Nashville lawyer Stephen Kenneth Rush passed away on July 22 after complications from a fall at his home. He was 79. After serving in the Navy, Rush earned his law degree from Vanderbilt Law School. He went on the practice law in Nashville for the remainder of his life, especially enjoying working in international affairs, music and copyright law. A celebration of life was held for Rush in July in Nashville. Donations can be made in his memory to Woodmont Christian Church, 3601 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, TN 37215.

The U.S. Senate this week confirmed Vermont Supreme Court Justice Beth Robinson to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New York, the ABA Journal reports. Her appointment marks the first openly LGBTQ woman to serve on a federal appeals court. Robinson was counsel to Vermont’s governor and a civil litigator at Langrock Sperry & Wool before she began her time on Vermont’s high court in 2011. Twenty-eight of Biden’s federal court nominees have won confirmation so far, which is the most confirmations at this point in a presidency in modern history.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan last week denied a motion that sought to disqualify the county’s District Attorney General’s Office from working on the Pervis Payne death penalty case, the Commercial Appeal reports. Though she denied the motion, Skahan also acknowledged the DA’s office had not complied with the rules of professional conduct regarding written screening measures for attorney Leslie Byrd and gave them 30 days to file such procedure with her court. Attorneys for Payne last month asked Skahan to remove the DA’s office, claiming Assistant District Attorney Steve Jones’ work as a capital case attorney while Payne’s post-conviction proceedings were pending before the court created a conflict of interest. A hearing to determine if Payne is intellectually disabled is set for Dec. 13.  

The Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of Tennessee is now accepting applications for membership in its Criminal Justice Act Panel. Members of this panel are attorneys in private practice who are appointed to represent individuals accused of violating federal law who cannot afford private counsel. Applicants must: be in good standing with the federal bar of this District and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals; maintain strong litigation skills and proficiency with federal law procedure; have significant experience in serious criminal litigation and a demonstrated commitment to the defense of people who lack the financial means to hire an attorney; and must maintain a primary, satellite or shared office in the district. Attorneys who lack the experiences stated above may apply to participate in the CJA Fellows mentoring and training program. Applications for either program may be obtained from and returned to Ann Card, Panel Administrator, Office of the Federal Public Defender, 810 Broadway, Suite 200, Nashville, TN 37203. She may also be reached by email or at 615-695-6904.

The Tennessee Supreme Court last week set the execution dates of two death row inmates. The high court set an execution date of April 21, 2022, for Oscar Franklin Smith, who was convicted of murdering three family members in Nashville in 1989. Smith was originally scheduled to be executed in June 2020, but the execution was stayed due to COVID-19. Today’s order lifted that stay. An execution date of June 9, 2022, was set for Harold Wayne Nichols, who was convicted of rape and murder in Chattanooga in 1988. Nichols was scheduled to be executed in August 2020, but Gov. Bill Lee issued an executive reprieve last summer. That reprieve expired on its own terms in December. Read more from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

A new report from the New York State Bar Association Task Force on Attorney Well-Being recommends law firms cap billable hours, encourage full vacations and manage client expectations to promote well-being, the ABA Journal reports. The state bar report found that law firms should cap billable hours at 1,800 per year and should not exceed the cap when determining bonus eligibility. Three thousand eighty nine lawyers responded to the bar’s survey and, on a scale of one to five, gave their overall satisfaction with law practice a 3.42. When asked what problems impact well-being the most, the top three answers were no down time, client expectations and demands and financial pressures in the business of law. Those with 101 to 200 lawyers in their firms were the least satisfied, while those with 21 to 50 in their practices were most satisfied. Judges were the most satisfied among practice types.

Despite new legislation that would allow the state attorney general to ask the Supreme Court to replace local district attorneys who refuse to enforce certain laws, Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk says he’ll continue to consider cases the same way, Axios Nashville reports. The measure, which cleared the General Assembly over the weekend and is awaiting the governor’s signature, is thought to be in response to Funk’s public refusal to enforce state laws limiting abortion access and requiring businesses to post signs if they allow transgender people to use the bathroom. He has also publicly stated he would not prosecute those found in possession of small amounts of marijuana. 

The TBA Juvenile & Children’s Law Section will host a virtual forum on Dec. 3 at 9 a.m. CST. The program, worth two general and two dual hours of CLE credit, will offer enhanced resource guidelines, a discussion of the issues faced by LGBTQ youth and the impacts of racial diversity in rural communities. Register for this event by 7 a.m. CST on Dec. 3 to receive the Zoom Webinar link.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division is now accepting applications for its Diversity Leadership Institute (DLI) Class of 2022. DLI is a six-month leadership and mentoring program for Tennessee law students in their second, third or fourth years of study. Class size is limited to 20 to 25 students selected from across the state. The goal of the program is to have a diverse class, so selection is based in part on race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, background, geographical factors and law school attended. The application deadline is 5 p.m. CST on Nov. 24.

Nashville attorney Kyle Mothershead estimates that roughly 200 people filed a total of 300 claims to receive a portion of the $11 million settlement that came as a result of a class-action lawsuit against Rutherford County for wrongfully detaining juveniles, the Daily News Journal reports. That number is significantly lower than the estimated 1,450 people who were believed to be eligible for a portion of the settlement, but doesn’t include the hundreds, possibly thousands, of people illegally arrested whose incidents are outside the statute of limitations. Oct. 29 was the deadline to file claims, which were worth $1,000 per illegal arrest and $4,800 for illegal incarceration. Mothershead and fellow plaintiffs’ attorneys Mark Downton and Frank Brazil reached the class-action settlement in June. The suit was filed in 2017 after the illegal incarceration of children at Hobgood Elementary School in Murfreesboro, but expanded to others jailed at the juvenile detention center after the case revealed it was violating state law regarding the pretrial incarceration of children.