Legal fees for the Davidson County Election Commission’s (DCEC) defense of an anti-property tax ballot measure have surpassed $700,000 and are still rising, the Nashville Post reports. The Tennessee Court of Appeals last week heard arguments from the DCEC and Metro on the merits of the proposal, which seeks to roll back the county’s 2020 property tax increase and limit the city’s ability to raise taxes in the future. The DCEC had to hire outside counsel, but because DCEC Chair Jim Delanis and the GOP members declared the DCEC’s interest at odds with Metro’s, outside counsel was retained. Republican commissioners last summer chose to defend the ballot in court instead of seeking a declaratory judgement first. As a result, the DCEC is responsible for defending the proposition, not 4 Good Government, which wrote the measure and gathered signatures to place it on the ballot. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN) today sent an open records request asking for more information about the McMinn County School Board of Education’s decision to ban the book “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” from eighth-grade curriculum. The graphic novel depicts interviews between the book’s author, Art Spiegelman, and his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. According to News Channel 9, McMinn County Schools chose to remove “Maus” for foul language and images of nudity and suicide. ACLU-TN staff attorney, Stella Yarbrough, says the decision “flies in the face of academic freedom.” Read more from ACLU-TN.

Judge John W. Campbell was today confirmed to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals – Western Section, the Administrative Office of the Courts reports. Campbell was appointed to the position by Gov. Bill Lee on Jan. 12. Since 2012, Campbell has served as Criminal Court judge in the 30th Judicial District, which includes Shelby County. Prior to taking the bench, he worked as an Assistant District Attorney General in the 30th Judicial District from 1985 to 2012 and an Assistant Public Defender from 1984 to 1985. While an Assistant District Attorney General, he also was appointed a Special Assistant United States Attorney. “I am passionate about criminal justice, education, and the law,” Campbell said. “Becoming an appellate judge was always an aspiration, and I am very grateful to everyone who helped make this goal come to fruition.”

President Joe Biden’s nomination of Memphis attorney Andre Mathis to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals was today advanced by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Reuters reports. Lawmakers voted 12-10 to clear the way for Mathis’ nomination to be considered by the full Senate. The nomination of Mathis, a Butler Snow partner, was not supported by Tennessee Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, who claim the Biden administration failed to “meaningfully consult” with them. Historically, Mathis would have needed the votes of his home state’s senators to advance, but after Republican senators during the Trump administration did away with the “blue slip” process for appellate nominees, that support is no longer necessary to move forward.

The General Assembly today confirmed Nashville attorney Sarah Campbell to the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Tennessean reports. Campbell, Tennessee’s associate solicitor general, clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito until 2015 when she joined the Attorney General’s Office. "As a judge, I will be firmly neutral on the issues that come before me," Campbell said in recent interviews with lawmakers. "The role of a judge, in my view, is to decide cases based on neutral, objective principles that don't lend themselves to any one outcome or the other." The vote to confirm Campbell was nearly unanimous, with the lone dissenting vote cast by Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville. Johnson voiced concerns about the “partisan nature” of Campbell’s work in the attorney general’s office.

Laurence M. McMillan Jr. has announced that he will seek reelection as chancellor for the 19th Judicial District, serving Robertson and Montgomery counties, Main Street Clarksville reports. McMillan began his legal career in the Nashville office of Barnett and Alagia and continued his law practice after moving back to his hometown of Clarksville. He was appointed chancellor in December 2004 by former Gov. Phil Bredesen. McMillan was certified as a Civil Trial Specialist in 2001 by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has served on its Board of Examiners. In 2014, he served as special judge on the Tennessee Court of Appeals for the Middle Section of Tennessee and also served on the Tennessee Supreme Court Worker’s Compensation Panel.

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday suspended Thomas Francis Jackson III from the practice of law for one year. A hearing panel found Jackson knowingly and repeatedly communicated with the opposing parties through their agents about the substance of the litigation without the consent of the attorneys representing the defendants and continued to do so after being instructed to communicate only with opposing counsel. The panel also found that, after being suspended from practicing law, Jackson advertised his professional services on the internet, met with a potential client about representation, sought to collect fees for professional services for which he had not been retained and failed to disclose his suspension.

Join TBA Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorneys and TBA lobbyists Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin for a brand new episode of TBA Legislative Updates. Tune in for news on the newest Tennessee Supreme Court Justice, House Majority Leader William Lamberth’s Truth in Sentencing measure, the state’s new deputy governor and more! Legislative Updates airs every Thursday on the TBA’s Facebook page. It is also released as a podcast on the same day and can be found on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Are you tired of the endless work hustle? Then it is time to ease up, says Iffy Ibekwe, founder and principal attorney at the Texas estate planning firm Ibekwe Law. In a recent article for Above the Law, Ibekwe recommends creating an end of the workday ritual to enforce boundaries that work for your life. Like a bedtime routine that prepares us to sleep well, a routine to end the workday can provide closure for the day, free us up to move into “personal time” and set us up for success the next day. Her first recommendation is to set a time to end the workday. As that time approaches, she advocates reviewing the next day’s meetings and tasks; creating a to-do list for the next day but limiting it to only two items; turning off the computer; tidying up your workspace; reflecting on the day; and then leaving the workspace. It will all be there tomorrow. We will be in a much better place to face those challenges if we step away today.

During Black History Month, the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association is celebrating a group of lawyers known as “The First Five.” While many people helped form the Memphis-based chapter, the group says five trailblazers in particular “set the stage for the organization.” Last week, the chapter highlighted Judge H.T. Lockard, who helped pave the way for black politicians when he was elected to the Shelby County Court (now the county commission). As a lawyer in the 1950s and 1960s, he also was involved in cases that challenged segregation in education, recreation and transportation. He later served as a criminal court judge from 1975 until retiring in 1994. This week, the group focuses on its namesake. Benjamin F. Jones maintained a diverse law practice from 1949 until his untimely death in 1966. He assisted H.T. Lockard, Ben Hooks and A.A. Latting with several civil rights cases in Memphis and contributed to the criminal defense of many victims of Jim Crow. Learn more about these lawyers by following the group’s posts on Facebook.