May is Mental Health Awareness Month — an initiative designed to fight the stigma, provide support, educate communities and advocate for policies surrounding mental illness. This year’s theme “You Are Not Alone” was chosen to emphasize that it’s OK to not be OK and no one needs to feel alone in their struggle. The National Alliance on Mental Illness offers a variety of resources for those who want to learn more. Other resources in Tennessee are available from the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse’s Division of Mental Health Services, the Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organizations, National Alliance on Mental Illness Tennessee and the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. Ascension Saint Thomas Behavioral Health Hospital also offers a free confidential mental health assessment on its website.

The 2021 TBA Annual Convention, presented this year as both an in-person and virtual event, offers eight hours of CLE credit. One of the key offerings will be the annual Bench/Bar Program, which will include three distinct presentations. The first will focus on neurodiversity in the courtroom. Neurodiversity recognizes that those who participate in the legal system bring differently wired brains to the process. To accommodate the different ways people process information, courts, judges and advocates should understand and appreciation these differences. Speakers for this presentation include John Coke, assistant general counsel with the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts; New York attorney Elizabeth Kelly, who focuses on representing individuals with mental disabilities; Florida attorney and author Haley Moss, who speaks and writes about her personal experience with Autism; and Tim Vogus with the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation at Vanderbilt University. See all CLE programs being offered or register here.

The TBA Immigration Law Section will hold a three-hour virtual program on June 9 looking at the population of immigrant children in Tennessee and the role of attorneys in helping these children obtain Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). Speakers will discuss cultural, linguistic and legal barriers to working with mixed status families as well as the ethical considerations for this practice area. Speakers also will provide practical guidance on the role of the guardian ad litem, how to draft SIJS-compliant orders, and how to file petitions with the immigration agency.

Nashville attorney Wendy Longmire today announced that she has launched a campaign for First Circuit Court in Davidson County. Longmire previously clerked for Circuit Court Judge Walter Kurtz and has practiced at Nashville’s Ortale Kelley for 35 years. “After 35 years of civil law practice, I know that my experience has been an apprenticeship for this position,” Longmire said in the announcement. “I will put my experience to work for my community and strive to promote public confidence in our judicial system.”

FBI agents conducted interviews with state lawmakers throughout the 2021 legislative session as part of their probe believed to be focused on political vendor Phoenix Solutions, TNJ: On the Hill reports. The interviews were with lawmakers who had political consulting work with former House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, who both had their homes and offices raided by the FBI in January. Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, spoke with agents as recently as the last day of session, telling the Times Free Press that his interview “centered around” Casada and Smith and a survey he did with Phoenix Solutions. Several lawmakers have said Smith was a vocal advocate for Phoenix, but this is the first time Casada has been publicly linked to the group. Both have declined to say whether they have any ownership stake in the business. Zachary said he didn’t feel he provided any new information to agents “because Glen never pressured me, he didn’t hound me” to use the firm.

The Tennessee Supreme Court suspended 17 attorneys today for failure to pay the annual registration fee and/or file proof that client funds are being held in an IOLTA-compliant account. View the fee suspension order or the IOLTA suspension order. See the list of all lawyers suspended for fee and IOLTA violations in 2021 or access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.

Metro Nashville is suing the Davidson County Election Commission over its decision last night to allow an anti-tax referendum to go before voters, the Tennessean reports. The commission voted 3-2 to place the measure on the ballot for a July 27 special election. The decision came after the commission received a legal opinion from its counsel and Vanderbilt University Professor Jim Blumstein saying it was the commission’s “duty” to get the measure on the ballot in 75 to 90 days. The petition aims to limit the city’s power over property tax rates, public property transfers, recall elections and more. It would roll back Davidson County’s property tax rate to the level it was before last year’s 34% increase. Metro’s lawsuit questions the validity of different versions of the circulated petition, which proposed different election dates. It also calls the petition language defective and argues it did not meet the threshold of required signatures to trigger a special election.

Five attorneys have applied to fill the 19th Judicial District Circuit Court vacancy that was created when Judge Jill Bartee Ayers was appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals, Middle Section. Robert T. Bateman, Carl Daniel Brollier Jr., Max D. Fagan, Nathaniel Ray Flinchbaugh and Joseph P. Weyant will be considered for the position. The candidates will be interviewed by the Trial Court Vacancy Commission at a public hearing on June 16 at 9 a.m. CDT at the Montgomery County Historic Courthouse, One Millennium Plaza, Clarksville, TN 37040. Three candidates will be forwarded to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on each applicant.  

Gov. Bill Lee has opted Tennessee out of a federal $300 weekly unemployment supplement, following after several other Southern states that have refused the additional payments, the Tennessean reports. "We will no longer participate in federal pandemic unemployment programs because Tennesseans have access to more than 250,000 jobs in our state,” Lee said in a statement. The state’s unemployment benefits of $275 weekly are among the lowest in the country and significantly below the national average of $387. Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, South Carolina and Montana have all recently opted out of the supplement. The federal assistance program in Tennessee will end on July 3.

Former Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau has joined communications firm Finn Partners, the Nashville Post reports. Martineau signed on as senior partner and will lead the firm’s environment, energy and sustainability practice in the Southeast. He previously led the environmental practice group at Waller and was an attorney at the federal Environmental Protection Agency before joining TDEC during former Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration. Martineau’s work at the Nashville office will include environmental protection, energy efficiency, regulatory compliance and innovation.