Members of the 2025 TBA Leadership Law (TBALL) class gathered last weekend in Nashville for the program's opening retreat. The event featured sessions providing an introduction to the program and the chance to hear from some of Tennessee’s top leaders. Speakers included TBA President-elect Heidi Barcus, Abby Rubenfeld, Byron Trauger, DarKenya W. Waller, Deb Varallo, Donna Yurdin, Emily Heird, Emily Landry and Maureen Holland. The class also heard from a range of judicial leaders including U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kevin Ritz, Tennessee Court of Appeals Judges Kristi Davis and Jeffrey Usman, Tennessee Circuit Court Judge Joel Wallace, General Sessions Court Judge Danielle Mitchell and Judicial Commissioner Christopher Ingram. View pictures from the event. TBALL strives to equip participants with the vision, knowledge and skills necessary to serve as leaders. Learn more about the program.

Several Black History Month programs will take place in Nashville in the coming weeks. On Feb. 14, join Tennessee State University’s College of Liberal Arts and the Metropolitan Historical Commission for the 44th Annual Nashville Conference on African American History and Culture (NCAAHC), a dynamic celebration of African Americans' contributions to Nashville and Tennessee history. On Feb. 19, Vanderbilt University will present The History of Communities from North Africa: Sudanese, Egyptians, Tunisians, Moroccans, Libyans and Algerians. Speakers include Vanderbilt Law School professor Samar Ali. The Nashville Public Library also is hosting a number of programs, including the National African-American Read-In on Feb. 18, the Black Lift Poetry Festival; Write with Pride on Feb. 22, and on demand programs about the legacy of civil rights lawyer Z. Alexander Looby and the history of black Nashville. Finally, the Tennessee State Museum has a number of events planned.

Belmont University College of Law has been named one of 10 finalists in Bloomberg Law’s third annual Law School Innovation Program, exemplifying a holistic approach to legal education. Belmont Law’s Extended Enneagram Training was selected from more than 30 program applications and was the only program chosen in Tennessee. Bloomberg Law focused on career resilience for its 2024-2025 program, asking law schools what they are doing to counteract burnout and build fortitude for a fulfilling, long-term legal career. Intentionally designed by Deborah Farringer, associate dean for academic affairs and associate professor of law, and Kristi Arth, assistant dean for experiential learning and assistant professor of law, the Extended Enneagram Training falls into the well-being finalist category. Read more in a release from the law school.

The Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) honored Belmont College of Law Dean Alberto Gonzales at a  reception Saturday evening at the American Bar Association (ABA) Midyear Meeting in Phoenix. Meeting attendees from across the country gathered to celebrate Gonzales’ leadership at the law school. See pictures from the event. The TBA hosts the Tennessee Reception twice a year at the ABA Midyear Meeting in February and the Annual Meeting in August. The events provide an opportunity to raise the state's visibility among the national legal community and honor the good work being done by Tennessee attorneys.

Ezekiel Kelly, a 22-year-old Memphis man charged with capitol murder, will act as his own lawyer in a trial scheduled for July. The two dozen charges, including first-degree murder and attempted murder, stem from a September 2022 shooting spree and city-wide manhunt that left three people dead and three others wounded. According to the Associated Press, a judge in January granted Kelly's request to serve as his own lawyer, and on Tuesday, Kelly requested more time to access the jail computers to review the evidence against him. He has pleaded not guilty. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said his office plans to seek the death penalty if Kelly is convicted of first-degree murder.

The Tennessee Office for Refugees, a department of Catholic Charities, anticipated serving more than 2,000 newly-arriving refugees between September 2024 and September 2025. One of President Donald Trump's Jan. 20 executive orders froze all refugee resettlement and support, leaving the refugees and the nonprofits that work with them in limbo. Tennessee Lookout reports that a subsequent Jan. 24 “stop work” letter was sent to resettlement agencies across the country to halt “reception and placement” services, which impacts more than 140 refugees who already were in Tennessee. Rick Musacchio, executive director of the Tennessee Catholic Conference, told News Channel 5 that the organization is focusing on supporting the refugees they already have settled, but even those services may end without major financial support from the community.

East Tennessee residents along the I-75 corridor between Chattanooga and Knoxville last week reported finding flyers along roads instructing immigrants to "self-deport" and recruiting "white protestants" to the Ku Klux Klan, reports the Chattanooga Times-Free Press. Chattanooga leaders and immigrants' rights groups released statements condemning the flyers and their message, with city council member Demetrus Coonrod saying, "These documents, steeped in racism and xenophobia, strike at the very heart of what we hold dear in our diverse communities." A Kentucky man identified himself as the leader of the group distributing the flyers, telling the news outlet that his group has been distributing similar materials in other states as part of a recruiting push.

February is Black History Month and Knoxville will celebrate with opportunities to learn about and highlight the accomplishments of African Americans through a variety of events, reports Knox News. Events throughout the month will include programs by community leaders, authors and artists of works dealing with Black history, with exhibits, forums, the spoken word and a chance to join a nationwide project to transcribe the works of 19th-century author, statesman and activist Frederick Douglass in honor of his birthday.

The American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates (HOD) adopted more than two dozen policy matters, including resolutions addressing the judiciary and recent executive orders, when it met during the 2025 ABA Midyear Meeting. Additional resolutions focusing on lawyer well-being, antisemitism education, righting wrongful convictions and bar admission standards also were passed. The policymaking House is chaired by Nashville attorney Jonathan Cole of Baker Donelson and encompasses nearly 600 delegates from ABA entities and state, local and specialty bar associations. Read more in a release.

A temporary injunction against Tennessee's new THCA rule will remain in effect until June 5, when a legal challenge against the Tennessee Department of Agriculture is set for trial. The Tennessee Growers Coalition and the Tennessee Healthy Alternatives Association filed a lawsuit in September arguing that the rule, which would prohibit sales of THCA products that could convert to 0.3% or more THC, represented agency overreach and would lead to a ban of products that have not been outlawed by the General Assembly. Nashville Chancellor I'Ashea Myles in December granted a temporary injunction that stopped enforcement of the rule. The Tennessee Lookout reports that the decision gives a six-month reprieve for Tennessee’s hemp industry, which has grown to an estimated $280-$560 million in annual sales since the products were legalized in 2019.