Abortion rights groups today filed a lawsuit challenging Tennessee's controversial abortion ban law that would require women undergoing drug-induced abortions be informed the procedure can be reversed, the Associated Press reports. A lawsuit was previously filed on the portion of the law that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Today’s suit challenges the law’s requirement that doctors must inform women that drug-induced abortions may be halted at the halfway point. Medical groups say the claim isn’t backed up by science and there is little information about the reversal procedure’s safety. That law goes into effect on Oct. 1 and those who fail to comply will face a Class E felony, punishable by up to six years in prison. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argue the law infringes on the First Amendment because it requires doctors to “communicate a content-based, viewpoint-based, and/or controversial government-mandated message that they would not otherwise recite concerning an experimental medical treatment that has not been shown to be safe or effective.”

Arizona has become the first state to eliminate a ban on nonlawyers having economic interests in law firms and allowing the sharing of legal fees among nonlawyers and lawyers, Bob Ambrogi’s LawSites reports. The two-page order from the Arizona Supreme Court also approves the licensing of nonlawyers as “legal paraprofessionals” with authority to provide limited legal services to the public, including representing clients in court. In a statement, Arizona’s high court described its order as having “far-reaching changes that could transform the public’s access to legal services.” The regulatory changes come two weeks after Utah approved sweeping changes, creating a two-year pilot of a “regulatory sandbox.” Explaining the reasoning behind its order, the Arizona Supreme Court said “lawyers have an ethical obligation to assure that legal services are available to the public and that if the rules stand in the way of making those services available, the rules should change.” However, the statement also said the changes must “maintain the professional independence of lawyers and protect the public from unethical and unprofessional conduct.”

A Davidson County inmate has died after contracting the COVID-19 virus, the Tennessean reports. The 64-year-old woman, who has yet to be identified, had been hospitalized at Nashville General Hospital since Aug. 18. The woman was arrested on July 7 for failure to appear on a fourth-offense driving under the influence charge and was being held on $500,000 bond. Spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office Karla West said today that two of the jail’s 1,197 residents had tested positive for COVID-19 and 324 had recovered.

Nine hundred seventy four inmates have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus at South Central Correctional Facility in Clifton, a private prison managed by CoreCivic, the Tennessean reports. The Tennessee Department of Correction said the cases were uncovered after a second round of mass testing. Of the 1,410 inmates tested for the virus, 168 results are still pending. Both staff members and inmates were showing symptoms of the virus, but it was unclear how many staff members from the facility had tested positive. This is the largest outbreak reported at a state prison in months, following Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville and Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville, both of which were among the country's largest coronavirus clusters with hundreds of active cases inside the prisons.

Lawyers, judges and government officials in Shelby County and Memphis have implemented a new program to help both tenants and landlords who have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Eviction Settlement Program connects tenants in danger of being evicted with attorneys who work with their landlords to negotiate a financial agreement and prevent eviction. The program is managed by Neighborhood Preservation Inc., with the cooperation of Memphis Area Legal Services and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law’s Clinical Program, which is providing faculty, staff and students to work on cases and assist volunteer attorneys in completing the program’s work. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more details on the new program.

The TBA’s 2020 Administrative Law Annual Forum will be held virtually this year on Nov. 20 from noon until 3 p.m. CDT. Speakers will include Travis Brown from the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, Patricia Newton from the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Joe Sanders from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and Laura Chastain from the Board of Professional Responsibility. Attendees will receive one dual credit and two general credit CLE hours. Learn more and register now.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the Niota Depot Preservation Committee will broadcast a live stream on its Facebook page of a pictorial stamp unveiling and cancellation ceremony of the USPS's new "19th Amendment: Women Vote" stamp. Niota is the hometown of Harry Burn, the young state representative who cast the deciding vote to ratify the 19th Amendment in Tennessee. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. EDT on Saturday and will feature speakers including State Sen. Becky Massey, Niota Mayor Lois Preece and descendants of Burn's mother Febb Burn. Field representatives for U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann also will speak. Head over to the Preservation Committee’s Facebook page to watch the event.

Rep. Bill Beck, D-Nashville, today announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and believes he caught the virus during the three-day special session earlier this month, the Tennessean reports. Beck began experiencing symptoms on Monday and tested positive on Tuesday — 11 days after the conclusion of the special session. In a statement Beck wrote that, while he wore a mask during the special session, not all legislators did. He criticized legislative leadership for holding the session, referring to it as “unnecessary and highly risky.” Beck’s statement comes one day after Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, was released from the hospital after spending more than a week in intensive care with the virus.

The Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association and several legal organizations in Memphis and across the state are looking for attorneys to volunteer for a virtual non-conviction expungement clinic this Saturday. The clinic is for Shelby County cases only, but attorneys do not have to reside or practice in Shelby County to volunteer. Training will be provided to those who volunteer, and lawyers may work on assigned files whenever they have time on Saturday. Register to help here or by emailing Kimi deMent Dean.

Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk and WTVF NewsChannel 5’s chief investigative reporter Phil Williams both submitted a joint dismissal order to a judge this week, ending their years-long court battle, the Tennessean reports. Funk filed the $200 million libel lawsuit in 2016 after Williams reported on a deal Funk made with David Chase, a Nashville developer arrested on domestic violence charges that were later dropped. Williams also reported on a deposition Chase made during plea deal arrangements in which he suggested Funk was trying to “blackmail” him. After the dismissal order was filed yesterday, NewsChannel 5 posted a statement to its website saying it “never alleged – and never intended to allege or convey – that District Attorney Glenn Funk received an offer of a bribe, solicited, or accepted a bribe in connection with that case.”