Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti yesterday joined six other states in filing a federal antitrust lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), challenging the group's transfer eligibility rule. The rule requires college athletes who transfer between Division I schools to wait one year before competing in games, unless the NCAA waives the rule for a particular athlete. The NCAA began automatically exempting first-time transfers from the regulation in 2021, but has continued to enforce the rule for subsequent transfers and to deny waivers. The lawsuit alleges the rule restrains college athletes’ ability to market their labor and control their education. Read the full press release.

The Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) held its annual meeting today at which Carlos A. Yunsan of the University of Tennessee College of Law was sworn in as president. Executive Director Marsha S. Watson was recognized for her 33-year tenure at the helm of the KBA by the creation of a special lifetime membership for her and the renaming of the KBA’s conference room in her honor. New KBA Executive Director and former TBA President Tasha Blakney will step into the role full-time in mid-January. A press release from the KBA has more information, including new officers for the 2024 bar year and award winners.

The Memphis Law School National Moot Court team of Kelsey McClain, Thomas Fletcher and Derrick Shawver recently won the Region 7 round of the National Moot Court Competition. McClain won the award for Best Oral Advocate in the final round. The team will now advance to the national competition in New York City in January.

Metro Nashville says it will audit its Arts Commission after reports that millions of dollars in operating grants, which should have been distributed to local arts nonprofits, have failed to materialize. The Nashville Banner reports that according to Metro Arts’ own published guidelines, 75 nonprofit organizations with annual revenue ranging from less than $25,000 to upwards of $3 million were slated to receive $3.8 million in grants by Nov. 1. Arts Commission Executive Director Daniel Singh has not publicly given an explanation as to the reason for the delay.

The Nashville Conflict Resolution Center (NCRC) has announced a transition plan as Executive Director Sara Figal plans to retire in mid-2024 after leading the organization for eight years. NCRC provides free and low-cost mediation to individuals and groups throughout greater Nashville and Middle Tennessee. The Nashville Post reports that under Figal’s leadership, NCRC created a remote mediation program that now serves the courts and communities in 15 counties. Read the full press release from the group.

The TBA today announced the selection of 35 attorneys from across the state for its 2024 Leadership Law (TBALL) program. Now in its 21st year, Leadership Law is designed to equip Tennessee lawyers with the vision, knowledge and skills necessary to serve as leaders in their profession and local communities. The class will meet for its first session in January at Henry Horton and spend the next six months learning about leadership in the legal profession, issues in the courts, policymaking in state government and the importance of community service. Read more about the 2024 class.

A new Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report released this month shows calls and tips to the TBI's human trafficking hotline have jumped more than 400% since 2016, reports the Tennessean. TBI's human trafficking team received 1,291 hotline tips in 2023, up from 245 in 2016. The 10-page report provides a snapshot of how the TBI is working to address the issue.

Tennessee’s prison population is growing faster than the majority of states, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Justice, WKRN reports. The report found Tennessee saw almost an 8% increase in incarcerated people, adding 1,740 more individuals into state prisons. The only states with a higher percent increase were Colorado, Mississippi and Montana. Nashville criminal defense attorney David Raybin called the rise “alarming" noting it is likely due to the “Truth in Sentencing” bill enacted in 2022 requiring violent offenders to serve their full sentence.

The Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges today announced its support of efforts to increase the hourly rate of compensation paid to court-appointed attorneys in juvenile court. The Tennessee Supreme Court recently announced its intention to ask the General Assembly for additional funding to increase compensation for court-appointed attorneys in juvenile and criminal cases. Recent news reports from the Tennessean and WSMV have highlighted the challenges courts are facing in finding enough lawyers to take appointed cases. The TBA has long advocated for increased rates and caps for the many court-appointed attorneys who represent the indigent. It remains committed to working with the Supreme Court, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the legislature and Gov. Bill Lee’s administration to create meaningful solutions to this problem.

A Texas judge today ruled that a woman with an alleged non-viable pregnancy can get an abortion, in what her lawyers say is the first such case since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to ban the procedure. Reuters reports that the woman sought a temporary restraining order on Tuesday to prevent Texas from enforcing the state's near-total ban on abortion, saying her continued pregnancy threatened her health and future fertility. Her fetus was diagnosed on Nov. 27 with trisomy 18, a genetic abnormality that usually results in miscarriage, stillbirth or death soon after birth. The state's abortion ban includes a narrow exception to save the mother's life or prevent substantial impairment of a major bodily function.