The University of Tennessee Winston College of Law and its Black Law Students Association hosted the 2026 Julian Blackshear Jr. Scholarship Gala in March to celebrate access to legal education and the legal profession. Named for civil rights attorney Julian Blackshear Jr., one of the law school’s first Black graduates, the annual event supports scholarships for law students through contributions from alumni, faculty, staff and community partners. This year’s keynote speaker was Iké Adeyemi, senior vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary of Eastman Chemical Company, who spoke about leadership, resilience and using the law to create social change. The law school also posthumously presented the R.B.J. Campbelle Jr. Award to Knoxville attorney and civil rights advocate Rudolph V. McKamey, who was denied admission to the law school in 1948 because of his race. He later graduated from Howard University School of Law before building a career advocating for equality and justice in Knoxville. Read more and see photos from the event on the law school's website.

Temple University in Philadelphia on Friday announced that University of Tennessee Winston College of Law Dean Lonnie T. Brown Jr. has been named the Kean Family Dean of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. Brown will begin the role on Aug. 1. “The Beasley School of Law is one of Temple University’s strongest academic assets, and we are delighted to welcome Lonnie as its Kean Family Dean,” Temple President John Fry said. “This was a thorough and competitive search process, and Lonnie quickly emerged as the top candidate, given his extensive experience as both a leader and legal scholar." Brown has been the dean of Winston Law since 2022 and is the Elvin E. Overton Distinguished Professor of Law and Haslam Family Professor. “I am deeply honored and humbled to have been selected as Kean Family Dean of the Beasley School of Law. The university and law school’s sincere commitment to student success, broad access, community engagement and overall excellence is palpable, and I could not be more excited about this amazing opportunity to contribute to those critically important objectives in the years ahead,” Brown said.

Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk Vince Dean has released an alert warning citizens about another scam targeting incarcerated people and their family members, Chattanoogan.com reports. Dean told the news outlet that he was advised by a judge that "defendants are saying that they, and in some cases, their family members, are being contacted by a company claiming to be called 'Second Chance' to get a release from jail." He reminded the public that "there is absolutely no bonding company in Hamilton County named 'Second Chance.' ... Always be the one to initiate contact, and only use an agent that has their contact information posted at the Hamilton County Jail."

Brentwood attorney David Gebhardt on May 8 pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns that failed to report millions of dollars in income from cryptocurrency sales and from his consulting business, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee. Court documents show that Gebhardt purchased cryptocurrency but used decentralized exchanges and nominees to conceal his income from those investments, did not report the income on his tax returns, falsely indicated that he did not engage in virtual currency transaction, and failed to report all the gross receipts earned by a consulting business he owned. In total, Gebhardt caused a tax loss of more than $550,000 by filing false tax returns for 2018 through 2022. He faces a maximum penalty of six years in federal prison, as well as restitution and monetary penalties.

Warren County is launching a Safe Baby Court program aimed at reducing dependency and neglect cases while helping safely reunite children with their families through a collaborative, community-based approach, the Herald Citizen reports. A public kickoff event is scheduled for May 12 at the Warren County Courthouse. Led by General Sessions Judge Ryan J. Moore in partnership with the Tennessee General Assembly, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and other local organizations, the specialty court will serve children ages five and younger and their siblings involved in dependency and neglect proceedings. The program emphasizes coordinated services, accountability and early intervention to improve long-term outcomes for children and families. Tennessee established its Safe Baby Court program in 2017. By June of this year, there will be 32 sites statewide.

A retired FBI analyst has sued the City of Knoxville and a local police officer after saying she was wrongfully arrested and charged with driving under the influence following a minor crash last year. According to Knox News, the federal lawsuit was filed April 27 by the Nashville law firm of Brazil Clark PLLC on behalf of Allison Tsiumis. The suit alleges that a Knox Police Department (KPD) officer incorrectly administered field sobriety tests and fabricated evidence in the affidavit filed about the incident. Tsiumis is suing both the city and the KPD officer for unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution, asserting that her constitutionally guaranteed 14th Amendment rights were violated. KPD has opened an internal investigation into the allegations according to the paper.

The College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers (CWCL) recently inducted Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board Presiding Judge Timothy Conner and Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims Judge Pamela B. Johnson as fellows of the group on April 18 in Tucson, Arizona. Conner and Johnson were appointed to the bench in 2014 as some of the first judges to serve on their respective newly created courts. Both are active in the National Association of Workers’ Compensation Judiciary and in the Knoxville community. They join Chief Judge Kenneth Switzer and Judge Brian Addington as CWCL fellows from Tennessee courts.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has moved to intervene in the federal civil lawsuit filed by RowVaughn Wells, the mother of Tyre Nichols, after the court ordered Wells’ attorneys to disclose communications with the DOJ related to the lawsuit and the department’s pattern-and-practice investigation into the Memphis Police Department. According to the Commercial Appeal, the DOJ’s motion proposes submitting the communications in question to a judge for private review to determine whether they fall within the scope of the court’s order before releasing to the City of Memphis. Attorneys for the city opposed the motion, arguing the communications are subject to discovery obligations. Meanwhile, Wells’ attorneys have requested a status conference to discuss reopening discovery, a new scheduling order, the stay involving the former Memphis police officers charged in the case and multiple sealed filings.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a bipartisan coalition of states in announcing a proposed settlement with Agri Stats Inc. to resolve allegations that the company illegally increased prices for chicken, pork and turkey products. According to a press release, the proposed settlement would prohibit Agri Stats from continuing several of the practices challenged in the lawsuit and impose safeguards intended to restore competition, lower prices and increase transparency in meat markets. In 2023, Tennessee joined the DOJ and other states in filing an antitrust suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota alleging Agri Stats facilitated anticompetitive information exchanges among meat processors by collecting and distributing detailed nonpublic pricing, cost, labor and production data among competitors. The proposed settlement remains subject to approval by the court following a public comment period.

The Tennessee State High School Mock Trial champion team from Agathos Classical School in Columbia earned an impressive third-place finish at the national competition in Des Moines, Iowa, last week. The team opened the tournament with victories over competitors from Guam, Iowa and Pennsylvania before narrowly falling to Utah in the fourth round — their only loss of the season — by the vote of a single juror. Coached by Jason Whatley, Cory Ricci and Luke Worsham, the school is celebrating its 10th season. It captured the Tennessee State Championship for the third time in March. The team previously earned a third place national finish before winning the national championship in 2019. In addition, Manhattan Thouin was recognized as one of the competition’s top attorneys. The teams from Florida and Georgia took first and second place respectively. To learn more about the mock trial competition sponsored by the TBA Young Lawyers Division, visit the TBA website. See photos from the national competition.