The Nashville Arts & Business Council is seeking lawyers to volunteer for its online legal clinic “Ask The Experts.” The pro bono clinic offers free 30-minute sessions for artists, musicians and other creatives to get their legal and business questions answered. Volunteers are asked to sign up for two-hour shifts. The next clinic will take place May 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. CDT. First time volunteers should register here while returning volunteers can sign up here.

The Tennessee Bar Association’s renewal portal for 2022-2023 is open! Renew your membership to continue your access to CLE programming with three pre-paid credits, TBA’s Practice Management Center, free online legal research through Fastcase and timely information through TBA Today, TBA Podcasts and the Tennessee Bar Journal. Also now available is access to the TBA’s Group and Solo Health Insurance Plans. Attorneys not participating in the TBA's firm billing program can login and access renewal information through your MyTBA dashboard.

Three Republican candidates for Rhea County General Sessions Court — incumbent Shannon Garrison, Jace Cochran and David Shinn — met recently for a public debate moderated by Melody Shekari, president of the Chattanooga Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division. The candidates answered questions about their qualifications and the drug problem in the county, Chattanoogan.com reports. Cochran, who currently serve as Graysville municipal judge, and Assistant District Attorney General David Shinn both said they would like to create a drug court. Judge Garrison said he has sent people to rehab but until the person decides they want to stop “resources will be wasted on them.”

Knox County Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin recently presented the Susan D. Kovac Award to three outstanding child welfare attorneys in the county. Christina Kleiser with the Knox County Public Defender's Community Law Office received the 2020 award, John A. Anen received the 2021 award and Knox County Juvenile Court Magistrate Irene B. Joseph received the 2022 award. The awards for 2020 and 2021 were not presented in person in those years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The award ceremony took place as part of an annual fundraiser for the Volunteer Advisory Board, which hosts an appreciation dinner for foster care parents and helps meet the emergency needs of children in foster care.

A federal judge in Louisiana yesterday said he will block the Biden administration from rescinding Title 42, siding with Republican-led states that asked the courts to temporarily retain the pandemic-era border policy. The decision from Judge Robert Summerhays will prevent the president from ending Title 42 on May 23 as planned. Title 42 has been used more than 1.5 million times by the administration to rapidly expel migrants without letting them seek asylum. The Hill reports that the judge has not yet issued the order so the parties can “confer regarding the specific terms to be contained in the [order] and attempt to reach agreement.”

During nearly two hours of oral arguments, U.S. Supreme Court justices considered whether to let President Joe Biden rescind the "remain in Mexico" immigration policy begun under his predecessor. The policy forced tens of thousands of migrants to stay in Mexico while awaiting U.S. hearings on their asylum claims. Some of the conservative justices questioned the extent of the administration's discretion to release migrants into the United States, but also questioned whether Texas, one of the states that sued to maintain the program, could use the courts to constrain the government in an area over which there typically is broad federal authority. Reuters reports on the proceedings.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee “quietly signed” legislation on Friday that imposes penalties on public schools that allow transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports, the Associated Press reports. Last year, the governor signed a measure mandating that student athletes must prove their sex matches what is listed on their “original” birth certificate. This year’s bill adds penalties to that ban, which already has been challenged in the courts. Under the new law, the Tennessee Department of Education would withhold a portion of state funds from local school districts that fail to determine a student’s gender for participation in middle or high school sports. The measure does not specify exactly how much money should be withheld by the state. The law will go into effect July 1.

Bradley County attorney Rex Wagner has announced his candidacy for the Tennessee House of Representatives in District 24. He is running in the Republican primary. A 1993 graduate of the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, Wagner spent more than 25 years as a sole practitioner in Bradley County. He is also a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Cleveland State Community College, according to an announcement today.

JustCity and the Justice & Safety Alliance are co-hosting a Shelby County DA Candidate Forum on Thursday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. CDT. The event will take place at the Christ Missionary Baptist Church, 480 S. Parkway East, Memphis 38106. Organizers say they are hosting the forum to give the community one last opportunity to hear from district attorney candidates before election day on May 3. Each declared candidate from both political parties has been invited to the event. Those who would like to attend are asked to register in advance.

Former public defender and congressional candidate Keeda Haynes won’t be running for the state Senate after all, the Nashville Post reports. Haynes withdrew from the open District 19 race yesterday and did not respond to a request for comment. She had joined the race earlier this month when Sen. Brenda Gilmore, D-Nashville, announced her retirement and tapped Haynes as her chosen successor. That move triggered an extension in the filing deadline due to the state’s anti-skullduggery law. Since then, two more Democrats have entered the race: Charlane Oliver and Jerry Maynard.