A federal judge has ruled that a class action lawsuit against Johnson City and its police force can move forward, Tennessee Lookout reports. The suit alleges police took bribes and looked the other way while a serial rapist assaulted scores of women and at least two children. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough opens the door to not only the initial 10 Jane Doe plaintiffs, but potentially hundreds of Johnson City victims who were sexually assaulted over a more than five-year period — from Jan. 1, 2018, to April 25, 2023 — regardless of the perpetrator or whether assaults were reported.

After almost two decades of working with the Tennessee Bar Association, initially as a contractor and currently as an employee, Technical Systems Administrator Dave Bevis is retiring from the organization. "I have enjoyed working at TBA and wish the organization, and especially the staff, much success going forward," he said. Bevis plans to stay busy building furniture and other items (and keeping all his fingers) as well as working on some technology projects centered around accessibility for people with disabilities. Executive Director Sheree Wright said of his departure, “We are grateful to Dave for all he has done for the TBA, from developing the online CLE system to his patient way of solving our IT problems. We wish him well in this next chapter!” Applications are now being accepted for the position of technical systems administrator. Visit www.tba.org/careers to view the job description and apply.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has set aside a lower court’s decision that would have kept records related to a Shelby County child’s death from being released to the public, reports the Tennessee Lookout. The Department of Children’s Services (DCS) denied Memphis reporter Stacy Jacobson with WREG-TV access to complete case files as she sought to report on what the agency did or not do to protect a 14-year-old boy before he died from starvation in 2020. The public records lawsuit returns to Davidson County Chancery Court.

State Rep. Robert Stevens, R-Smyrna, has requested a campaign finance audit and investigation into Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland and Smyrna Mayor Mary Esther Reed. According to the Daily News Journal, Stevens wrote the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance a Jan. 25 letter pertaining to a $7,500 donation from McFarland on Nov. 23, 2022, to Tennesseans For Greater Accountability, a political action committee (PAC). The PAC then "on the exact same day" donated $7,500 to the campaign account of Reed. The Registry is scheduled to review the audit request on March 26.

A new six-part series titled “Justice USA” from HBO Max will feature former Nashville Public Defender Dawn Deaner as well as stories from Nashville's criminal courts. The series, which begins Thursday, is being promoted as providing a real look at what happens when someone is arrested and subjected to the criminal justice system. The project began more than six years ago when Deaner was public defender. She worked with the producer Marshall Goldberg, who filmed much of the show inside Nashville’s jails and courtrooms. Deaner, who is now with Choosing Justice Initiative, writes in a recent email message that she hopes the series motivates the legal community to “work on creating different systems of justice rooted in restorative practices instead of punishment.” Watch a trailer for the show.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) has launched its inaugural Diversity Law Week with activities planned this week in Chattanooga, Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville. Under the leadership of YLD President Quinton Thompson and Diversity Law Week Co-Chairs Ariel Anthony, Kevin Christopher and Erin Shackelford, the program is set to provide more than 100 students from across the state an invaluable educational journey into the legal profession. This week's programming includes shadowing legal experts, immersive experiences at law school campuses and observations of local court proceedings. Special thanks is extended to the more than 50 volunteer lawyers and judges who are dedicating their time to provide high school students with this unique opportunity and to the venues that are hosting students in each city. Read more about the program and see photos from Chattanooga's first session.

The American Bar Association (ABA) has released a comprehensive set of data on bar passage outcomes for ABA-approved law schools. The new data shows that in the aggregate, 90.40% of 2021 law graduates who sat for a bar exam passed it within two years of graduation. That percentage is down from the 91.85% figure for 2020 graduates. The data also shows that first-time takers in 2023 achieved an aggregate 79.18% pass rate, an increase from the 78.15% pass rate for 2022. Additional data shows aggregate results by ethnicity and gender. The information is available on the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar’s website under “Legal Education Statistics.”

The Lawyers Association for Women (LAW) Marion Griffin Chapter has announced its 2024 award recipients. The Nashville-based group will present its 2024 Martha Craig Daughtrey Award to Davidson County General Sessions Judge Robin Kimbrough Hayes, while Rachel H. Berg will receive the 2024 Rising Star Award. Hayes was elected to the bench in 2022. She previously served as an associate general counsel for the Tennessee Department of Children's Services and legal counsel for the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence. She is a past co-chair of LAW’s Litigation and Legislation Committee and was instrumental in reinstating the group’s Diversity Essay Scholarship Contest. Berg is a staff attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights. She previously was in private practice in New York and Nashville, focusing on class action litigation. She also serves on the LAW Board as treasurer and has been co-chair of the group’s Mentoring/Member Development Committee.

The Tennessee Bar Association and Tennessee’s American Inns of Court are now accepting nominations for the 2024 Judge Pamela L. Reeves Tennessee Professionalism Award. The annual award is presented to a lawyer or judge whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the rule of law and the highest standards of the legal profession in Tennessee. This year's award will be presented to a lawyer or judge residing in the West Grand Division. Nominees must be alive when nominations are submitted but they need not be an active member of an American Inn of Court or the TBA. The award will be presented at the TBA's Annual Convention, which will be held in Memphis June 12-15. The deadline for submitting nominations is April 8. See past recipients of the award.

The Tennessee Journal recaps the outcome of this week’s judicial races in its print publication out today. Races previously not included in TBA Today reporting include a four-way contest for the Republican nomination to fill an unexpired chancellorship in Anderson County. In that race, Daniel Forrester defeated Gov. Bill Lee’s appointee Jamie Brooks, 46% to 31%. Lee named Brooks to the position after Chancellor Nicki Cantrell stepped down. In addition, longtime Knox County Law Director David Buuck turned back a Republican primary challenge from former county party chair Daniel Herrera by a margin of 23 percentage points. The piece also takes an in-depth look at Andrée Blumstein’s tenure are the state solicitor general. Blumstein’s departure was announced on March 4 by the state attorney general.