U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee J. Douglas Overbey yesterday announced changes in management and supervisory personnel in his office, the Chattanoogan reports. Trey Hamilton has been named to serve as the first assistant U.S. attorney for the district. Caryn Hebets has been selected as chief of the Criminal Division. Matthew T. Morris will be the deputy criminal chief for the Knoxville office’s white collar and general crimes unit. Tracy Stone will serve as deputy criminal chief for the Knoxville office’s violent crimes and drug trafficking unit. David P. Lewen Jr. was named as senior litigation counsel. Finally, Chris Poole will serve as the branch chief of the Chattanooga Division.  

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today approved Gov. Bill Lee’s request for an emergency declaration following the bombing in downtown Nashville on Christmas Day, the Tennessean reports. Lee requested FEMA’s assistance on Dec. 26, asking for help with debris removal and emergency protective measures.

Former Circuit Court judge Ira Stephen North Sr. died on Dec. 28. He was 79. North earned his law degree from Vanderbilt Law School and was an attorney for more than 50 years, including an eight-year term as a Davidson County Circuit Court judge. A private service will be held at the North Family Farm in Neely's Bend. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to Inner City Ministry and Church of Christ Disaster Relief.

Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston has alerted local judges and court personnel that, until further notice, his prosecutors will no longer appear in-person for court due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases, the Times Free Press reports. Pinkston told judges in an email last month and on Sunday that he will adhere to local, federal and state directives and Supreme Court orders, writing that he “will not compromise the health of our employees.” Hamilton County General Sessions Court's criminal division has been holding limited hearings since last month after an outbreak among its personnel. The county’s criminal court has been holding virtual hearings since March. General Sessions does not have a similar system in place, but Pinkston said his prosecutors were able to virtually appear before the court yesterday.

A task force assembled by the National Conference of Bar Examiners has released preliminary recommendations that call for major changes to future bar exams, the ABA Journal reports. The task force is suggesting that the bar exam be delivered online as an integrated test with scenarios to answer questions from, rather than in sections with different formats. Scenarios with a handful of questions could replace the Multistate Bar Examination, the Multistate Essay Examination and the Multistate Performance Test. The NCBE Board of Trustees will vote on finalizing the recommendations later this month. An overview of the recommendations says any changes would take up to five years to implement.

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday determined that, per the Tennessee Products Liability Act, a manufacturer is not liable for injuries resulting from products it did not make or sell. The opinion stems from a case in which a plaintiff filed suit against several industrial equipment manufacturers, claiming they were liable under the Tennessee Products Liability Act for failing to warn him that the materials needed to repair and maintain their products contained asbestos, ultimately causing him to develop mesothelioma. The high court held that the Products Liability Act does not impose upon the equipment defendants a duty to warn about products that did not contain asbestos when they left the defendants’ control. Read more on the case from the Administrative Office of the Courts.  

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday ordered the law license of Tennessee lawyer Deon Devall Owensby be transferred to disability inactive status. Owensby may not practice law on inactive status but may petition the court for reinstatement by showing that his disability has been removed.

The TBA’s Tort and Insurance Law Section will host its 2021 Winter Forum on Feb. 3 from 9 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. CST. The forum will provide an overview of the ethical issues that attorneys face in conducting investigations and interviewing current and former employees of an opposing corporate litigant. The program will also feature a discussion of emerging legal issues on the enforceability of arbitration agreements and provide recent legal developments involving claims for health care liability actions. Members of the Tort and Insurance Law Section receive special pricing for the program, so join the section today!

Gov. Bill Lee requested an emergency declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) last week for financial assistance following the Christmas Day bombing in downtown Nashville, Fox17 reports. The request specifically seeks to reimburse Davidson County for costs associated with debris removal and emergency protective measures. FEMA says the request is "under review."

As more information about the Christmas day bombing in Nashville becomes public, questions are being raised on why more was not done in 2019 when a woman called the police alleging that Anthony Warner was “building bombs in the RV trailer at his residence." When officers went to the house, Warner never answered the door. They relayed the information to the Hazardous Devices Unit and the Nashville FBI office but no additional information surfaced. Nashville’s police chief defended the department’s actions saying officers “had no legal basis to go into Warner’s fenced-in yard or home.” Nashville lawyer David Raybin tells News Channel 5 that if Warner had answered the door and officers had noticed anything to indicate bombs were being made, they likely would have had probable cause to search the entire property. But others, like Nashville attorney and former federal prosecutor Alex Little, say the officers should have brought the information to a judge. “Any judge would have granted a search warrant,” he said after reviewing the case.