Circuit Court Judge C. Creed McGinley of Savannah announced last week that he is retiring effective Oct. 31, the Courier reports. In a letter to Gov. Bill Lee, McGinley said he is giving notice “well in advance” so the selection process for his replacement can begin and the post be filled by Nov. 1. “The pandemic has created backlog and it is imperative that there be no delay in my successor assuming their duties,” McGinley wrote. McGinley has served as 24th Judicial District circuit court judge since January 1988. He says he will pursue being named a senior judge following his retirement.

President-elect Joe Biden named more than 20 lawyers to his White House counsel’s office today, Bloomberg Law reports. The group includes Paige Herwig, who was counsel to former Attorney General Loretta Lynch; Janet Kim, former House Committee on Oversight and Reform lawyer; Lauren Moore, who was Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s lawyer on the Senate Judiciary Committee; Larry Schwartztol and Caroline McKay, who worked at an organization created to limit presidential power under President Trump; Tona Boyd, who worked for Senate Judiciary Committee member Cory Booker; and Maury Riggan and Michael Posada, previously with WilmerHale. The group will work under Dana Remus, a former White House ethics lawyer who specialized in legal ethics at the University of North Carolina before being named Biden’s White House counsel. Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo, who will be associate counsel, served as ethics counsel for the Obama administration and currently works for Democrats on the House committee with oversight over the government’s coronavirus response. Samiyyah R. Ali, a 2016 graduate of Vanderbilt Law School, was named associate deputy counsel.

The Tennessee Senate will continue to bar public access to committee meetings during the upcoming legislative session, the Tennessee Journal reports. According to guidelines shared with members, the restrictions will mirror the COVID-19 mitigation steps taken by the upper chamber last summer. Testimony in committee meetings by non-members will be conducted remotely. Reporters may attend hearings but only one pool reporter will be allowed on the Senate floor. By contrast, the House is expected to continue to allow access to committee meetings for lobbyists and other members of the public.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced two actions today. First, Slatery said he has joined a coalition of 48 attorneys general in pushing federal regulators to examine recent progress in the fight against opioid abuse. The group is asking for a progress report on recent steps taken by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to combat the opioid crisis, given new authorities Congress granted the agency in 2018. In a second announcement, Slatery said his office has entered into a national settlement with Sabre Corporation that resolves a 2017 data breach of the company’s hotel booking system. The breach exposed the data of approximately 1.3 million credit cards. The settlement requires a payment of $2.4 million. Tennessee will receive $61,909.08 as well as injunctive relief.

The Memphis-based Community Legal Center is seeking an associate executive director to manage daily operations of the center, oversee financial functions, perform human resources tasks and coordinate the process for developing s strategic plan and annual business plan. A minimum of five years of professional experience, including management is required. A law degree is strongly preferred. View the full job description. Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to annem@clcmemphis.org.

Memphis Police Department officer Patric Ferguson is accused of using a squad car to carry out an on-duty kidnapping and killing, the Commercial Appeal reports. The police department released a statement Sunday morning that Ferguson allegedly had kidnapped 30-year-old Robert Howard from a home in Frayser, forced him into a squad car, and drove him to another location where he shot and killed him. A second man, 28-year-old Joshua Rogers, allegedly helped Ferguson move the victim’s body after he was killed. Ferguson had worked for MPD since October 2018. He is facing charges of first-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, abuse of a corpse and fabricating and tampering with evidence.

The National Civil Rights Museum and Memphis nonprofit Just City hosted a virtual symposium over the weekend to highlight criminal justice reform work around the country, Local Memphis reports. "Journey to Justice" featured panel discussions and a keynote address by attorney and clemency champion Brittany K. Barnett. In related news, Just City recently received a $200,000 grant from the National Football League’s Inspire Change social justice initiative. It is one of 13 new grantees and says it will use the funds to place independent observers in Shelby County Criminal Court trials; expunge records; and provide bail for those booked into Shelby County jails. The Commercial Appeal has more on that story.

Joseph Wayne Wolfenbarger of Bean Station died Jan. 7 at 77. A graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Wolfenbarger served for 32 years as the Grainger County general sessions and juvenile court judge. Due to the ongoing pandemic, funeral services will not be held. Wolfenbarger will lie in repose at Smith-Reagan Funeral Home in Rutledge today from noon to 4:30 p.m. and tomorrow from 8 a.m. to noon. A graveside service will be held tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Grainger Memorial Gardens. All times eastern.

This year’s Law Tech CLE will be offered virtually over three days in February with sessions at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. CST each day. On Feb. 5, the morning session will feature a judicial panel of criminal court judges discussing how technology is being used in their courtrooms, while the afternoon session will review the pros and cons of facial recognition technology. On Feb. 12, the morning session will focus on technology used in elections while the afternoon session will feature the not-to-miss Bill & Phil Show. The series wraps up on Feb. 19 with a morning session featuring civil court judges discussing how technology is being used in their courtrooms, and an afternoon session on using technology in remote depositions and trials.

Hendersonville attorney Mark Colter has been selected as the 2020 Year End CLE Blast Grand Prize winner! The month-long CLE program offered programming throughout December with weekly prize drawings thanks to our presenting sponsor Clio. All attorneys who purchased a CLE program from the TBA in December or signed up online to be entered in the drawing were considered for the month-end grand prize drawing. Congratulations to all who won and to all who were able to get the last minute CLE they needed!