President Biden has named former federal prosecutor and Chicago lawyer Ed Siskel as the new top White House lawyer, replacing Stuart Delery. Reuters reports Siskel will begin his post next month. Siskel previously served in the White House counsel's office under President Obama, where he helped manage the legal response to Republican congressional investigations into Solyndra and Benghazi, CNN reports. Siskel also served in the Department of Justice as senior counsel to the deputy attorney general and associate deputy attorney general.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy has dropped up to 40 cases because they involved the five police officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ death. Mulroy also has reduced charges in about 10 cases that involved the same officers, the Daily Memphian reports. The DA's office said the decision followed a review of about 100 cases. He cited a “lack of credibility” from the officers. All five officers have pleaded not guilty to a number of criminal charges, including second-degree murder.

Secretary of State Tre Hargett has named Bledsoe County native and Chattanooga resident Christina Temple as the department’s new chief of staff. Temple will serve as a senior adviser to Hargett and handle legislative affairs. Additionally, Temple will play a critical role in strengthening the department’s relationships within state government. Temple served as the New Hampshire state director for the Republication National Committee during the 2022 election cycle. Before that, she worked as coordinator on the delegates and party organization team on former President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign. As a political consultant at Hill City Strategies, Temple has worked on various political campaigns.

U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Julia Smith Gibbons plans to take senior status, Bloomberg Law reports. Gibbons was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush in 2002. She previously had served on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, having been appointed to that court in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan. She was the youngest district judge in the country at the time. Gibbons' decision to take a reduced workload will allow President Joe Biden to appoint a new judge. It will be the fourth opening on the court he has filled.

The Tennessee Bar Foundation has announced important dates for the 2024 IOLTA grant application process. The grant application is now available on the foundation’s website, which also has tips for drafting successful applications. Funding is available for projects that improve the administration of justice or provide legal services. Completed applications must be submitted in hard copy via U.S. mail with a visible postmark dated no later than Sept. 13. IOLTA awards are made possible from the interest earned on lawyers’ pooled trust checking accounts. The foundation predicts that the total grant amount for 2024 will increase significantly over the 2023 total and encourages all organizations, but especially new applicants, to apply.

The ABA’s legal education arm has advanced a proposal that would require all law schools to have written free speech policies as part of the accreditation process, Reuters reports. Schools would develop their own policies but such policies would have to protect the rights of faculty, staff and students to communicate controversial or unpopular ideas; safeguard robust debate or protests; and forbid disruptive activities that hinder free expression or interfere with law school functions. A member of the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar said the proposal was born out of two concerns: legislative efforts to restrict the teaching of certain subjects and controversial speakers not being allowed to express their opinions on campus.

The Commercial Appeal take a deep dive into what it says is an increasing mortality rate at the Shelby County Jail. The paper found that 52 individuals have died in custody since 2016, and that in just the past three years, the mortality rate has gone up sharply compared to the average population. The majority of deaths have been attributed to cardiovascular issues, followed by suicide and then by drug use. One individual was killed by a fellow inmate. The paper also looks at nationwide trends on inmate deaths and the lack of reliable information when deaths occur.

Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp’s office has released surveillance footage of a shooting that killed an alleged offender Aug. 11 at a Speedway in Chattanooga, WDEF reports. City police officers were seeking to serve warrants on several individuals, including Roger Heard Jr., who were suspected of a number of criminal activities. Police located Heard at the gas station and when they attempted to approach his vehicle, Heard shot an officer, wounding him in the arm. Police then killed Heard, a Black man, which lead to calls from community members for a full investigation, AP reports. Police say they later found a large amount of cash, approximately one pound of marijuana and a stolen firearm on Heard, who as a previously convicted felon should not have been in possession of a firearm.

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance voted last week to take no action regarding allegations of questionable contributions to Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk's reelection campaign, News Channel 5 reports. Registry board members credited Funk for quickly working to respond to questions raised by media reports and argued that there was nothing else for them to do since no one filed a sworn complaint alleging violations of campaign finance laws. The station had questioned payments to companies that were not registered with the state and the affidavits of two donors, one who told the station he did not make a donation and another who could not recall making a donation to Funk's campaign.

Five former Memphis Police Department officers facing charges in the death of Tyre Nichols appeared in court last week. Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr. scheduled a Sept. 15 date to consider motions from three officers — Desmond Mills Jr., Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean — requesting separate trials. Mills is the most recent former officer to make this request; Smith and Bean filed their motions in June. The officers are charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and oppression. While some expect a federal criminal case against the officers, pretrial motions and a trial date are yet to be set, pending the judge's ruling on the release of additional documents and video footage related to the case. The Daily Memphian has the story.