Obion County attorney David Lynn Hamblen has received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court. Hamblen represented the mother of a child in a custody matter in which an order had been entered granting the mother supervised visitation. The parties and their counsels were discussing entering an agreed order giving the mother unsupervised visitation, but prior to any agreement on that issue, Hamblen’s client called him and said she was having a problem arranging for her visitation to be supervised on a particular day. Hamblen then instructed his client to go ahead with unsupervised visitation. Opposing counsel filed a motion for contempt, and Hamblen told opposing counsel that he had instructed his client not to comply with the existing court order, and that he knew no order had been entered relieving her of the supervised visitation. The court found that Hamblen violated Rules of Professional Conduct 3.4 and 8.4(d).

Judge Katherine Crytzer has postponed former federal prosecutor Kateri “Kat” Dahl’s wrongful termination lawsuit against Johnson City from mid-May to late October so she can have more time to rule on a dismissal motion. WJHL reports that Dahl's suit claims Johnson City violated the Tennessee Public Protection Act (TPPA) by allegedly firing Dahl in retaliation for insisting the Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) investigate sexual assault allegations against Sean Williams. The suit also names former Johnson City Police Chief Karl Turner as a separate defendant. Both sides filed summary judgement motions in January. Judge Crytzer noted that since then, the two sides have filed several additional motions that took time for her to work through.

HB1202/SB1325, legislation sponsored by Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, and Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, that would permit public school teachers in Tennessee to carry concealed handguns on campus if they meet certain requirements, passed the House 68-28-2. It previously passed the Senate by a vote of 26-5-1 on April 9. It now heads to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his signature. WKRN reports that Democrats brought more than a dozen amendments to try to mitigate the circumstances of the bill. All failed on party lines.

The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) has released a new episode of the Court Talk podcast, recorded at the 2024 Conference of Chief Justices in Nashville. Justice Sarah Campbell interviews Chief Justice Mary R. Russell of Missouri, Chief Justice Elissa Cadish of Nevada, Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement of Michigan and Chief Justice Ann Timmer of Arizona about how new technologies have been implemented in their respective states. Technology is changing at a rapid pace, and judicial systems here in Tennessee and around the U.S. are finding innovative ways to keep up, from positive uses of AI, to civic education, to improved access to justice, data access and more.

A bill that would change how bail is determined is headed to Gov. Bill Lee's desk. If it becomes law, a defendant's ability to pay would no longer be considered when determining what a defendant's bail amount should be. News Channel 5 reports that bill sponsor Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, says this change will improve public safety and make the bail process more efficient. Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, argued in a tweet that the measure is "adverse to equal access to justice" and "one of the most discriminatory bills of 2024."

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has voted 3-2 to ban most noncompete agreements, which currently prevent tens of millions of employees from working for competitors or starting a competing business after they leave a job. The Hill reports that the rule would ban new noncompete agreements for all workers, and require companies to let current and past employees know that they will not enforce them. Companies also will have to throw out existing noncompete agreements for most employees, although in a change from the original proposal, agreements may remain in effect for senior executives.

Save the date for the TBA's annual Business Law Forum in Nashville on May 15. This year's program will include two one-hour sessions on the Corporate Transparency Act, as well as an ethics session for business lawyers which offers observations on professional responsibility and ethics using characters, transactions and business dealings from the HBO Max show "Succession." Additional topics and speakers to be announced soon. Click here for more information.

Reporters from across the state gathered in Nashville to learn about copyright law, investigative journalism, open records law and more during the annual Reporters Workshop program, produced jointly by the Tennessee Bar Association and the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters. Participants were selected from a number of applicants who were interested in developing a deeper understanding of media law issues that affect their everyday work, including access to government information, defamation and privacy concerns in reporting and other timely topics. Panelists included veteran reporters Phil Williams with News Channel 5 in Nashville and Meribah Knight with Nashville Public Radio; copyright attorneys Keane Barger and Tim Warnock with the Nashville office of Loeb & Loeb; and legal media experts Paul McAdoo with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Deborah Fisher, executive director at the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government. The program continues tomorrow.

Register by April 30 for TBA's Annual Convention in Memphis, June 12-15, to take advantage of Early Bird pricing! The Peabody Hotel has special room rates for convention attendees, so make those reservations by May 22.

Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner has announced that his office would hand over management of the Youth Justice and Education Center to the Shelby County Juvenile Court by the end of 2024. In an email to the Shelby County Commission, Bonner cited the need to focus deputies at adult facilities, including the jail at 201 Poplar Ave., as his office deals with understaffing, reports the Daily Memphian. The sheriff's office voluntarily took on management of the youth center in 2014 at the request of then-Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael. The facility was under the oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice. Juvenile Judge Tarik Sugarmon agreed with Bonner that it makes sense to bring the operation of the center back under the control of the juvenile court, but expressed concern that the timeline doesn’t provide enough time to set up an appropriate management plan. Sugarmon told Action News 5 that he sees the transition as an opportunity to improve the care of young people in the justice system.