Spencer Fane, which has offices in Nashville and Hendersonville, recently announced it has merged with the Washington, D.C., boutique intellectual property firm Global IP Counselors. More than a dozen patent and trademark attorneys from Global IP Counselors now join Spencer Fane’s Intellectual Property Practice Group in the Washington, D.C., office. Read more in a press release from the firm.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Chief Judge Sheryl Lipman on Monday swore in 16 military lawyers to assist the U.S. Department of Justice prosecute cases brought by the Memphis Safe Task Force. According to the Commercial Appeal, none of the former Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps attorneys were previously admitted to the Tennessee bar and will work alongside assistant U.S. attorneys as they learn local rules and procedures. U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee Michael Dunavant said during the ceremony that the JAG attorneys primarily will work on violent criminal cases, with some also working on gun offense cases. He later announced that 20 military lawyers have joined the effort. Lipman said she was grateful for the assistance because the "caseload has exploded," stating that, compared to each respective month in 2024, cases were up 90% in September 2025, 338% in October 2025 and 325% in November 2025.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris has named Jerri Green, his deputy chief of staff, as the county’s interim chief public defender. Phyllis Aluko, the current chief public defender, will retire at the end of January. The Daily Memphian reports that Green will begin transitioning to the new role on Jan. 12. Green holds a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and worked in the public defender’s office in 2009 and 2010. She currently serves on the Memphis City Council and is a Democratic candidate for governor. In a statement Green said, “My passion has always been public service, and I carry the lessons I’ve learned from Washington D.C. to Nashville to Shelby County, and everywhere in between, as I work to ensure fairness, dignity, and strong representation for every client we serve.”

Lewis "Lew" H. Conner Jr. died Jan. 4 at age 87. Connor attended Vanderbilt University for both his undergraduate and law degrees, going on to serve as a captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps with the 101st Airborne Division from 1963–1966. He entered private practice and later co-founded Dearborn & Ewing. As his private practice career unfolded, Connor’s work in complex litigation ultimately led him to pioneer alternative dispute resolution techniques in Tennessee. Widely regarded as one of the "fathers of mediation," he maintained an extraordinary record of successful resolutions. He later served on the Tennessee Court of Appeals and as a special chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Connor received the Nashville Bar Association’s highest distinction, the John C. Tune Public Service Award, as well as the Best of the Bar Lifetime Achievement Award. Visitation will be Jan. 9 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3900 West End Ave., Nashville 37205 from 10-11:15 a.m. CST, followed by a service at noon. A reception will follow at the Vanderbilt Commodore Club, 2601 Jess Neely Drive, Nashville 37212. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church or the Boys and Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee. The Tennessean has more on Connor's life, including his many contributions to the sport of golf in the state. Read comments from Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeff Bivins in a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The January/February issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal is now available online and on its way to mailboxes this week! Kicking off the new year is a cover story on Nashville attorney David Cooper's journey on the Appalachian Trail with his son, Sam. He discusses "the trip of a lifetime" with TBJ Editor Julia Canada Wilburn, not only as an epic experience but one that allowed him the space to step away from practicing law and focus on his own well-being. The self care theme continues in TBA President Heidi Barcus' column on how she takes care of her own mental health, and an article from Judge Lee Bussart and LMU Law 2L Jillian McGauley explaining how the SHIELD Program in Marshall County is helping people with mental and substance use disorders get help and avoid incarceration. Columns in this issue include Eddy Smith's Where There's a Will, which looks at how modifications to Tennessee's trust laws have made the state a desirable one in which to set up trusts, and John Day explaining how tax law impacts tort law in Day on Torts. Finally, read about TBA's new pro bono portal and learn how lawyers can help people across the state, and get news and updates from The Legal Life.

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

The New Year is just hours away and the TBA is here to help attorneys meet their CLE requirements with flexible, year-end programming. TBA CLE offers live webcasts and on-demand courses that can be completed from home or the office, whether you need a single hour or 15 to finish the year. Members can select from packages by hour (six, eight, 10, 12 or 15), by topic, by practice area or by building their own with more than 200 on-demand programs available. Topical and practice-area packages offer dual hours, making it easy to complete ethics requirements before the year ends. For more information and to browse the full catalog, visit the TBA website or contact support at cle@tnbar.org.

State officials decertified the Meigs County Jail earlier in December after determining that recently approved repair plans would not bring the overcrowded, aging facility into compliance with Tennessee Corrections Institute (TCI) standards. WBIR reports that the decision came less than a day after county commissioners voted to renovate rather than build a new jail. TCI officials have concluded that only a new facility could restore certification. As a result, state inmates must be transferred out and county leaders must reconsider their plans.

Rep. Chris Todd, R-Jackson, has filed HB1446 to ban use of the term "West Bank" — referring to the Palestinian territory west of the Jordan River and Dead Sea controlled by Israel — in official state documents. It would replace references to that area with the term "Judea and Samaria." The Tennessean reports that the bill also embeds religious, historical and national security arguments in state law to support permanent Israeli control of the territory. The proposal adopts language commonly used by Israel’s settler movement and asserts a broader ideological struggle rooted in Judeo-Christian values. Todd, a member of the Tennessee-Israel Legislative Caucus, says the bill ensures state documents use what he considers historically and biblically accurate terminology.

An audit from Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower's office has identified flaws in the way the state Department of Human Services (DHS) investigates complaints against child care centers, potentially placing children at risk, according to the Tennessee Lookout. Approximately 6,000 allegations of child abuse, neglect and financial exploitation are made annually against child care providers, which DHS must investigate. The comptroller's report found that some of these investigations lacked required documentation, including proof that inspectors visited the childcare center, incomplete “action plans” holding child care operators responsible for improvements, and misclassified forms. The report also found that some investigations were not initiated or concluded in the legally required timeframe. DHS Commissioner Clarence Carter acknowledged the ongoing problems and pledged to “strengthen our processes to ensure our investigation process is timely and properly documented at DHS.”