Memphis lawyer Lucian T. Pera is the 2022 recipient of the Michael Franck Professional Responsibility Award, one of the top ethics honors of the American Bar Association. The award honors an individual whose contributions in the professional responsibility field reflect the highest level of dedication to legal professionalism. Pera, a former Tennessee Bar Association president and partner at Adams and Reese, is recognized nationally for his work on ethics in the legal profession as well as media law and transparency issues in government, particularly in Tennessee where he also served as president of the Tennessee Open Government Coalition. He has written extensively about ethics and lawyer regulation nationally and for the ABA, including an ethics column for Law Practice, a magazine of the ABA Law Practice Division. Read more from the ABA Journal. 

Brentwood attorney A.J. Bahou today announced he will run for State House District 63 in the Republican primary. Bahou, an intellectual property patent attorney, served as chair of the Tennessee Young Republicans from 1997-1999, and was active in the organization for over seven years. He has also been active in Leadership Brentwood, Brentwood Rotary, the Nolensville Lions Club and the Williamson County Chamber of Commerce. He currently serves on the board and executive committee of LaunchTN, a statewide incubator for small business startups in Tennessee. Learn more about his campaign in this press release or online at https://voteajbahou.com.

The TBA’s 26th Annual Labor and Employment Law Forum will take place in person in Nashville on May 6. The all-day program will run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will provide in-depth, timely, specialized and practical information on a range of labor and employment law topics. Program participants include John Bode with Miller & Martin in Chattanooga; Heather Collins with Collins & Hunter in Brentwood; Casey Duhart with Acadia Healthcare in Franklin; Jason Ensley with Ensley, Baker & Shade in Johnson City; Stanley Graham with Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis in Nashville; and Chris McCarty with Lewis Thomason in Knoxville.

The Knox County Juvenile Court Assistance Board will hold its annual Basket Auction & Spring Lunch on April 8 beginning at 11:30 a.m. The event will include a lunch, silent and live auction, and presentation of the Susan D. Kovac Award to Knox County’s most outstanding child welfare attorney. Proceeds will benefit the Volunteer Advisory Board, the Annual Foster Care Appreciation Dinner for foster care parents, and foster care children with emergency needs. The event will take place at Knox County Juvenile Court, 3323 Division St., Knoxville, TN 37919. Learn more in this flyer or call 865-215-6475 with questions.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s office is now accepting applications for a $1.5 million grant to prevent violence in North Nashville, WPLN reports. The program builds on the first round of $5,000 grants given out last year to curb shootings. The new initiative, labeled “Cure Violence,” is part of the city’s gradual shift toward more community-based solutions to public safety, at a time when violent crime has been rising. Nonprofit groups have until April 22 to apply.

The U.S. Senate voted 49-44 today to strike down President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for health care workers. The Republican members of the chamber were able to force the vote under the Congressional Review Act, The Hill reports. Though no Democratic senators voted with Republicans to eliminate the rule, the GOP was able to get it through the evenly divided Senate because of six Democratic absences. The fate of the bill is unclear though. Observers say it would not likely pass the House or be signed by the president. The vaccine mandate applies to workers at health providers that participate in Medicare and Medicaid. It has been the subject of several court challenges but was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in January.

Knoxville lawyer Carol Anne Long has joined the University of Tennessee College of Law as associate director of the Bettye B. Lewis Career Center. In her new position, Long will serve as the primary liaison with employers, maintaining relationships with hiring personnel and developing interview opportunities. She also will provide advising assistance to students and alumni. Long previously practiced civil and criminal defense litigation with two Knoxville law firms and worked as a judicial clerk for Judge Charles D. Susano Jr. of the Tennessee Court of Appeals and Judge James Curwood Witt Jr. of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. She is a 2000 graduate of the College of Law. Long was active in the TBA Young Lawyers Division and is a lifetime member of the TBA YLD Fellows. She is married to former TBA President Jason Long.

Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis today announced that Jennifer Weaver and Eric Scalzo have been named leaders of its Healthcare Industry Team. Weaver is a partner in Waller’s litigation practice with experience defending health care providers in False Claims Act cases throughout the United States. Scalzo is a partner in Waller’s corporate practice where he handles complex transactions in the physician and dental practice management space. His experience includes assisting providers and investors in the formation, acquisition, growth and sale of physician and dental group practices. The team they lead is comprised of more than 200 attorneys advising health care providers and investors across the country.

Nominations for two of the Tennessee Bar Association’s annual awards are due Monday. The Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award honors a judge or judicial branch official of a federal, state or local court in Tennessee who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion and dedication to the improvement of the law, our legal system and the administration of justice as exemplified by the career of Justice Frank F. Drowota III. The Claudia Jack Award honors an outstanding public defender or court-appointed private practitioner who has served the legal community and their clients in an exemplary fashion. It is named after the late Claudia Jack, a public defender and long-time champion of the poor and underprivileged.

The Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims announced today that it will return to in-person settlement approvals on April 4. The court also said that it is reviewing the procedures for settlement approvals, which differ among its eight offices, and will report soon on revised procedures.