The Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition wrapped up Saturday night with Montgomery Bell Academy of Nashville prevailing over Agathos Classical School of Columbia to become the 2022 state champion. New Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sarah Campbell presided over the round while members of the YLD Executive Committee and TBA Board of Governors — including President Sherie Edwards and President-elect Tasha Blakney — served as jurors. At an awards ceremony earlier in the day, Unicoi County High School received the competition’s Sportsmanship Award, the top eight teams were announced, and the top advocates and witnesses were recognized with individual awards. MBA will now represent Tennessee at the National High School Mock Trial Competition, which will be held virtually on May 5-7. The team is coached by attorneys Wade Cowan — who has coached mock trial teams for 38 years — and Tracy Hancock.

The Davidson County Election Commission suffered another legal defeat in its dispute with the city over a proposed charter referendum, the Nashville Post reports. A Nashville judge had earlier agreed with the city's argument that the proposal was not proper under the metro statutes. The commission's Republican majority appealed and now an appeals court also has found in favor of the city. The paper reports that the commission has spent more than $700,000 on the legal battle to put a referendum on the ballot that would roll back the city’s 2020 property tax increase and require voter approval of future increases.

A new Memphis Suffrage Monument, "Equality Trail Blazers,” was dedicated Saturday, the Commercial Appeal reports. Nashville sculptor Alan LeQuire created the monument to honor a number of individuals instrumental in the woman suffrage movement. Six are recognized with busts while seven are honored with etched portraits and narratives in glass. Among those included is journalist and anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells, Mary Church Terrell, Marion Griffin, Rep. Joe Hanover, Charl Ormond Williams and Lois DeBerry, the second Black woman elected to the state legislature and the first to be named speaker pro-tempore. The monument sits on the promenade behind the University of Memphis School of Law, facing the Mississippi River. The city also this week renamed a section of Fourth Street in the downtown in honor of Ida B. Wells. The Commercial Appeal has more on that story.

In honor of Women’s History Month, the TBA has again rallied its past, current and future female presidents for a one-hour conversation on their experiences, influences and the impact women have made on the legal profession. The virtual panel will take place this Wednesday from 3 to 4 p.m. CDT. Attorney Julie Bhattacharya Peak will moderate the panel, which will include former TBA presidents Cindy Wyrick, Jackie Dixon, Marcy Eason, Sarah Sheppeard and Michelle Greenway Sellers, as well as current TBA President Sherie Edwards and President-elect Tasha Blakney. RSVP for the event and submit questions for the panelists here.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will hold a clinic on Wednesday specifically for veterans. The clinic will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT at Operation Stand Down, 1125 12th Ave. S. Nashville 37203. Masks are required. To volunteer contact Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131.

The TBA’s 2022 Court Square series is now coming to two more cities: Kingsport on May 26 and Jackson on June 7. Each three-hour program is designed to provide attorneys with the latest developments in multiple areas of the law and to focus on the legal communities, needs and interests of each city. Each session will begin with lunch, a networking opportunity with TBA leadership and a wellness discussion with the TBA Attorney Well Being Committee. An ethics update also will be included. Check out all of this year’s locations.

The 2022 Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition kicked off today in Nashville. Hosted by the TBA’s Young Lawyers Division, 14 teams from across the state will compete for the title of champion. This year’s qualifying teams are Unicoi County High School, Farragut High School, Knoxville Catholic High School, two teams from Girls Prepatory School, Signal Mountain High School, Warren County High School, Clarksville High School, two teams from Montgomery Bell Academy, two teams from Agathos Classical School, Memphis University School and St. Mary’s Episcopal School. The final round will take place tomorrow afternoon, with new Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sarah Campbell presiding. Winners of the competition will qualify for the National High School Mock Trial Championship.

Legal tech company Clio announced this week it is offering three months of free legal practice management software to legal professionals, firms, non-profits and legal clinics financially impacted or displaced by the conflict in Ukraine, as well as lawyers offering pro bono assistance to Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers. You do not need to be a Clio customer to take advantage of this offer. If you are a legal professional who could benefit from this offer please complete the Assistance Application. If you have any issues accessing or completing the form, please contact affinity.partners@clio.com.

Washington and Lee University School of Law has named Melanie D. Wilson as its next dean. She will also hold the Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Professorship in Law. Wilson served as dean of the University of Tennessee College of Law for five years, stepping down in 2020 to return to teaching. She is currently UT Law’s dean emerita and Lindsay Young Distinguished Professor. Before entering academia, she clerked for a federal district court judge and practiced for 13 years in both the private and public sectors, including six years as an assistant United States attorney and four years as an assistant attorney general for the state of Georgia. She later joined the faculty of the University of Kansas School of Law where she went on to serve as professor of law, associate dean for academic affairs, and director of diversity and inclusion. “I am deeply honored and excited to join the Washington and Lee University community at a time of great promise,” Wilson said. Read more from Washington and Lee.

A circuit court in Benton County this week ruled that a state statute authorizing warrantless trespassing and surveillance by Tennessee game wardens is ‘unconstitutional,’ the Associated Press reports. The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit brought by two Benton County landowners, represented by the Institute for Justice, against the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). According to the Tennessee Lookout, the landowners filed suit after the TWRA in 2018 installed surveillance cameras on their private property. The suit challenged the constitutionality of a state statute that says TWRA officers may “go upon any property, outside of buildings, posted or otherwise.” Institute for Justice attorney Josh Windham says the new ruling will apply broadly to land across the state. The state has 30 days to appeal the ruling.