The Johnson City/Washington County Family Justice Center is commemorating April’s designation as Sexual Assault Awareness Month by holding a new clothing drive for female and male victims. Melanie Jaynes, the center’s victim services coordinator, tells the Johnson City Press that the clothing will be given to victims of sexual assault to wear after hospital examinations, as their own clothing is often collected as evidence. Donation barrels are available at city hall, Burn Boot Camp, First Horizon Bank and Johnson City Medical Center. Businesses interested in hosting a collection barrel should call the Family Justice Center at 423-722-3720.

Shannon Wagner has been named the new executive director of the Nashville Conflict Resolution Center. She replaced Sara Figal, who retired, on April 1. Wagner has been the center’s assistant director for the last year, with a focus on finance and programming. She previously worked on development at other nonprofits including Renewal House, the Nashville Public Library Foundation and the Martha O’Bryan Center. Wagner holds two bachelor’s degrees, a certificate in nonprofit management and leadership, and a master’s degree in conflict management. The Nashville Post reports on the move.

Early data from the February bar exam suggests that pass rates will increase and the attorney licensing test has stabilized after several years of volatility attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the national average score on the Multistate Bar Exam — the 200 multiple-choice question portion of the exam — ticked up 0.7 of a point to 131.8. That increase comes after two years of declines in the average score. In addition, the number of February examinees across the country was the highest in five years, at 19,496. Read more projections about this year’s data from Reuters.

The TBA has hired Lanny Brown as its next assistant executive director. Brown, who joined the TBA on April 8, is a 20-year veteran of the non-profit sector with more than 15 years of management experience. He most recently served as vice president of the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee and previously as curator of the Nashville Zoo. With a diverse background in all aspects of operations, Brown has extensive experience in organizational efficiency and utilizing available resources and technology to add value to the member experience. Brown also enjoys playing an active volunteer role in the community, specifically helping small fledgling non-profits navigate the early stages of founding and launch. An Arizona native, Brown and his family moved to Nashville in 2012. He replaces longtime Assistant Executive Director Barry Kolar, who retired at the end of 2023.

The Tennessee Bar Association’s online renewal for 2024-2025 is now open! Renew your membership to continue your access to TBA Today, the Tennessee Bar Journal, three free hours of CLE, the TBA’s Practice Management Center and free legal research through Fastcase, as well as savings on a range of products and services. Be sure to check out TBA's Preventing Legal Malpractice providers and new pet insurance program, and watch for more information this fall about TBA’s Group Health Insurance enrollment. Attorneys not participating in the TBA's firm billing program can log in and renew through their MyTBA dashboard. The TBA membership team will be working with firm administrators for those participating in firm billing.

Deans from 26 law schools, including three from Tennessee, are asking the American Bar Association (ABA) to pull back on a proposal to accredit fully online law schools, saying more employment and bar pass data for graduates of online and hybrid programs is needed before making the change. The public comment period on the proposal opened Jan. 23 and ended March 25. The deans of the University of Memphis School of Law and Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law signed on to the group letter, Reuters reports. Alberto Gonzales, dean of Belmont University College of Law and former U.S attorney general under President George W. Bush wrote in a separate comment that, “Despite offering a lesser educational experience, online schools would be able to out-compete traditional law schools on cost, convenience and scale.”

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (LAS) has received a grant totaling $684,475 over three years from the U.S. Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) under its Legal Aid for Victims program. The grant will be used to fund the Survivors Immigrant Legal Project, which provides legal assistance to immigrant victims of domestic and/or sexual violence across the 48 counties in Middle Tennessee served by LAS. In addition to continuing its direct work with clients, LAS will produce two client-centered educational brochures that will be available in Spanish, Arabic, Burmese, Kurdish, Nepali, Somali, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese and Lao. Read more in a release from the organization.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd has resigned her position effective immediately, rather than wait until May 31, as she previously planned. According to the Daily Memphian, the resignation will stop a planned vote by the state legislature on Thursday to remove her from the bench. Boyd was recommended for removal in January by the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct, which oversees disciplinary proceedings for judges in the state. A joint committee of state legislators voted unanimously March 14 in favor of that recommendation. Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, who co-chaired the committee, told the news outlet Monday that if Boyd were to resign effective immediately, it would be accepted and there would be no need for a vote.

Coffee County Mayor Judd Matheny was found dead at his Tullahoma home Tuesday morning. He was 53 years old. WKRN reports that no cause of death was released and the investigation has since been handed over to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). Matheny had been mayor of Coffee County since September 2022. He served in the state House of Representatives from 2002 to 2018, representing Coffee and parts of Warren counties.

Russ McKamey, owner of Summertown attraction McKamey Manor, on Friday filed a lawsuit against Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and the State Fire Marshall Carter Lawrence. The Tennessean reports that McKamey is seeking a court order to ensure he will not have to testify in a state investigation he considers politically motivated. In late 2023, a Hulu documentary prompted Skrmetti's office to open an investigation into McKamey Manor's business practices. The lawsuit stems from that investigation, arguing that providing testimony is not necessary for Skrmetti’s office to conduct its probe. The suit also argues that information obtained under oath could lead to discovery of evidence that could be used to prosecute McKamey.