Despite a 20% drop in homicides mid-year, and the fact that overall violent crime is down, Nashville will end the year with at least one more homicide than 2023. The Nashville Banner reports that more than 50% of the year’s homicide victims were between the ages of 18 and 34, according to Metro Nashville Police Department data, and 14 were between the ages of 13 and 17. The overwhelming majority of the cases — 92 as of Dec. 28 — involved a gun. Violent offenses are down 5%, aggravated assaults are down more than 6%, and robberies — including those involving businesses as well as individuals on the street — are down more than 10%. Rapes reported to police, however, have risen nearly 20% — 627 as of Dec. 23. Mayor Freddie O'Connell said in a statement to the paper that Nashville had more people die while homeless than died from homicide this year, “so we’re still working on housing as a critical safety issue.”

The TBA will be closed Wednesday in observance of New Year’s Day and will reopen at 8 a.m. CST on Thursday. Visit the TBA website to access CLE offerings for your year-end needs and contact information for individual staff members. Happy New Year!

William Neil Griffin Sr. died Dec. 18 at age 80. He graduated from Baylor University and received his law degree from what was then Memphis State University School of Law. Griffin began his real estate law practice in 1969 as an associate with Matthews & Matthews. He continued his practice for over 50 years with the firm Griffin, Clift, Everton & Maschmeyer PLLC. He was also a land developer, home builder and a banker with acquisitions of three community banks in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. A memorial service will be held at Independent Presbyterian Church, 4738 Walnut Grove Rd., Memphis 38117 on Jan. 3, 2025, at 2 p.m. CST, with visitation from 1-2 p.m. and a reception after the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations may be made to the Mid-South Parkinson's Disease Foundation and Support Group, Independent Presbyterian Church and Baylor University.

John P. Williams, currently of counsel with Tune, Entrekin & White, has recently published his first book, "Montgomery Bell: Tennessee Frontier Capitalist" (2024, Acclaim Press). It is the first-ever biography of Bell, Tennessee’s most successful ironmaster in the first half of the 19th century — a time when iron was the essential ingredient in products for the kitchen, the farm and the military. Williams’ biography of Bell traces his odyssey from his Pennsylvania roots during the American Revolution, through his 12 years as a Kentucky hatter, to his 50-year career in the iron business in Tennessee. Many Tennessee attorneys received their high school education at Montgomery Bell Academy, founded in 1867 with a bequest from Bell. The Bells Bend section of Davidson County is named for Montgomery Bell as a result of his ownership of 6,000 acres in that area for more than 30 years and his construction of a home, grist mill and sawmill in Bells Bend. Montgomery Bell State Park in Dickson County is also named for Bell because several of his iron furnaces were located in that county.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has two cases set for its Jan. 8, 2025, docket in Knoxville: Matthew Long v. Chattanooga Fire and Police Pension Fund, and Brett Houghton et al. v. Malibu Boats LLC. Read more about the cases in a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts. The cases will be heard at the Tennessee Supreme Court building, 535-599 Main St. SW, Knoxville 37902, beginning at 9 a.m. EST and will be livestreamed to the TNCourts YouTube page.

Memphis law firms Harkavy Shainberg Kaplan PLC and Williams McDaniel PLLC will merge to become Harkavy McDaniel Kaplan and Salomon PC. The Memphis Business Journal reports the new firm will have a total of 14 attorneys. Harkavy McDaniel Kaplan and Salomon will be located at the Triad Centre II, 6060 Poplar Ave., Memphis 38119, where Harkavy Shainberg Kaplan currently operates. Williams McDaniel is moving from its current office at 717 S. White Station Rd. The combined firm will focus on litigation, estate planning, probate, and both commercial and residential real estate. Read more from Here Memphis.

From August through November of this year, Belmont College of Law’s public interest and pro bono clinics provided $35,150 in free legal services –– calculated based on a standard rate of $250 an hour. Across 10 clinics, these services led to transformative outcomes for clients, including 24 powers of attorney for care of a minor child completed, 405 non-conviction expungement filings, 30 estate planning documents prepared, over 110 clients assisted and more than half a million dollars in court fees waived. This year, the law school set a goal of expanding its clinic offerings into new practice areas to better serve its Nashville neighbors. By also expanding its network of partnering organizations, Belmont Law’s public interest program is able to more readily identify communities in need, which were not previously on its radar, the school reports.

A new study from Belmont Innovation Labs, “Every Child Tennessee: Foster Youth in Tennessee 2024 Landscape Study — Transitioning into Adulthood,” highlights the crisis in Tennessee youth who are aging out of foster care. According to the study, 70 to 80% of children aging out of the state’s foster care system without proper support are facing challenges such as homelessness, addiction, imprisonment or trafficking by the age of 21. The research found that one “critical factor” that determined successful outcomes for those aging out of the system was “the presence of a stable adult relationship.” WSMV has more on the study, which drew on research over the last few decades.

Regional grocery chain K-VA-T Food Stores, known as Food City, has agreed to settle government allegations under the False Claims Act (FCA) related to its dispensing of opioids and other controlled substances. The lawsuit alleges that, from 2011 through 2018, 24 Food City store pharmacies dispensed opioids and other controlled substances that were medically unnecessary, lacked a legitimate medical purpose or medically accepted indication, and/or were dispensed to invalid prescriptions, and that, as a result, Food City submitted false claims to federal health care programs. Under the settlement, Food City will pay the United States $8,488,378, and will pay an additional $78,621 to the states of Virginia and Kentucky for claims paid to Food City by state Medicaid programs. Food City reached a similar settlement with Tennessee in 2023. Read more in a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

The Oral History Committee of the Lawyers' Association for Women (LAW) Marion Griffin Chapter on Friday presented a film featuring the life and impactful work of U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Senior Judge Martha "Cissy" Daughtrey, a founder of LAW. The film was followed by a panel discussion featuring members of the legal community who have worked with Daughtrey over the years and who spoke about her impact on gender equity in the legal profession. The group capped off the night with its annual holiday celebration. See a photo from the event.