The 2023 edition of the “Black Guide to Law School” is out but with a big change, Above the Law reports. The annual publication from Lawyers of Color typically provides a single, comprehensive ranking of schools designed to help Black prospective law students choose a school. This year, the group abandoned the ranking, instead publishing information from law school reports filed with the ABA. “We are marking this as the end of the rankings era,” the publication explains. Instead, the group reports on “data that is objective and verifiable” and leaves the significance up to students to decide. Read the full report.

A push by local and state leaders to reform the bail system in Memphis may take longer than expected, WREG News 3 reports. At a news conference last week, a county commissioner and state senator spoke about the need to fix the system to curb crime. “We as a community have had our patience tested, and it’s come back negative,” state Senator Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, said. “We are completely at our wits’ end when it comes to crime.” Commissioner Mick Wright said the group is waiting on information from the court to establish a baseline as to the number of people arrested and bail amounts for the last six months. A resolution passed by the city commission last August directed the collection of that data. But that has not happened. Wright said the courts claim they did not know they were supposed to be tracking the information.

Franklin-based financial advisor Dave Ramsey and his company Ramsey Solutions are being sued for $150 million for negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and violation of consumer protection laws, the Tennessean reports. Seventeen plaintiffs say they lost thousands of dollars based on Ramsey's advice and endorsement of the Timeshare Exit Team as a company that would get people out of their timeshare agreements. However, he did not disclose that he received over $30 million for the endorsements as well as a portion of the fees paid to Timeshare Exit Team by people he referred to the service.

Legal sector jobs increased by 700 in May, totaling just over 1.1 million, despite layoffs at some of the country’s highest-grossing law firms. Reuters reports that overall U.S. job growth accelerated in May, but a jump in the unemployment rate to a seven-month high of 3.7% suggested that labor market conditions are easing.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced yesterday that he is joining 17 other states suing the Biden administration over a new rule to regulate immigration following the expiration of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Title 42 public health order. Also this week, the AG's office said that it has joined 21 other state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in support of two Florida parents appealing a federal court’s decision to dismiss their lawsuit against Leon County Schools. The lawsuit claimed that the school spoke to the child about gender identity without the parents’ consent.

Nashville law firm Sherrard Roe Voigt Harbison is representing the state in a lawsuit filed by Brian Manookian, who wants access to records in the sexual harassment case of former Rep. Scotty Campbell. The Tennessee Lookout reports that Manookian filed a challenge in Davidson County Chancery Court concerning the Office of Legislative Administration’s refusal to open records in the case, in which Campbell was found to have sexually harassed a 19-year-old intern who worked at the General Assembly. A hearing is set for June 30.

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Memphis $1 million to support community-wide cleanup programs targeting contaminated commercial sites — “brownfields” — for redevelopment inside the city’s limits. The Daily Memphian reports that the grant will be administered by the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) for Memphis and Shelby County. The EPA defines a brownfield as a property where the expansion, redevelopment or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. 

The Department of the Interior yesterday announced that nearly $725 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is available to Tennessee and 21 other states to reclaim abandoned coal mine lands. The money will help communities clean up dangerous environmental conditions and pollution caused by past coal mining. WATE in Knoxville reports that Tennessee is eligible for just over $8.5 million, and that at least 5,050 acres of abandoned mine land has already been reclaimed as a part of the Tennessee Land Reclamation Section that was started in 1981.

According to documents obtained through an open records request, Gov. Bill Lee’s administration accused the National Rifle Association of wanting to use involuntary commitment laws “to round up mentally ill people and deprive them of other liberties.” The memos were drafted in April as part of the administration’s attempt to pass legislation following the Covenant School shooting in late March. The Associated Press reports that the documents promote Lee’s proposal as “more targeted and more limited” than what the NRA currently supports.

The budget committee of the Sumner County Commission voted last week to eliminate the county’s human resources department, a move which would save the county approximately $100,000 annually. The Tennessee Lookout reports that HR Director Cheryl Lewis-Smith told the committee that she was concerned about the welfare of Sumner County employees and the potential liability risks to the county if the HR department is dissolved. The vote must be approved by the full commission.