Join members of the TBA Attorney Well Being Committee for a live interactive roundtable for law students and young lawyers on how best to manage work-life balance as a legal professional. This 45-minute Zoom event on Sept. 25 at 12:30 p.m. CDT will feature seasoned lawyers discussing their day-to-day practice, and provide effective tools for personal well-being. The event is free and open to all currently enrolled law students and TBA members but registration is required. Questions and feedback are encouraged for this interactive roundtable. Submit questions in advance to jword@tnbar.org.

Gov. Bill Lee has announced three new judicial appointments: Jennifer Nichols has been appointed to the 18th Judicial District Circuit Court, Jessica Parrish to the 22nd Judicial District Circuit Court and Jim Newsom to the 30th Judicial District Chancery Court. Newsom was named as a special judge to replace Shelby County Chancellor Jim Kyle who is on disability due to a nonfatal autoimmune disorder, the Daily Memphian reports.“I am proud to announce the appointment of these highly qualified individuals and value the significant experience they will bring to their respective roles,” Lee said. “I appreciate their leadership and am confident they will serve Tennesseans with integrity.” Read more about the new judges in a press release from the governor's office.

A group calling themselves "Patriot Front" marched through Downtown Nashville on Saturday with a "Reclaim America" banner, American flags, a Confederate flag and passing out flyers while chanting on their way to the front of the Capitol. Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell denounced the group on social media, saying Tennesseans should "refuse to allow this to be normalized." On Monday, the mayor's office confirmed that the group did not have a permit, Fox17 reports. Gov. Bill Lee responded that the far-right group's position on anti-Semitism should not be condoned, saying, "... that group with anti-Semitic ties should be condemned at every level." Read more from News Channel 5.

Puryear Law Group PLLC has changed its name to Puryear Pippenger & Cook PLLC to reflect the firm’s continued expansion and the leadership of its partners Andrew Pippenger and Charles Cook, according to firm founder Dan Puryear. The firm has offices in Nashville and Chattanooga. “Our firm’s new name marks a significant milestone in its history as we continue to grow our reach in representing a spectrum of clients in the financial services, real estate, construction and insurance industries,” said Puryear. Read more from Chattanoogan.com.

State Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, is leading the new Tennessee Street Racing Task Force, which is aimed at cracking down on street racing. Gillespie says street racing poses a serious public safety threat throughout the city of Memphis and the state. Action News 5 reports that Gillespie passed legislation this year that created the penalty of aggravated reckless driving and made drag racing a felony. The task force is expected to start meeting in August and is required to report its recommendations and findings in January 2025.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Tommy Baker on Monday announced the launch of the Tennessee Veteran Ready Business Program. This initiative aims to recognize Tennessee businesses that demonstrate exceptional commitment to recruiting, hiring and retaining service members, veterans and their families. Watch the announcement and read more about the program.

The Davidson County Mental Health Court, led by Judge Melissa Blackburn, has been awarded certification by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. It is one of the first two programs in Tennessee to receive this certification. Since its inception in 2001, the Davidson County program has been funded primarily by Metro Nashville. In 2022, legislative leaders worked with Blackburn to secure new funding for mental health courts across Tennessee, expanding access to this transformative program for those involved in the justice system and suffering from a diagnosis of severe and persistent mental illness. Read the press release from court.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that a defamation and false light suit filed by Bill Charles against Donna McQueen must be dismissed under the Tennessee Public Participation Act (TPPA), the state's version of an anti-SLAPP statute. Charles was the president of the Durham Farms homeowners’ association in Hendersonville and a consultant for Freehold Communities, the company that developed the community. In 2020, residents petitioned local officials and some, including McQueen, wrote negative Google reviews on Freehold's Nashville regional office webpage, hoping to stop a proposed "rental-only" unit section of the community. Charles sued McQueen over the review, asserting claims for defamation and false light.

Brian Kelsey, former Republican state senator from Germantown, will not be allowed to rescind his guilty plea for campaign finance violations, upholding his 21-month prison sentence. The Tennessee Journal reports that two judges on a three-judge panel on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Kelsey’s attorney had not properly objected to an alleged breach of the plea agreement when a federal prosecutor agreed that the former lawmaker could face an enhanced sentence for perjuring himself when he tried to revoke his guilty plea. The third judge said the objection had been properly preserved, but found that the government did not breach its obligations under the plea agreement.

In May, the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) sent a letter to guardians and families of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who live in state-run homes, informing them that the homes would be decommissioned for adults and repurposed to house children in custody of the Department of Children's Services (DCS). According to child advocates, DCS is now placing children with no known disability diagnoses for months at a time in those group homes to await evaluations for potential disabilities or mental health issues that, in some instances, they do not have. Advocates explain that while a child is living in a group home awaiting an evaluation, efforts to find a foster home halt, adding they are especially concerned that the normal safeguards for adults or children placed in group homes have been set aside for children in DCS custody. The Tennessee Lookout has the story.