Members of the 2025 TBA Leadership Law class (TBALL) selected Memphis lawyer Rebekka Freeman Terrell as the winner of the annual Larry Dean Wilks Leadership Award. She was honored during the group’s graduation ceremonies in Franklin. The class has spent the last six months learning about leadership in the legal profession, issues in the courts, policymaking in state government and the importance of community service. Freeman Terrell is the chief administrative officer of the Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk's Office and serves on the board of directors for the Memphis Child Advocacy Center, Association for Women Attorneys and National Black Prosecutors Association for the Western District of Tennessee among other community service engagements. The award, named for former TBA president and Springfield lawyer Larry Wilks, who was instrumental in creating the TBALL program, is given to the class member who exemplifies exceptional leadership qualities and enhances the education of other class members. Wilks' son John was on hand to present the award. See the full picture of Freeman Terrell and Wilks. Learn more about the Wilks Award and see past recipients.

Tennessee Attorney General (AG) Jonathan Skrmetti has announced that 55 attorneys general, representing all eligible states and U.S. territories, agreed to sign on to a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family. The Sackler family has also informed the attorneys general of its plan to proceed with the settlement, which would resolve litigation against Purdue and the Sacklers for their role in creating and worsening the opioid crisis across the country. Now that the state sign-on period has concluded, local governments across the country will be asked to join the settlement contingent on bankruptcy court proceedings. Tennessee is expected to receive more than $90 million. Read more in a press release from Skrmetti’s office.

After four years sitting empty and unused, Hamilton County's old downtown jail building may be poised for a new life, the Times Free Press reports. County officials and the River City Co. are accepting bids to evaluate potential ways to reuse or redevelop the facility at 601 Walnut St. in Chattanooga. According to the paper, the building presents some potential challenges because of its heavy-duty construction made for security. Its configuration of concrete, iron and steel make it difficult to adapt, according to a River City Co. spokesperson.

The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a 60-day intent to sue notice on behalf of the national NAACP, claiming xAI has committed violations of the Clean Air Act with its prolonged use of gas turbines at the company's supercomputer facility in Memphis. According to the Commercial Appeal, the lawsuit alleges xAI operated gas turbines without necessary permits, resulting in excessive emissions and lack of pollution control technology, and operated without the best safety protocols or best available control technology. "We cannot afford to normalize this kind of environmental injustice — where billion-dollar companies set up polluting operations in Black neighborhoods without any permits,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson.

Nashville lawyer John L. Farringer IV took office as vice president of the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) last week during the group’s Annual Convention in Franklin. He will advance to the presidency in June 2027. A member of the law firm Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison, Farringer has practiced law for over 20 years, focusing on complex business and commercial litigation. He has been active in the TBA for many years, including serving for six years as a member of the Board of Governors and as associate general counsel with a special focus on issues related to indigent representation. He was a member of the 2011 Leadership Law class and received the 2015 President’s Award for his work as chair of the Medical-Legal Partnership Working Group. Farringer has made access to justice a passion of his career, including serving as chair of the TBA’s Access to Justice Committee from 2014-2015. He received the TBA’s Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Award in 2012 for his work on behalf of Juana Villegas, an undocumented woman who was shackled during and after childbirth. Last week, he also received the TBA President’s Award for his efforts in support of a new indigent representation system for the state. Farringer also served on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission from 2018-2024, and chaired the commission from 2022-2024. Read more about his career in the TBA's press release.

TBA’s new executive officers and new Board of Governors members took office Friday at the Annual Convention in Franklin. Officers for the upcoming bar year are: President Heidi Barcus of Knoxville, President-elect Charlotte Knight Griffin of Eads, Vice President John Farringer of Nashville, Secretary Terica Smith of Jackson and Treasurer Mary Beth Maddox of Knoxville. Nashville lawyer Ed Lanquist Jr., who wrapped up his year in office last week, moved into the immediate past president role. New board members taking office were Assistant Treasurer Karin Anderson, East Tennessee Governor Kelly Street, Middle Tennessee Governors Sean Aiello and Rachel Moses, Fourth District Governor Hank Fincher, YLD President Judge Alex McVeagh, YLD President-elect Jennifer Sneed, Judicial Conference President Chancellor Doug Jenkins, Public Defenders Conference President Robert Taswell "Tas" Gardner, General Counsel Kimberly Silvus, Assistant General Counsel Jennifer Pearson Taylor, Associate General Counsel Matthew Evans, Chief Opportunity Officer Deborah Yeomans-Barton, and Assistant Opportunity Officer Amy Bryant, who assumes this new role in addition to her 5th District Governor position. The District Attorneys General Conference will name its representative to the board this month.

Eads attorney Charlotte Knight Griffin took office as president-elect of the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) last week during the group’s Annual Convention in Franklin. She will advance to the presidency in June 2026. Knight Griffin began her career in private practice in Memphis after earning her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law (now Winston College of Law). She joined Memphis Light, Gas and Water as a staff attorney in 1978 and retired in April 2023 after 45 years of service. Knight Griffin has been active in the TBA for many years, most recently serving as vice president, speaker of the House of Delegates and a member of the Board of Governors. She is a past chair of the Local Government Practice and Litigation sections, a charter fellow of the Young Lawyers Division (YLD), a past executive officer of the YLD and president of the TBA YLD Fellows. Read more about her career in this press release.

Knoxville attorney Heidi Barcus took office as president of the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) during the group’s Annual Convention in Franklin last week. Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Dwight Tarwater administered the oath of office at the annual Lawyers Luncheon. Barcus has been active in the TBA for many years, serving most recently as TBA president-elect, Second District representative on the TBA Board of Governors and as a member of the TBA’s Law Office Technology & Management Section and Tort and Insurance Practice Section. She also has been active in the Knoxville Bar Association and American Bar Association. She handles health care, litigation, product liability and professional liability matters as a shareholder with Lewis Thomason. Read more about her career in this press release.

The federal sentencing hearings for five former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols have been canceled after a judge recused himself last week. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith were expected to be sentenced in federal court this week for their roles in Nichols’ death. According to the Daily Memphian, U.S. District Judge Mark Norris recused himself June 13, and the hearings were officially canceled with a notice filed today. A status conference is scheduled for June 20. U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman is now overseeing the case.

The American Bar Association (ABA) has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government and more than two dozen federal departments and agencies asking a federal court to declare unconstitutional what it called the Trump administration’s "ongoing unlawful policy of intimidation against lawyers and law firms." The group argues these attacks have had a chilling effect across the legal profession “causing harm to the justice system at large and limiting access to representation for individuals and organizations whose positions the administration disfavors.” Read more about the suit in a press release. According to Bloomberg Law, the group is being represented by Susman Godfrey, one of four law firms that sued the administration over an executive order that targeted its work.