The second annual Raising the Bar program took place today at Baker Donelson's Nashville office. Produced by the TBA Women in the Profession Committee, programming centered on advocating for one’s own and others’ career growth, and how to effectively solicit raises and project assignments, receive credit for work done, and make partner. Sessions also explored the barriers impacting diverse women in the legal industry and best practices for overcoming those challenges, and wrapped up with a discussion of the financial aspects of preparing for retirement and maintaining work-life balance while transitioning to retirement. Thanks to TBA's women past presidents and Sherrard Roe Voight & Harbison for sponsoring the lunch and networking reception, and to sponsors Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP and McMurray Law Office PLLC for their support. See photos from the event.

The Memphis Police Department (MPD) has announced changes to its leadership structure. The Daily Memphian reports that MPD has created 125 first-line supervisor positions, for which it is currently testing candidates. MPD Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis said nearly 400 officers have applied for the jobs. “We were top heavy,” Davis said. “We had too many manager positions and didn’t need all of that stuff at the top and (didn’t have) enough career development and opportunities at the bottom layers.” The department has a goal of hiring 2,500 officers, which Davis believes will increase law enforcement visibility and deter crime. MPD currently employs 1,946 officers.

Metro Nashville and Shelby County have withdrawn their lawsuit against the state's private school voucher program law, Gov. Bill Lee's signature legislation during his campaign. Chalkbeat Tennessee reports that the law, which allows the state to give taxpayer money to eligible families to pay toward the cost of private school tuition, was declared unconstitutional by a Nashville judge in 2020 because, at the time, it affected students only in Nashville and Memphis. But after several appeals, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state in 2022 and resurrected the law, allowing the program to launch last year in the two counties. A second lawsuit filed in 2020 by the Education Law Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of 11 public school parents and community members in Memphis and Nashville is pending before the state’s appellate court.

The council of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Legal Education and Admission to the Bar Section is considering extending accreditation to fully online law schools. This move would be a major shift from the ABA's longstanding prioritization of in-person teaching. Reuters reports that the council voted Friday to gather public comments on proposed changes to its standards that would enable new and existing law schools with no physical campus to apply for accreditation. Currently, only law schools with brick-and-mortar locations are eligible for ABA accreditation. The organization has allowed an increasing number of those schools to offer fully or mostly online degree programs alongside their in-person ones, but fully online schools are currently ineligible to apply.

U.S. Senate Republicans did not get enough votes to block a new Biden administration rule on an income-driven repayment plan for federal student loans. The resolution failed 49-50. The Tennessee Lookout reports that the resolution was introduced by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, who argued the plan does not “forgive debt. It transfers the burden of $559 billion in federal student loans to the 87% of Americans who don’t have student loans, who chose not to go to college or already responsibly paid off their debts." The White House disagreed, saying in a statement, “This legislation would mean higher payments for student loan borrowers and would dramatically raise costs for graduates.”

U.S. Senate Republicans on Wednesday did not get enough votes to block a new Biden administration rule on an income-driven repayment plan for federal student loans. The resolution failed 49-50. The Tennessee Lookout reports that the resolution was introduced by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, who argued the plan does not “forgive debt. It transfers the burden of $559 billion in federal student loans to the 87% of Americans who don’t have student loans, who chose not to go to college or already responsibly paid off their debts." The White House disagreed, saying in a statement, “This legislation would mean higher payments for student loan borrowers and would dramatically raise costs for graduates.”

TennCare is asking for increases of $185.49 million in recurring funds and $64.58 million in non-recurring funds, in addition to $485.26 million coming from the federal government, according to the Nashville Post. This represents an overall budget increase of $735 million. TennCare’s full budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 was $15.4 billion. In August, nearly 50,000 people lost coverage out of a possible 150,000 due for renewal.

Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Carol Chumney ruled Thursday that Tennessee’s “stand your ground” law, formally known as the self-defense immunity statute, applies to a civil lawsuit involving Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant. The Daily Memphian reports that the case will proceed to an immunity hearing where Morant will have to prove that he acted in self-defense during a July 2022 fight with Joshua Holloway, from which the lawsuit stems, and therefore is immune from civil suit. Holloway's attorney has argued that the law does not apply in this case because it is a criminal statute and the case at issue is a civil matter, which Judge Chumney ruled irrelevant.

The first female-majority Memphis City Council will take office in January. Jerri Green, Pearl Walker and Michalyn Easter-Thomas won their runoff elections yesterday. They join Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, Janika White, Jana Swearengen-Washington and Rhonda Logan who were elected and reelected in the October city elections. The Daily Memphian has more on the election results.

Two Cookeville-area educators are facing assault charges after paddling a student in October at Dodson Branch Elementary in Jackson County. A teacher and an assistant principal were arrested Nov. 7 after a grand jury returned charges of simple assault against and criminal responsibility of assault. The Tennessean reports that there is no state law banning corporal punishment in Tennessee, but many districts — including Metro Nashville; Cheatham, Dickson, Robertson, Sumner and Williamson counties; and Franklin and Murfreesboro city schools — have banned the practice altogether, some for more than a decade. In April, Gov. Bill Lee signed a law that prohibits schools from using corporal punishment against children with disabilities unless a local education agency's discipline policy permits the use of corporal punishment and a parent gives written consent to school officials.