Over the past week, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined with fellow state attorneys general to urge action at the federal level. Efforts included an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold citizens’ constitutional rights to make laws through their elected officials rather than laws being made through administrative actions; and a letter calling on three federal entities to respond to an inspector general report that tens of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children were released into unsafe situations, including human trafficking operations. Skrmetti’s office also published a reminder of the free IRS-approved tax filing options available for Tennesseans.

Today is International Women’s Day and American Bar Association (ABA) President Mary Smith is honoring the women who make up more than 50% of law firm associates and the majority of U.S. law school students. In a statement released today, she notes that this year’s theme, “Inspire Inclusion,” serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing journey to ensure women’s full and equal participation in every sector, including the legal field. However, Smith says there is work still to be done, citing data that women remain significantly underrepresented in senior leadership positions at U.S. law firms. Read more about the ABA's efforts to advance the status of women and girls at home and abroad. On March 1, Smith issued this statement in support of Women's History Month.

The legal services sector added 2,700 jobs in February, resuming an upward trajectory after dipping slightly in January, Reuters reports. The count includes a range of legal workers, including paralegals and assistants, though the majority are lawyers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the broader economy, job growth accelerated last month, but downward revisions to employment gains in the prior two months and an increase in the unemployment rate to a two-year high of 3.9% suggest that the labor market is slowing.

TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast is back for another week with attorney and TBA lobbyist Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorneys and TBA lobbyists Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin. Special guest TBA Executive Director Sheree Wright also joined the episode to promote TBA’s upcoming Day on the Hill and Big Shrimp Reception on March 20 and talk a little about her background. The group discusses the Administrative Office of the Courts’ (AOC) budget presentation before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which included significant discussion of the reimbursement rate for indigent representation and impromptu testimony by Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw about how the low rate is impacting his courtroom. Lampley says it was the “best conversation on this issue ever … in this public of a setting.” Watch the AOC testimony here beginning at 54:56. The vote to advance the governor’s proposed AOC budget to the Senate Finance Committee happens at 1:32:21.

Also in this week's episode, the group recaps the two school voucher bills moving through the House and Senate and provides an update on three TBA-supported bills: HB2710/SB2254 (conservatorship bill), HB2645/SB2632 (adoption birth certificate bill) and HB2644/SB2633 (adoption clean-up bill). Legislative Updates airs each week on the TBA’s Facebook page. It is also released as a podcast on the same day and can be found on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has announced that Solicitor General Andrée Blumstein will leave the office to return to private practice. She will be succeeded by Matt Rice, current special assistant to the solicitor general. In a news release, Skrmetti said, “It’s nearly impossible to express sufficient gratitude to Solicitor General Blumstein for her extraordinary contributions to the great State of Tennessee.” He noted that Blumstein served in the office for nearly a decade and was the first woman solicitor general for the state. Rice, a Johnson City native, joined the AG’s office in June 2022. He previously worked at the Washington, D.C., firm Williams & Connolly and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He earned his law degree from University of California Berkeley School of Law.

Grant requests from the Knoxville Bar Foundation (KBF) are due tomorrow. Awards will be announced in May. The KBF’s goal is to facilitate and support projects and programs that seek to improve the administration of justice, enhance the public’s understanding of and confidence in the legal system, support access to the legal system, and serve the legal profession. Since 1997, the KBF has awarded approximately $560,000 in grants for local law-related projects. In 2023, the KBF board approved 12 grant requests totaling $25,000.

In a new analysis of data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Tennessean found that for every 100,000 people working in the state in 2022, 89.5 filed formal charges with the EEOC. Only Illinois had a higher rate. An analysis of data from 2021 had found Tennessee had the highest rate of workplace discrimination charges in the nation. For both years, the most common type of complaint was for retaliation.

Tennessee lawmakers have scheduled a joint convention for Monday to vote on Gov. Bill Lee’s nomination of Shelby County Circuit Judge Mary Wagner to fill an upcoming vacancy on the state Supreme Court, the Tennessee Journal reports. Lee chose Wagner on Feb. 1 from a list of three candidates that also included Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Ross Dyer and Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Camille McMullen. Wagner will fill a vacancy that will occur when Justice Roger A. Page retires on Aug. 31. Wagner, 39, is a TBA member and alumna of the association's Leadership Law Program. She earned her law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and was appointed to the circuit court in 2016 by then-Gov. Bill Haslam. She won reelection in 2018 and 2022.

Tennessee-based Baker Donelson has opened its first office in Charlotte, North Carolina, and named a local leader, the Nashville Business Journal reports. The new office, located in the One South tower at 101 S. Tryon St., Ste. 3600, will be led by managing shareholder Fred Wood. He will be joined by Thomas Hooper, Paul Osowski, Evan Sauda, William Starr and Noelle Wooten, all of whom are joining the firm from the Charlotte office of Nelson Mullins. Two other Nelson Mullins attorneys are joining Baker’s Raleigh and Charleston offices. The new office marks the firm's third location in the Carolinas since 2021. In October 2021, Baker Donelson opened its first North Carolina location in Raleigh and added a Charleston, South Carolina, location in September 2022. Since 2016, it also has had a presence in Columbia, South Carolina.

The University of Tennessee College of Law has received a $2 million gift from the Chattanooga law firm of Summers, Rufolo & Rodgers. The funding will support scholarships for students interested in pursuing legal careers in advocacy, as well as the College of Law Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution, the College of Law Legal Clinic and the Douglas A. Blaze Leadership Scholarship. Dean Lonnie T. Brown Jr. said that the firm’s sustained investment in helps ensure the college has the resources needed to prepare future leaders in advocacy. “We are incredibly grateful for this outstanding firm’s generous and continued support. It is making a profound difference in the lives of our students.” Read more in a release.