The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday allowed a state law that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth — including treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy — to remain in effect while a legal challenge continues. WPLN reports that the court cited the recent Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, which ended the federal right to abortion, arguing that the law does not discriminate on the basis of sex. The decision reversed a lower court ruling, which had imposed a temporary partial injunction. The ACLU of Tennessee and Lambda Legal, which challenged the law, said in a statement that “Denying transgender youth equality before the law and needlessly withholding the necessary medical care their families and their doctors know is right for them has caused and will continue to cause serious harm.” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti praised the ruling. Read his statement here.

Attorneys from Nashville’s Sister City of Caen, France, visited the state capital today. Members of the Bar of Caen went to the Tennessee Supreme Court with several local attorneys, including past TBA presidents Sherie Edwards and Gail Vaughn Ashworth. The group heard from Justice Roger Page and Court of Appeals Judge Andy Bennett. They also toured the court and museum. See photos from the event.

The Nashville School of Law will host a reception to welcome the newest member of the Tennessee Supreme Court, Justice Dwight E. Tarwater on Oct. 5 from 4:30-6 p.m. CDT at 4013 Armory Oaks Dr., Nashville 37204. The event is sponsored by the Tennessee Bar Association, the Lawyers' Association for Women, the Nashville Bar Association and Nashville School of Law. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served. RSVP at this link.

Don't forget, nominations are due Monday for the 21st annual TBA Leadership Law (TBALL) program for 2024. Nominees should have from five to 15 years of experience in practice. Last year, 33 lawyers from across the state were accepted into the program. TBALL programming will kick off in January 2024 with an opening retreat at Henry Horton State Park and end in June with class commencement during the TBA Annual Convention in Memphis. Read more about the program or contact program coordinator Paul Burch for more information.

Gov. Bill Lee announced three judicial appointments for newly created state courts, appointing Shawn Fry to the 13th Judicial District Criminal Court, Ashleigh Travis to the 19th Judicial District Circuit Court and Julie Heffington to the 22nd Judicial District Circuit Court. Fry currently serves as an attorney at Fry, Fry, Knight & Looper. The 13th Judicial District includes Clay, Cumberland, Dekalb, Overton, Pickett, Putnam and White counties. Travis currently serves as a magistrate judge in the 19th Judicial District, which covers Montgomery and Robertson counties. Heffington currently serves as an attorney at Middle Tennessee Law Group. The 22nd Judicial District includes Giles, Lawrence, Maury and Wayne counties. Read the full announcement from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

FEMA announced the availability of federal disaster assistance to Tennessee to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes on Aug. 7. The action makes public assistance federal funding available to affected state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities in Bledsoe, Coffee, Cumberland, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Meigs, Rhea, Roane and Van Buren counties. Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide. Yolanda J. Jackson has been named the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected areas. Additional designations may be made at a later date if warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

Michigan has become the first state to require judges to refer to attorneys by their preferred pronouns, reports Reuters. The Michigan Supreme Court approved 5-2 yesterday a rule that allows attorneys to include their preferred forms of address or pronouns in the captions of court documents and requires judges to use those terms “or other respectful means” when referring to those attorneys either in court or in documents. The rule goes into effect Jan. 1, 2024. Justice Kyra Bolden wrote in her concurrence that the new rule sends a message that Michigan courts are welcoming and inclusive.

Yelp Inc., the online business review site, filed a complaint yesterday in federal court seeking to stop Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from suing the site over informing its users that crisis pregnancy centers do not provide abortions or referrals for abortions, reports Reuters. Paxton told the company last week that he intended to bring a lawsuit under Texas's unfair business practices law. The company said in the complaint that it posted the notices to prevent users from being misled by crisis pregnancy centers that deliberately targeted women seeking abortions. Yelp said in its filing that its notices are true, not misleading and are protected free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. 

Former Chancery Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle along with attorneys D. Billye Sanders and Byron Trauger have been named as recipients of the 31st Annual Sage Awards. The awards will be presented Oct. 30 at the Sage Awards Ceremony & Fundraiser at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs, 700 Cool Springs Blvd., Franklin 37067. The event is sponsored by AgeWell Middle Tennessee, a nonprofit resource for older adults and family caregivers. The Sage Awards honor lifelong leaders who improve our communities and organizations that significantly impact the lives of older adults across the region.

The White House announced Monday that a potential government shutdown starting Oct. 1 would likely cut off food assistance for seven million women and children, including 133,284 recipients in Tennessee, the Tennessean reports. Publicly funded agencies would close and four million federal employees would not be paid. In addition, a variety of veteran benefit services would be unavailable. If a shutdown occurs, active service members will remain at their posts but nearly half of the nation’s civilian workforce will be furloughed. Active-duty troops would not receive paychecks during their furlough, but would be repaid once the government reopens. Tennessee has over 2,348 active-duty military personnel.