In a special called meeting Thursday, Nashville real estate developer Jimmy Granbery was elected chair of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority. The Nashville Business Journal reports that after the meeting, Airport Authority CEO Doug Kreulen issued a public letter justifying why a new board was installed; Metro Law Director Wally Dietz also circulated a letter stating that Granbery and board member Bobby Joslin (elected as vice chair) now have "an irreconcilable conflict of interest" because they also had seats on the pre-exisiting airport board. The Federal Aviation Administration has stated it will not recognize a new board until the lawsuit surrounding the airport authority takeover is resolved.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal from the Biden administration over the use of in-house judges to handle cases brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Bloomberg News reports that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Congress violated the Seventh Amendment, which protects the right to a jury trial in civil lawsuits, by allowing the SEC to ask an administrative law judge to impose penalties rather than going to federal court. The 5th Circuit also said Congress gave the commission too much leeway to decide which cases will go before its in-house judges. The appeal from the Biden administration asserts that the ruling will have “massive practical consequences” across the government if it is not overturned.

Thomson Reuters will purchase the San Francisco-based Casetext for $650 million as part of its long-term investment in generative artificial intelligence. The ABA Journal reports that the legal tech startup was founded in 2013 and has about 100 employees. Casetext launched the legal AI assistant CoCounsel in March. The product, developed in a partnership with OpenAI and trained on the latest version of its GPT large language model, uses a chatbot interface to aid in legal research, document review and contract analysis.

Memphis Law School has released two new "Show Cause" podcasts. Act Like an Adult — A Drag Show Dilemma takes a look at Tennessee's Adult Entertainment Act and the recent federal district court ruling that found it unconstitutional. Memphis Law professor Regina Hillman joins the show to discuss a wide array of LGBTQ related topics. In the Legislative Weeds with Cannabis features Stephen Galoob, a professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law, on how states are regulating the marijuana market and how the landscape is changing across the country, at both the state and federal levels.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced Thursday that his office would seek the death penalty in the criminal case against Cleotha Abston-Henderson, the man charged with the abduction and killing of Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher, who was kidnapped while running near the University of Memphis in early September. According to the Commercial Appeal, Mulroy's office also requested investigative findings from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which include a ballistics report, a firearm investigation, serology and DNA testing.

A new law, which took effect July 1 and was sponsored by Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis, seeks to expand access to doula services for pregnant, low-income Tennesseans. The Daily Memphian reports that the bill creates a doula services advisory committee within TennCare. The five-member committee will advise the Tennessee Department of Health on standards for the profession and recommend reimbursement rates for TennCare coverage of doula services. It will also include the state’s commissioner of health or a designee with experience in maternal health or Medicaid policy, the director of TennCare or a designee, and three doulas, two of whom must be community-based and have experience serving Medicaid recipients in areas of the state with high maternal- and infant-mortality rates. “This is an important policy goal because Tennessee women are dying due to preventable, pregnancy-related complications at a rate 10 times higher than women in other wealthy nations,” Lamar said.

Public speaking is a core leadership skill and in today’s business environment, attorneys are expected to be comfortable with everything from moderating a panel discussion to leading a virtual meeting. Mimi Bliss of Bliss Communications has updated her highly-rated CLE on virtual presentations to cover a range of professional situations, from virtual courtrooms to professional conferences, panel discussions, and informal communications. In this on-demand workshop, you’ll learn how to sharpen your message; engage your audience; master the virtual presentation, including technology tools, lighting and set-up; and use voice, gestures and eye contact to speak effectively. Attorneys who participated in last year’s workshop said the speaking tips were actionable and relevant to lawyers. Join us online July 19 from 12-1 p.m. CST for this CLE and receive one dual credit hour.

Memphis Area Legal Services will host the June Second Saturday Legal Advice Clinic on July 8 at the Benjamin Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar Ave., Memphis 38111 from 10 a.m.-noon CDT. The clinic operates on a first come, first served basis.

The July/August issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal is available online. Our cover story is an interview with retiring Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon G. Lee about her career spanning more than two decades as a small-town lawyer to her appointment to the highest court in the state. Also featured is retired Judge Walter Kurtz's article on the Code of Judicial Conduct and its challenges in state courts, Amy Willoughby Bryant's piece laying out the case for the state to improve oversight of conservatorships, and Everett Hixson's article on the Tennessee Supreme Court ruling in Donovan v. Hastings that strengthens the state's "loser pays" statute. Also in this issue are columns from Buddy Stockwell, Wade Davies and Russell Fowler; a review of Jeff Hobbs' book "Children of the State;" as well as news from TBA's Annual Convention and President Jim Barry's vision for the 2023-2024 bar year. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that persons who lose the right to vote in Tennessee because of a criminal conviction in another state must comply with requirements set forth in two different Tennessee statutes, both of which address voting rights, in order to regain their right to vote. Justice Jeff Bivins, writing for the majority, ruled that individuals seeking to reinstate their right to vote must comply with both Tenn. Code. Ann. section 2-19-143(3), which requires the state to re-enfranchise persons convicted of out-of-state infamous crimes as soon as said persons are “pardoned or restored to the rights of citizenship by the governor or other appropriate authority of such other state," as well as the additional requirements set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. section 40-29-202, which requires that persons convicted of infamous crimes pay outstanding court costs, restitution and child support obligations before they can be re-enfranchised. Justice Sharon Lee dissented, stating that the plaintiff had been granted clemency, which restored his voting rights, so the requirement under section 40-29-202 does not apply because the plaintiff had no need to have his voting rights restored.