said in a statement. “Fortunately, a solution is already in place that would go a long way in reducing ticket costs and protecting consumers and artists from scammers." The Tennessean has more on the story.

Memphis lawyer Stephen H. Biller died on Nov. 27 and was laid to rest today at Temple Israel Cemetery. A graduate of Boston University School of Law, Biller was recruited by the National Labor Relations Board in Memphis and joined the practice of Goodman Glazer as a litigation attorney. He then joined what is now known as Baker Donelson as a partner practicing in civil litigation and labor and employment law. Biller later practiced at the Bogatin Law Firm and later the Biller Law Firm. He served as commissioner of the Memphis Civil Service Commission, as trustee and chairman of the Tennessee Bar Foundation and as a fellow on the American Bar Foundation. Contributions can be made in Biller’s memory  to the Tennessee Bar Foundation, the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County or Temple Israel in his memory.

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GriffithLaw in Franklin is now accepting applications for an associate attorney to join its growing team of personal injury attorneys. Personal injury experience is preferred, but not required. The successful candidate will have a strong academic background, a desire to better their skills as a trial attorney and will align with the firm’s core values of honesty, integrity, respect of others and team-first attitude. Visit the TBA’s JobLink page for instructions on how to apply.

The TBA’s 2022 Ethics Roadshow will stop in Chattanooga on Dec. 9 after kicking off in Knoxville the day before. This year’s program is again presented by Memphis attorney Brian Faughnan, owner of Faughnan Law. The theme is “While You Were Sheltering,” because while most of us were “sheltering in place” during the last couple of years, there have been some significant changes to Tennessee's ethics rules. Each program will offer three components: an update on which rules have changed, an overview of important rules that remain unchanged and a look ahead at rules changes that may be on the horizon.