The University of Tennessee annually recognizes 40 alumni under the age of 40 who have excelled personally and professionally since completing their degree at the school. The list of 2022 class members was recently announced. Three graduates of the College of Law were included. They are: Chris Davis (class of 2019), Brittany Faith (class of 2012) and Kyle Hixson (class of 2008). See the full list.

The Nashville law office of New York-based Barton LLP has named Leslie Goff Sanders as its new managing partner. She joins the firm from Jackson Lewis and will work in labor and employment law. Barton also hired Daniel Crowell as a partner and Stephen Stovall as an associate — both from Jackson Lewis — doubling the firm’s presence in Nashville. “This is a huge opportunity for us,” Sanders said in a release. “The Nashville law firm landscape is rapidly changing ... We are excited to have found the Barton platform, which is known for providing a high-quality alternative to Big Law.” The Nashville Post has more.

Taylor Swift fans are fighting back against Ticketmaster after last month's ticketing debacle, WTVF reports. The suit, filed last week in California by 26 fans, alleges the company engaged in fraud, price fixing and antitrust violations. Some fans say they waited eight hours and still were unable to buy tickets, blaming Ticketmaster for allowing scalpers and bots access to the presale portal before them. The complaint seeks a civil fine of $2,500 per violation and attorneys’ fees. State and federal officials also have responded. The Tennessee attorney general previously announced an investigation into the matter while U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn has asked the FTC to combat the use of bots.

Four additional schools have announced they will boycott the U.S. News & World Report rankings, bringing the total number of schools to 14. Those most recently joining the group are University of California Davis School of Law, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and University of Washington School of Law. Four schools have publicly said they will stick with the review, according to Reuters. They are Cornell University Law School, University of Chicago Law School, University of Georgia School of Law and Washington University School in St. Louis School of Law.

Retired Davidson County Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle has joined JAMS, the largest private provider of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services worldwide, as an arbitrator, mediator and neutral evaluator. Lyle is based in Nashville but is available to conduct sessions virtually for attorneys across the country. Lyle served for 27 years as a chancery court judge and first judge of the Business Court Docket Pilot Project for complex commercial/business litigation. Prior to joining the court, she was a partner at the Nashville law firm Trabue, Sturdivant & DeWitt, and an associate at Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston.

The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office announced a new round of hires last week, with six new assistant district attorneys, a director of communications and the first-ever grants coordinator, the Daily Memphian reports. New assistant district attorneys are Constance Brown, Errol Harmon, Nigel Lewis, Karin Morris, Sanjeev Memula and William Walsh. Erica Williams will serve as the director of communications. She was formerly chief of staff and communications at Frayser Community Schools. Nelia Dempsey will serve in the newly created position of grants coordinator. Commenting on the hires, District Attorney General Steve Mulroy said he is bringing in people who share his vision of criminal justice reform and making good on his campaign promise of increasing diversity in the office.

Rutherford County is suing its insurance provider for refusing to cover the costs of a large class action settlement over unlawful policies for arresting and detaining children, Nashville Public Radio reports. A denial letter from insurer Lloyd’s of London indicates it believes the county knew of the problems prior to coverage and “concealed or misrepresented material facts.” The county now is suing on three counts, including breach of contract. It also is asking to be made whole for its costs, including more than $5 million it paid out, attorney’s fees, damages, interest and a 25% penalty fee. The county was sued over its juvenile court polices, which led to more than a thousand children being illegally arrested and jailed. The case was settled in 2021.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and 20 other Republican governors are calling on congressional leaders to remove the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for U.S. military members, News Channel 9 reports. The letter argues that the mandate is hurting military retention and recruitment: current service members are leaving and new recruits are not signing up. Lee called the situation a “threat to national security.” Read the letter.

Despite the Hamilton County Commission’s efforts to halt county Mayor Weston Wamp from ousting longtime county attorney Rheubin Taylor, Wamp is vigorously pressing on with those plans, Chattanoogan.com reports. Wamp responded to legal action brought by Taylor by asserting his “clear authority and obligation under state law to appoint all department heads.” He also detailed “extensive evidence” justifying the termination of Taylor for cause, asked Chancellor Jeffery Atherton to recuse himself from the case, and asked the court to order a permanent injunction blocking Taylor from acting as county attorney. On the last point, Wamp’s office says it is not seeking an injunction at this time, but included it if needed "at a later date." A few weeks ago, Wamp told the county commission he was compliant with all of its resolutions regarding Taylor, who is challenging his firing on the basis that he has a contract through June 30, 2025.

Many federal appellate court judges say they struggle to hire Black and Hispanic law clerks even though they aspire to bring on a more diverse cohort, according to a new study. At the time of the study, Black judges made up less than one-eighth of active appellate court judges, yet they hired more than half of the Black clerks in federal appellate courts annually. Federal clerkships are a gateway to well-paid legal jobs and sought-after positions in government and academia. Read more about the study from Reuters.