Attorneys for the daughter of executed man Sedley Alley argued before the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals last week that DNA evidence should be tested to prove Alley’s innocence, the Associated Press reports. Alley died by lethal injection 14 years ago after being convicted of murder. His daughter, April Alley, petitioned a Memphis court to test the evidence in April 2019, after investigators in a Missouri murder case found a possible connection to an alternative suspect. That court ruled she did not have legal standing to make that request. Senior Assistant Attorney General Andrew Coulam argued yesterday that Sedley Alley’s estate is not entitled to seek testing. Paul Clement, representing April Alley, argued that the purpose of Tennessee’s DNA Analysis Act is to exonerate the innocent and to identify the true perpetrators of an offense. “Both purposes continue to be served even after a person has served his sentence or been executed,” Clement argued.

Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s office has reached a $573 million settlement with consulting firm McKinsey and Company for its role in helping opioid companies promote their drugs, the Tennessean reports. The settlement money will be split between the coalition of attorneys general from 47 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories that filed the suit. Tennessee could see more than $15 million in a matter of weeks. McKinsey was sued in part over its connections to OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma. Per the settlement, McKinsey must prepare tens of thousands of its internal documents detailing its work for Purdue Pharma and other opioid companies for public disclosure online. “We appreciate McKinsey taking responsibility for its part in the opioid crisis,” Slatery said in today’s press release. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court today agreed to take up an appeal of Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher program, the Tennessean reports. A three-member panel of the Court of Appeals in September upheld Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Anne Martin’s ruling that the bill was unconstitutional, prompting the state to appeal to the high court. The program would allow students from school districts in Davidson and Shelby counties to attend private schools and pay for it, in part, with public funds. The bill, one of Gov. Bill Lee’s signature initiatives, was passed by the General Assembly in 2019. The case has not yet been set for oral arguments.

Baker Donelson attorney and TBA member Christian Schuetz was last month appointed Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Tennessee. Schuetz was appointed to the position by the president of the Federal Republic of Germany and was sworn in by the German Consul General in Atlanta on Jan. 13. In this role, he will support Germany's diplomatic and consular mission and help promote bilateral relations in the areas of culture and foreign trade between Germany and Tennessee. Schuetz practices in the areas of real estate and finance and economic development in Baker’s Nashville office and is a member of the firm’s Global Business Group. He is a German native who earned his law degree in Germany and is a member of the Tennessee chapter of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern U.S.

Attorney General Herbert Slatery today announced that he has sued Food City Supermarkets LLC and K-VA-T Food Stores Inc. for unlawful sales of prescription opioids. The state’s suit, filed in Knox County Circuit Court, alleges Food City pharmacies violated the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, violated the public nuisance statute at three Knoxville-area stores and created a common law public nuisance by endangering the health of Tennesseans and interfering with the commercial marketplace. The state claims Food City intentionally profited from and directly contributed to the ongoing opioid epidemic by failing to maintain the required effective controls against abuse. The lawsuit says Food City has unlawfully sold tens of millions of prescription opioids, specifically immediate release oxycodone, for more than a decade. Read the entire 208-page complaint.

Davidson County lawyer David Scott Parsley was reinstated to the practice of law today. He was suspended on Oct. 12, 2020, for one year, with three months to be served on active suspension and the remainder on suspension. Parsley filed a petition for reinstatement on Jan. 11.

The Butler Snow Foundation has named its 2020 grant recipients, awarding more than $115,000 to the charitable organizations, including groups in Memphis and Nashville. In Memphis, funding was approved for REACH Memphis, a college prep program for high school students; Room In The Inn, which serves individuals experiencing homelessness with meals, shelter and services; and the Mid-South Food Bank. In Nashville, funding was approved for Backfield in Motion, an academic, social and emotional achievement program for at-risk male students; historic Travellers Rest House; and the Nashville Food Project.

A federal judge is largely allowing a lawsuit challenging an April 2018 immigration raid in East Tennessee to proceed. The raid took place at Southeastern Provisions, a meat processing plant in Grainger County. At the time, it was reported to be the largest workplace raid in nearly a decade. The workers allege that armed federal law enforcement officers used militaristic tactics and illegally targeted Latinx workers. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee decision acknowledged validity of the claims and allowed all Federal Tort Claims Act claims to proceed, while also dismissing some of the other claims. The workers are being represented by the National Immigration Law Center (NILC); Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC); Sherrard, Roe, Voigt & Harbison; and two pro bono attorneys from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. The SPLC reported on the decision yesterday.

Worldwide law firm K&L Gates has now announced the full extent of its new Nashville office, the Nashville Post reports. In addition to the Butler Snow lawyers that were hired last week, the firm has now brought on partners from Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, Butler Snow, Dickinson Wright and Bass Berry & Sims. The Tennessee team will handle health care, litigation, corporate, intellectual property, finance and construction matters.

Knoxville lawyer Emily Arline Winchester Guyton died Jan. 30 at age 87. A native of Biloxi, Mississippi, Guyton moved to Knoxville in 1962 with her physician husband and children. In 1971, she fulfilled a longtime dream when she graduated from the University of Tennessee College Law despite facing questions about whether the law was an appropriate profession for a woman and mother. Guyton opened a solo practice and later joined with Amelia and Harry Strauss. After they died, she joined Myron Ely to form the firm of Ely, Hogin & Guyton. When her son-in-law Matthew Frère earned his law degree, she joined him at Guyton & Frère. Her daughter, Kelly Guyton Frère, soon graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law and joined the firm. At various times, Guyton also served as a special judge in the Knoxville circuit and chancery courts. She retired from the practice of law in 2004. Several years ago, Guyton participated in the Knoxville Bar Association’s Legal History Video project. Listen to her interview. Per her request there will be no memorial service. Memorial donations may be made to the Dr. James R. Guyton Jr. Leadership Scholarship Endowment c/o Bethel University, Office of the President, 325 Cherry Ave., McKenzie, TN 38201. The fund supports health care personnel serving rural communities.