A jury has found Metro Nashville Fire Department (MNFD) guilty of discrimination against Deputy Fire Marshal Maggie Lawrence, and has awarded her $225,000 in compensatory damages. The Nashville Banner reports that the lawsuit, which was initiated in September 2022, alleged that Nashville Fire Chief William Swann promoted a younger and less experienced captain to the role of fire captain over Lawrence, despite the fire marshal at the time advocating for Lawrence as the more qualified candidate. The suit further claimed that Metro and Swann not only discriminated against Lawrence but also retaliated when she made her complaint public.

An investigation by WSMV found that several school districts have miscoded and misreported data surrounding "serious incidents" in their schools, which has led to an incorrect Safe Schools Report from the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE). According to the news outlet, these often violent events include guns, weapons and explosives found on campus, as well as physical and sexual assaults. The Safe Schools Report breaks down the number of serious incidents reported at each school in every school district in the state, and the report is used by TDOE and state lawmakers to track guns and violence in schools and help guide policy on improving student safety. A data analysis found that miscoding of violent instances was to blame for a 50% spike in Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools.

Several health care entities in Middle Tennessee were impacted by a ransomware attack on St. Louis-based Ascension. A "cybersecurity incident" last week took down electronic health records, patient portal access and some systems used to order certain procedures and medications, reports the Nashville Business Journal. In an update Monday afternoon, Ascension said it worked over the weekend to respond to the attack and that it is "focused on restoring systems safely. We are making progress; however, it will take time to return to normal operations. As systems and services come back online, we will share those updates so that our patients and communities can plan accordingly."

TBA members and guests traveled to Dublin and Belfast, Ireland, May 7 through today for an international CLE series. Seven hours of CLE topics included an introduction to the Irish legal and constitutional system, European Union (EU) law, fundamentals of civil and criminal law, as well as more specialized topics to include immigration law, human rights, international law, environmental law, brand rights and intellectual property. The program provided participants with a deeper understanding of contemporary Irish law and business practices, international law and economic relations. The group visited the Law Society of Ireland and the Bar of Ireland, as well as the Four Courts, and learned about the legal structure of the organizations while networking with key leadership and associate members. Highlights in addition to the educational programs included visits to the Dublin’s National Museum of Ireland, Christ Church Cathedral, EPIC Museum, Guinness Storehouse Experience, Trinity College and Library, Game of Thrones Studio Tour and Titanic Belfast Museum. Excursions outside of the cities included Howth and Glendalough national parks with some members visiting Western Ireland and the Cliffs of Moher. TBA President Jim Barry said, “This has been the trip of a lifetime! Excellent food, hotels and CLE! The best part is the incredible friendships that developed with our fellow TBA travelers — memories never to be forgotten.” See pictures from the trip. Interested in learning more about TBA's next CLE abroad destination? Complete this form to receive updates.

The TBA’s 2024 Litigation Forum is a live virtual event this week on May 16. Programming will include a session covering Tennessee summary judgement, evidentiary privilege and the ethical implications of artificial intelligence from the perspective of the Board of Professional Responsibility. Speakers include Chattanooga attorney David Nagle with Legal Aid of East Tennessee, Nashville attorney Todd Presnell with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings and Tiffany Tant-Shafer with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility. The program will run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT.

Longtime Chattanooga City Court Judge Russell Bean, who served on the bench for more than two decades and retired in 2022, was honored Friday with a portrait unveiling at the Chattanooga Courthouse. Bean said he was most grateful to have had the opportunity to help young people who came before him in the courtroom, where he mostly heard traffic violations. Local 3 News has the story. See photos from the event on Facebook.

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its refusal to grant a rare southern salamander Endangered Species Act protections. The Tennessee Lookout reports that the Berry Cave Salamander, which stretches to a little over 9 inches long, has been found in only a handful of isolated caves — most in east Tennessee — where rapid growth combined with farm runoff, climate change and a legacy of contamination from old quarry mines continues to degrade the creatures’ environment. The largest known population of the salamander lives in the Mead’s Quarry Cave in Knoxville, where its numbers have shrunk by at least 60% over the last decade, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center, which is representing the CBD.

Barnes & Thornburg’s Nashville office has relocated to a new building and larger office space of the Broadwest office tower at 1600 West End Ave., Ste. 800, Nashville, TN 37203. Jay Knight, partner-in-charge of the Nashville office, talked about the move in a release saying, “Moving to the Broadwest office tower is a strategic move that will empower our attorneys and business professionals to better serve our clients, foster innovation and deepen relationships in the local community.” The Nashville Business Journal notes that the firm entered the Nashville market last year with the opening of an interim office in The Moore Building at 827 19th Ave. S. The new Broadwest office is more than double the size of its previous space.

Thirteen federal judges on Monday sent a letter to Columbia University's president stating they will not hire law clerks from the university in response to what they called the school’s "failure to deal with pro-Palestinian protests over the war in Gaza." Law.com reports that the letter says, “As judges who hire law clerks every year to serve in the federal judiciary, we have lost confidence in Columbia as an institution of higher education. Columbia has instead become an incubator of bigotry. As a result, Columbia has disqualified itself from educating the future leaders of our country.” According to reporting from Reuters, the head of Columbia's law school responded with a statement asserting that its graduates are "consistently sought out by leading employers in the private and public sectors, including the judiciary." A law school spokesperson did not comment on whether any of the 13 judges had ever hired Columbia Law graduates as clerks.

The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) has released new episodes of its Court Talk podcast. In "The Mechanics of Appellate Opinions," host Joe Byrd welcomes Stacy Lynch, director of the Court Improvement Program to discuss how attorneys can navigate the juvenile court system effectively, including discussion of Rule 13, Rule 40, and necessary information regarding guardian ad litems, CASA volunteers, Safe Baby Court, court findings of potential dependency and neglect, and more. In "Appointed Counsel," hosted by Judge Jeffrey Usman, judges of the Tennessee Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals pull back the curtain on appellate courts. Judges Jill Ayers, Frank Clement, Tom Greenholtz and Steve Stafford explore a wide variety of topics ranging from arguing cases before appellate courts to the issuance of opinions.