The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed previous rulings that dismissed a lawsuit contesting the will of a Hamilton County man who died in 2015. In a 2013 will the deceased, Dr. J. Don Brock, left behind a sizeable estate to his wife, two stepdaughters and two children from a previous marriage, but excluded five children from the previous marriage. The Supreme Court declined to adopt a broad rule precluding persons disinherited by successive wills from ever bringing a will contest. Instead, the court ruled that parties may establish standing to contest a will by showing that they would be entitled to share in the decedent’s estate if the challenged will, or challenged wills, were set aside or no will existed and the laws of intestacy applied. Justice Cornelia A. Clark authored the court's unanimous opinion.

The American Bar Association has been beefing up its role as a watchdog for failing law schools, sanctioning several institutions with possibly more to come, Above the Law reports. The ABA has issued public reprimands to 10 schools with low bar passage rates since the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity told the U.S. Department of Education to strip the ABA of its accreditation power in 2016. Schools in the crosshairs so far have been Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia, Arizona Summit Law School in Phoenix, Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida, Charlotte Law School, Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston and Valparaiso University Law School in Valparaiso, Indiana.

The Trump administration is considering asking judicial nominees to refuse interviews with the American Bar Association and refuse to sign waivers allowing the ABA to access their disciplinary records, the ABA Journal reports. The measure is being considered after the ABA gave a “not qualified” rating to federal nominee Leonard Steven Grasz, who was found by an ABA committee to appear to be affected by a “passionately held social agenda.” The rating was based on interviews with 207 lawyers, judges and others.

A Washington County Marine veteran is suing U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-Johnson City, and 17 employees of the Mountain Home VA Medical Center over a forced opioid tapering policy that limits veterans’ access to pain medication, the Johnson City Press reports. Robert D. Rose Jr., whose injuries were sustained in training exercises, claims he has been denied adequate access to health care since the opioid tapering policy began in 2012. Rose said in his lawsuit that he, alongside 90 percent of veterans receiving care at the center, have been denied opioid medications since October 2016.

Need a few CLE hours fast? If you live in East Tennessee, the TBA is offering programs from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 4 in Johnson City. The CLE Blast will offer seven hours of dual CLE credit. Another CLE Blast will be held in Nashville on Dec. 18, 27, 28 and 29.

Gov. Bill Haslam has authorized a special election to fill the Tennessee State Senate seat recently vacated by Jim Tracy, who resigned to join the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office, The Tennessean reports. The primary for Senate District 14 will be held on Jan. 25, with the general election on March 13. Current candidates in the race include former state Rep. Joe Carr and Murfreesboro businessman Shane Reeves. The district includes Bedford, Lincoln, Marshall, Moore and parts of Rutherford Counties.