The Justice Department on Tuesday filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging the company abused its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and harm consumers, the Associated Press reports. The suit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleges that Google uses billions of dollars collected from advertisers to pay phone manufacturers to ensure Google is the default search engine on browsers. Attorneys general from 11 states joined the government in the federal suit, but several states were reluctant, including Tennessee. Attorney General Herbert Slatery and attorneys general from seven other states released a statement on the lawsuit today, saying they had not yet concluded their own investigation into Google. “We plan to conclude parts of our investigation of Google in the coming weeks,” the statement reads. “If we decide to file a complaint, we would file a motion to consolidate our case with the DOJ’s.” Google responded to the complaint immediately via tweet today, calling the lawsuit “deeply flawed.”

Knoxville lawyer George Turner Howard III was issued a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court on Friday. Howard shared fees with outside counsel without first obtaining the informed consent of his clients in writing. He also provided financial assistance to clients, held out certain non-lawyer staff as persons holding corporate officer positions in his firm, and made deceptive statements through his advertising. Howard has corrected these issues and has agreed to discontinue such conduct. A public censure is a rebuke and warning to the attorney, but it has no effect on their ability to practice law.

U.S. District Judge William Campbell has set an April 2022 trial date in the case of a death row inmate seeking to die by firing squad, the Associated Press reports. Terry Lynn King, along with three other death row inmates, filed the suit nearly two years ago, arguing that the state had several alternative execution methods that would “substantially reduce the constitutionally-unacceptable risk of inflicting unnecessary and serious pain” caused by electrocution. Three of those inmates — Nicholas Todd Sutton, Stephen Michael West and David Earl Miller — have since been executed by the electric chair. According to the lawsuit, attorneys argue that the state already has the trained personnel, firearms and space to allow for a firing squad. However, if the court disagreed, the suit argued inmates should have permission to use other alternatives such as orally administering lethal drugs over using a needle, or using different forms of drugs.   

A 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel on Thursday ruled it would not change Tennessee’s signature matching requirement for absentee voting before the November election, the Associated Press reports. The panel was split on affirming a lower court’s decision, with Judge Julia Smith Gibbons citing a lack of evidence that the signature verification process infringed on anyone’s Constitutional rights. The preliminary injunction had sought to let voters fix signature issues before mail ballot rejections. Judge Karen Nelson Moore’s dissent claimed “yet another chapter in the concentrated effort to restrict the vote.”

A hearing date has been scheduled in the federal lawsuit against the United States over the national eviction moratorium, the Associated Press reports. Seven Memphis landlords filed the suit, claiming the order infringes on their rights as property owners. They will make their case in front of a federal judge on Oct. 30 at 10 a.m. CDT. Several similar cases across the country have recently been dismissed, but Glankler Brown attorneys S. Joshua Kahane and Aubrey B. Greer say they are confident they’ll be successful in showing the moratorium violates not only property rights but also federal regulations.

State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, is under fire for comments he made regarding “inner city” obesity and the local police department during an interview with Chattanooga’s News Channel 9, the Associated Press reports. “The obesity rate in the inner city is bigger than anywhere else. Because ... they go to a 7-Eleven or a convenience store, there’s fried chicken so they get them some fried chicken on the way home and have dinner on that. Well, that’s the worst thing you can eat,” Gardenhire, who is white, said during the interview. Gardenhire also briefly suggested that a police officer should not arrest a person caught driving drunk, but should instead drive that individual home if the officer knows the person. Senate Speaker Randy McNally defended Gardenhire, saying his “candid style often leads to misunderstanding and misinterpretation.” “I am confident he did not intend any offense or disrespect,” McNally said.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division today announced it will move forward with the 2021 Tennessee High School Mock Trial Competition by making the event virtual. The YLD’s Mock Trial Committee came to this decision after carefully considering feedback from Mock Trial participants, restrictions on student travel during the school year and the quarantine requirements and changing availability of courtrooms. The committee plans to release the 2021 problem, along with new format rules and procedures in mid-November. Read today’s announcement and check back for more information on the TBA’s Mock Trial webpage.

Frederick H. Agee, a Milan attorney currently serving an active duty tour in Kuwait with the Army Reserve, was this week appointed district attorney for the 28th Judicial District by Gov. Bill Lee, the Jackson Sun reports. Agee will be released from active duty later this month and will quarantine for two weeks in Texas before being sworn in to begin serving the district, which covers Gibson, Haywood and Crockett counties. Agee, who has been a defense attorney in Milan his entire career, will be the only veteran currently serving as a DA in the state’s 31 districts. “That’s not necessarily something I set out for, but I’m proud of my military service and I’m proud to represent veterans in this capacity,” he said. Agee will fill the vacancy created by former DA Garry Brown’s retirement. The position will be up for election in August 2022.

Eighteen students from Tennessee law schools have completed the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Summer Fellows Program, which connected the students with a dozen organizations dedicated to expanding justice. In addition to their pro bono work with the organizations, students also remotely attended a weekly professional development, led by leading legal figures like Supreme Court Justice Connie Clark, who spoke on the importance of pro bono and civil justice work. During the program, students remotely helped to develop tools to mitigate unnecessary denials of social security disability benefit claims, worked with the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence to help judges presiding over domestic violence cases and much more. Read more on the program from the Administrative Office of the Courts website.

The Nashville School of Law Habitat for Humanity Wills Clinic works directly with NSL students and licensed attorney volunteers to produce wills for new Habitat homeowners each month using an approved will form. Attorney volunteers are needed for approximately two hours via Zoom to oversee upper-level law students as they go through the intake process with clients. No further time commitment is needed and an attorney-client relationship will not be established. Volunteer for just one session or sign up for as many as you’d like. The next three clinics will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. CDT on Oct. 20, Nov. 17 and Dec. 15. If you are able to help, email Ryan Harris or call at 615-942-1262.