The Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in Nashville was dedicated Friday afternoon, capping a quarter century effort to replace the aging Estes Kefauver Federal Building. A host of state and local political luminaries were on hand, including former U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and their successors, current Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty. Nashville Mayor John Cooper attended, as did legislative leaders like Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson of Franklin and House Majority Leader William Lamberth. The building features secure underground parking for judges, 11 courtrooms, offices for the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and both U.S. senators. See photos from Tennessee Lookout.

Former state Rep. Jeremy Durham was arrested in Nashville Saturday on charges of DUI, resisting arrest and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia, according to WSMV. Metro Police responded to a reported traffic accident with a possible impaired driver at the intersection of First Ave. N. and Broadway. Durham reportedly refused a field sobriety test and blood test by saying “lawyer.” Durham is a former state representative representing a district in Williamson County. He was expelled from the House in September 2016 after the attorney general released a report accusing him of sexually harassing 22 women at the legislature.

Shelby County General Sessions Court Judge Deborah Means Henderson was recently sworn in as president of the Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference. She is the first African American to serve as president of a Tennessee judicial conference and is the eighth female to lead the general sessions judges. Henderson is also the first judge from Shelby County to serve as president in more than 30 years. She was elected by her peers across the state and was sworn-in at the organization’s September meeting. Henderson, the first person in her family to graduate from college, joined the law office of Peete Higgs & Armstrong after passing the bar. She spent 17 years in private practice, and also served as a special master in Shelby County Chancery Court, a member of the juvenile defender staff in juvenile court and on the Tennessee Board of Accountancy. Henderson was elected to the bench in 2006. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on her story.

Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Gina Higgins this week heard arguments in a lawsuit against the city of Memphis for negligence, stemming from the 2014 discovery of 12,000 untested rape kits, the Daily Memphian reports. Higgins heard from attorneys representing a group of rape victims yesterday who want to certify a class of claimants to make the case a class-action suit. Attorneys for the city filed for summary judgement. The hearings resumed today, where the city argued that testimony from retired Memphis Police Department detective Cody Wilkerson should be excluded because it is “irrelevant” and fails to meet several technical legal grounds. Wilkerson contends that incompetence and indifference led his former colleagues to close hundreds — possibly thousands — of rape cases without proper investigation. Higgins indicated she may rule within two weeks on a variety of motions.

Taylor English Duma LLP has expanded its practice into Nashville with the addition of new partner, Cole Dowsley. Dowsley has more than 15 years of experience representing businesses and individuals in complex commercial disputes. His litigation practice includes representing clients in issues involving breach of contract, partnership disputes, non-compete and non-solicitation violations, theft of trade secrets, business torts, fraud, and real estate or construction disputes. “I look forward to growing the firm’s presence in the Nashville market, with its objective, real-time compensation model, and its commitment to service,” Dowsley said. The new office is located at 424 Church St., Ste. 2000, Nashville 37219. Read the press release.

U.S. Attorney for the Western District Kevin G. Ritz today announced he has appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Smith as the district election officer for the Western District. Smith will oversee the district’s handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff and election fraud. The appointment is in connection with the U.S. Justice Department’s Election Day Program, which seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact for the public to report possible federal election law violations. Read the full press release.

Two attempts to block President Joe Biden’s student-loan forgiveness program faced setbacks yesterday, the ABA Journal reports. The first case, a challenge brought by the Wisconsin-based Brown County Taxpayers Association, was blocked by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who handles emergency requests from Wisconsin. Barrett acted without referring the matter to the full court. The suit had been tossed out earlier by a federal judge who said the taxpayers group did not have standing. In the second case, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey of the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed a challenge filed by six Republican-led states. Autrey also cited a lack of standing in his ruling.

University of Tennessee College of Law Professor Maurice E. Stucke has begun a one-year term working as a senior advisor to the Federal Trade Commission. He is expected to use his expertise to help the largest consumer protection, privacy and antitrust agency set strategic direction, while offering advice to leaders on legal issues concerning law enforcement activities that relate to these legal areas. Stucke is an expert on the subject matter and is the author and co-author of five books and more than 50 scholarly articles on consumer privacy, antitrust and consumer protection. He is the school’s Douglas A. Blaze Distinguished Professor and has more than 25 years of experience handling a range of competition policy issues in both private practice and as a prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice. The law school has more on the story.

Former Belmont University College of Law professor Jeffrey Usman was sworn in as Tennessee’s 95th Court of Appeals judge on Tuesday at the law school. Prior to his confirmation, Usman served as one of the founding faculty members of the school. Gov. Bill Lee and Frank G. Clement Jr., presiding judge of the Tennessee Court of Appeals - Middle Division, made remarks at the ceremony. Belmont law professors Amy Moore and Elizabeth Usman; Dean Alberto Gonzales; and 20th Judicial District General Sessions Judge Marcus Floyd, a former student of Usman’s, also spoke, as did Nashville School of Law Dean and former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice William Koch. Read more from the law school.

The TBA’s 34th Annual Health Law Forum took place in downtown Nashville yesterday and today. It was the first in-person presentation of the program since 2019. Close to 300 attendees heard presentations on regulatory and health care fraud, medicare reimbursement principles, artificial intelligence, the future after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Dobbs case, home health and clinic trials. The program also included a legislative update and an ethics update. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Morgan McDonald, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health. Section Chair Scott Shanker with Bass, Berry & Sims moderated the event, and at a luncheon today, passed the Section Cup to incoming chair Mark Ison with Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison.