The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently filed a lawsuit against Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga alleging that it violated the Stark Law, a federal anti-kickback statute that also prevents giving favored treatment to physicians. Two former Erlanger executives, Chief Compliance Officer Alana Sullivan and Chief Financial Officer Britt Tabor, filed a whistleblower lawsuit in April 2021, which was unsealed earlier this year, accusing Erlanger of filing false insurance claims using the illegal self-referral process to government payers, including Medicare and Medicaid. News Channel 9 has the story.

Stephen Ross Johnson, a criminal defense trial and appellate attorney with Ritchie, Davies, Johnson & Stovall in Knoxville, was sworn in as second vice president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the group's annual meeting held Saturday in Seattle. Johnson is a past president of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, past chair of the TBA's Criminal Justice Section and former associate general counsel for the TBA. He also served on the board of the Knoxville Bar Association. Johnson is the founding past president of the Tennessee Innocence Project, and was involved in the drafting process and policy advocacy resulting in the passage of Tennessee’s Post-Conviction DNA Analysis Act of 2001 and Post-Conviction Fingerprint Analysis Act of 2021. Read more a press release from the NACDL.

A three judge panel on Monday ruled that a new law, which would cut Nashville's Metro Council in half, is unconstitutional. Axios Nashville reports that a majority of the judges agreed with the city's argument that the law violated a provision of the Tennessee Constitution that protects local governments from laws that single them out. In a statement following the court win, Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell highlighted a 2015 vote in which voters rejected a proposal to reduce the size of the council. The city sued over the law in March 2023 while another group sued soon thereafter. A temporary injunction on implementation of the cut was approved in April 2023.

Good Times Restaurants Inc., which owns Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar in Murfreesboro, has reached an agreement to resolve allegations that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Good Times is alleged to have denied service to a group of children who use wheelchairs and their parents who were in Murfreesboro to attend a youth wheelchair basketball tournament. Staff of Bad Daddy's reportedly refused to seat the group, claiming they were a fire hazard. As part of the settlement, Good Times has agreed to pay eight families a sum of $34,000 each, and a civil penalty of $80,000, for a total settlement payment of $352,000. In addition to monetary relief, Good Times agreed to adopt new ADA compliance measures, including new policies and compliance training for its employees. Read more in a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday asked a federal appeals court to uphold a law requiring Chinese-based ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. operations by Jan. 19, 2025, or face a ban. The DOJ argues TikTok's Chinese ownership threatens national security due to potential data access and manipulation by China. TikTok denies these claims, stating repeatedly that "it would ever share U.S. user data with China or that it manipulates video results." The law, signed in April by President Joe Biden, aims to prevent Chinese influence on U.S. platforms. The court will hear arguments in September, impacting TikTok's future amid ongoing security concerns. Reuters has the story.

The American Bar Association (ABA) released its first ethics guidance on lawyers using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Formal Opinion 512 emphasizes that lawyers must prioritize existing ethical rules like client competency, confidentiality, communication and reasonable fees even when using AI. Lawyers must understand the limitations and benefits of AI tools, protecting client information, keeping clients informed and charging fairly for the time spent using AI alongside a lawyer's own expertise. Last year, the TBA formed an AI Task Force to educate lawyers about the benefits and risks of using AI in legal practice and to provide guidance on its proper use.

The TBA has added two new staff members in recent weeks. Jen Robinson is the new technical systems administrator. She holds a bachelor's degree in education from Western Kentucky University and several IT certifications, including ITIL 4 and Google IT Professional Support. She also has an extensive background in customer service. Prior to joining TBA, Robinson was a systems administrator at Integrated Management Strategies in Vienna, Virginia. In addition, Azya Thornton has joined the staff as the new communications coordinator. She handles TBA’s social media and podcasts and helps produce the TBA Today daily e-newsletter. Prior to joining TBA, Thornton handled communications at an environmental nonprofit managing web content, social media and membership communications. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Connecticut. Access contact information for each of them on the TBA staff webpage.

Vanderbilt Law Professor Michael Newton has been appointed as a member of the American Bar Association's (ABA) Center for Human Rights (CHR) Advisory Council for a one-year term. The CHR is charged with defending advocates, protecting communities and holding governments accountable under law. It focuses on a global scale in areas such as atrocity crimes, dignity rights, human trafficking and labor rights. Newton is an expert on terrorism, accountability, transnational justice and conduct of hostilities issues.

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett recently sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty with concerns about “unnecessary burdens placed on businesses owned and operated by our fellow Tennesseans,” reports the Upper Cumberland Business Journal. The letter acts as an official request to repeal a “requirement under the Corporate Transparency Act” that Hargett says burdens small business operating in both the country and state by forcing them to report information on the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The requirement, which was set up as a counterterrorism and anti-illicit finance effort, focuses on businesses with 25 or fewer employees while exempting certain publicly traded companies, non profits and some large companies.

Sean Williams, the Johnson City man who is accused of multiple of sexual assaults, was convicted of escaping federal custody by a federal jury today. The evidence presented at trial highlighted the multi-state manhunt that led to the capture of Williams in Pinellas County, Florida, on Nov. 21, 2023, after he escaped from a transport van en route to the Greeneville Federal Courthouse on Oct. 18, 2023. Sentencing is set for Nov. 18 in Greeneville. Williams faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Read more in a press release from the federal prosecutor.