The Metro Nashville Council on Tuesday approved settlements for property owners who sued the city over an ordinance requiring them to construct a sidewalk or pay a fine, reports the Tennessean. The ordinance was struck down by a federal appeals court in May. The council ruled that to be eligible for a settlement, costs to comply with the ordinance must have been incurred on or after May 10, 2022, one year prior to the ruling. More information and claim forms can be found at the Metro website.

Two Davidson County clerks allegedly have hired relatives for taxpayer-funded jobs without considering other applicants, WSMV4 reports. The news station says Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry gave his daughter a part-time job handling social media and outreach to those needing expungements without advertising the job or collecting applications. When asked about the decision, Gentry said, “The position was there. We didn’t ask for new money. It was an open position.” The station also reports that three relatives of Davidson County Clerk Brenda Wynn received paid internships in her office. Both Gentry and Wynn say they are not violating nepotism rules because they do not directly supervise their relatives. Watch their responses in interviews with the station.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington of the Eastern District of Michigan on Monday dismissed a lawsuit from two conservative groups seeking to halt the Biden administration’s latest plan to cancel student loan debt. Ludington said the groups did not have standing to bring a complaint, and even if they did, their alleged injuries were not sufficient, The Hill reports. The administration announced a plan to provide $39 billion in student debt relief for 804,000 borrowers in July after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a larger effort to forgive $400 billion in loans.

For the fourth time in 2023, a Memphis-area family has retained the legal services of civil rights attorney Ben Crump, a lawyer who routinely represents families of victims who have died in interactions with law enforcement, the Commercial Appeal reports. The family of Courtney Ross, a 19-year-old who died in Memphis police custody on Friday, has retained Crump as an investigation into the teen's death begins. Crump also represents the surviving family members of Tyre Nichols, Jarveon Hudspeth and Gershun Freeman. All three men died in the custody of or during interactions with local law enforcement agencies or the county's corrections department.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) announced today that is awarding $19.8 million to 14 legal services organizations to support the delivery of legal services to low-income people impacted by hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, floods and severe storms that occurred in 2022. Among the recipients is West Tennessee Legal Services (WTLS), which will use $849,009 to provide legal services to those impacted by severe winter weather in 2022, including two storms that were FEMA-declared disasters. WTLS also may use the funds to hire additional staff to educate affected populations on disaster-related issues and strengthen disaster-response networks.The money was made available by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.

The abortion pill mifepristone will remain available to patients but with restrictions, a three judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today. By a vote of 3-0, the panel blocked changes made by the Food and Drug Administration in 2016 to make the drug more accessible, but noted that its decision is subject to a prior U.S. Supreme Court order, which “stayed the district court’s order pending resolution of this appeal.” In addition, it ruled 2-1 to overturn a lower court ruling that suspended overall approval of the drug. Read more from Reuters or read the ruling.

A judicial reform advocacy group filed a misconduct complaint on Tuesday against a Texas federal judge for requiring three attorneys for Southwest Airlines to attend "religious liberty training," reports Reuters. Fix the Court accused U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr of violating the judicial code of conduct by assigning Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group not involved in the case, to carry out attorney sanctions related to a religious bias case brought by a flight attendant against the airline.

The Tullahoma City School District today removed a disciplinary action from the record of a high school student who had been suspended for memes he shared on his personal Instagram account during vacation, reports the Tennessean. The action comes two months after the student filed a lawsuit against the school district and two administrators for First Amendment violations. The district also removed two student handbook policies challenged in the lawsuit. The student’s lawsuit is still pending.

The 20th annual TBA Leadership Law (TBALL) program has launched their annual call for nominations for the 2024 class. Nominees should have from 5 to 15 years of experience in practice. Nominations are due Oct. 2. 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 here or contact Paul Burch for more information.

A Davidson County jury on Friday found a former security guard not guilty of murder in a fatal shooting outside a Nashville restaurant where he was working, reports the Associated Press. Nathan Glass faced an indictment for second-degree murder in the death of Deangelo Knox, who was engaged in a shootout outside the Pharmacy Burger Parlor & Beer Garden. Prosecutors argued that Knox was fleeing assailants who were firing on him. Glass’s attorneys contended he was protecting himself and patrons when Knox turned toward the restaurant holding a gun. A lawsuit filed by Knox’s family against Glass was settled privately. Glass had been admitted to the police academy prior to the shooting. His entry into the program was paused during the investigation. He resigned in 2021.