Gov. Bill Lee this week announced the appointment of five judicial positions across the state. The appointments are: Judge Jill Ayers, Court of Criminal Appeals, Middle District; Christopher Heagerty, 6th Judicial District Chancery Court; Jerome Melson, 6th Judicial District Circuit Court; James “Jimmy” Turner, 16th Judicial District Circuit Court; and Rebecca Lee, 4th Judicial District Public Defender. “I am proud to announce the appointment of these highly qualified individuals, and I value the experience they will bring to their respective judicial districts,” Lee said. “I’m confident they will serve Tennessee with integrity.”

Judge Patrick Hanlon late Monday granted a stay in the case of Lisa Montgomery, the first woman in nearly seven decades scheduled to be executed by the U.S. government, the Tennessean reports. Montgomery had been scheduled to be executed today, but Hanlon granted the stay, citing the need to determine Montgomery’s mental competence. Montgomery’s execution has been delayed and rescheduled a number of times this year after her Tennessee-based federal public defenders, Kelley Henry and Amy Harwell, contracted the COVID-19 virus. Her attorneys say that Montgomery has “brain damage and severe mental illness that was exacerbated by the lifetime of sexual torture.”

Three Tennessee lawmakers at the center of an FBI investigation have collectively spent $182,794 in campaign money with three little-known companies in recent months, the Tennessean reports. The FBI raided the homes and offices of former House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson and Rep. Todd Warner, R-Chapel Hill last week, but have not released further details on the probe. Two of the companies the lawmakers hired — Bullet Proof Research and Dixieland Strategies — have no online presence and are not registered with the Secretary of State. An array of Republican lawmakers have paid a third company, Phoenix Solutions, for mail services. In several of those instances, lawmakers said it was Smith who coordinated with the company after they had hired her to help with their campaigns. An anonymous source told the Tennessean that Casada’s former aid, Cade Cothren, is the owner of Phoenix Solutions. Cothren’s home was also raided by FBI agents last week. Cothren resigned from his position in 2019 after admitting to cocaine use in his legislative office, sending racist text messages, harassing interns and more.

Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond on Monday addressed allegations of prisoner mistreatment at the Silverdale Detention Center, the Chattanoogan reports. The county assumed control of the facility from CoreCivic in late December. In the weeks since the transition, reports have surfaced of prisoners not being fed, not receiving medical attention and being excessively tased and maced. Hammond denied those allegations, saying most of the detainees don’t like that there’s a “new sheriff in town.” He did acknowledge that his office has “clamped down” on “things that were going on” at the facility and have performed a number of “shakedowns” on prisoners. Hamond said reports of prisoners going without food were false, with the only exception being those who have court or those being transported to another jail. 

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands has hired Lynne Ingram as the lead family law attorney of its Nashville office. She will manage the Family Law Practice Group. Ingram is currently an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt Law School and served for more than 11 years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Nashville and Phoenix. She is a 2014 graduate of the TBA’s Leadership Law program. Read more on Ingram’s new role with LAS.

Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, yesterday urged Attorney General Herbert Slatery to issue an opinion on the legality of state lawmakers' involvement in the Jan. 6 protest and riot in Washington, D.C., the Tennessean reports. Citing the 14th Amendment in his letter to Slatery, Yarbro asks the AG to clarify what the legal ramifications would be for state lawmakers who “engaged in insurrection” or provided “aid or comfort” to insurrectionists. The 14th Amendment prohibits public officials from continuing to hold office after such involvement in an insurrection. Yarbro wrote that he’d like clarity on the definition of “aid and comfort,” and on which government authority holds the power to investigate and determine the level of a public official’s involvement.  

Shelby County attorney Eric John Montierth today received a public censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court for failing to timely file an appellate brief in two criminal cases. The court ordered Montierth to file the brief within 10 days and Montierth failed to do so and did not ask for an extension of time. He appeared before the court months later to explain his conduct in both cases and the court accepted the late-filed brief in each case. It was found that Montierth’s conduct resulted in potential harm to his clients and he was issued the censure. A public censure is a rebuke and warning to the attorney, but it does not affect the attorney’s ability to practice law.

A new episode of the TBA’s BarBuzz podcast is streaming now and ready to help give you a rundown of news from the Tennessee legal community and updates from the bar association. This month, Nashville attorney Marcia McShane of Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete helps co-host the show, with a special guest appearance from Parke Morris of Parke Morris & Associates in Memphis. BarBuzz is part of the TBA Podcast Network and is available anywhere you listen to podcasts and on the TBA’s website.

"Not the year anyone planned," is how TBA President Michelle Greenway Sellers describes the last year, as she reflects on the work of the TBA and Tennessee attorneys in 2020. In her January/February Tennessee Bar Journal column, she points out that this year of twists and turns provided an opportunity to demonstrate attorneys’ resilience. Also in this issue, Nashville lawyer Nate Lykins describes the difference between "and" and "or," and how that affected the interpretation of new statutory grounds for terminating parental rights. An article by Laura Revolinski and Gordon Bonnyman argues that making the civil justice system accessible to pro se litigants must include updating archaic court forms "frozen in language prescribed by antebellum statutes." The Journal is available online and in print. 

What is the secret skill needed to master persuasive legal writing? Register now for the 2021 Guide to Persuasive Legal Writing to find out! The “CLE Performer” Stuart Teicher will instruct attendees on the technicalities of sentence structure, his method to reduce long sentences and more. The live virtual event is worth three dual CLE credits and will run from noon until 3:15 p.m. CST on Feb. 10. Use the prepaid CLE credits that come with your TBA Complete Membership and save on this course. Not a member? Join today to start saving.