The University of Tennessee has retained outside counsel to assist with its internal investigation of the Vols football program for potential NCAA rules violations, Knoxnews reports. The university has hired Mike Glazier and Kyle Skillman, both with the Kansas City, Kansas, office of Bond, Schoeneck & King. Glazier, who worked for seven years on the NCAA’s enforcement staff, has represented universities in NCAA cases since the 1980s. He previously assisted UT during the NCAA's probe of the athletic department that led to men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl's 2011 firing. In announcing the hiring, a university spokesperson said the school is “reviewing regulatory issues that have been brought to our attention.” The internal investigation, which allegedly pertains to recruiting violations and impermissible benefits to athletes, became public in mid-December.

The Washington County Bar today announced new officers for 2021. Members elected to leadership positions include President Jesse Campbell, President-elect Devon Muse, Vice President Tom Smith, Secretary Grace Studer and Treasurer Joseph Matherly. In addition, association members elected the following new board members: Lindsay Daniel, Mark Garland, Elizabeth Jones, Nora Koffman, Solange McDaniel and Morgan Taylor.

Offices within the Greene County Courthouse and Courthouse Annex will be closed beginning today for cleaning and disinfecting due the number of COVID-19 cases among employees, the Greeneville Sun reports. Offices in the courthouse impacted include the Chancery Court and the office of the Clerk and Master. Offices in the Annex impacted include the County Court Clerk, Trustee, Register of Deeds, Property Assessor, U.T. Extension Service, County Medical Clinic, Budgets and Accounts, Purchasing, Legal and Human Resources.

A federal judge who ruled several weeks ago that the U.S. Justice Department unlawfully rescheduled the execution of the only woman on death row has been reversed by a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, National Public Radio reports. The appeals court decision means that the execution — rescheduled from Dec. 8, 2020, to Jan. 12 after Lisa Montgomery’s attorneys tested positive for COVID-19 — can take place next week. Previously, U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss had said the department could not reset the execution date while a stay in the case was in place, the Associated Press reports. Montgomery’s attorneys continue to push for commutation of her sentence to life in prison based on her mental state and the sexual and physical torture she endured earlier in life.

Memphis Municipal Judge Teresa Jones died over the weekend after a battle with cancer the Commercial Appeal reports. A Mississippi native, Jones earned her law degree from the University of Memphis and served as an adjunct professor there. She also served as a former Shelby County Schools board member and chair of the board, as well as chief city prosecutor. Jones was appointed to the Memphis Municipal Court in 2018 to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Earnestine Hunt Dorse. She ran for the seat in the general election later that year, winning with 73% of the vote. Her current term runs through 2023. Jones also was an active member of the legal community, sitting on the Memphis Area Legal Services board and serving as a member and past chair of the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program. No funeral information is available yet.

"I have been a practicing attorney for nearly 40 years. I attempted suicide six years ago," Kent Halkett writes in the cover story of the new Tennessee Bar Journal. He tells his and others' heartfelt stories of mental health challenges, with both sadness and hope. This issue digs into a crisis within the legal profession: lawyers face mental illness and substance use at much higher rates than the general population. Also read about the help that is available to lawyers through the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) and get to know its new executive director, Buddy Stockwell in this feature story.

TLAP (615-741-3238 or 877-424-8527) offers free and confidential help with depression, grief, loss, stress, burnout, substance abuse, process addictions, balancing practice and family, anxiety, anger management and cognitive impairment. The Journal is available online and in print now.

Dayton City Judge James Wendell McKenzie died Saturday at 76. A 1971 graduate of the Cumberland School of Law, McKenzie first practiced law with his father until 1998, when he was elected as the first Rhea County Family Court judge. He later served as attorney for Dayton and Rhea counties and city judge for Graysville and Spring City. The grandson of Ben G. McKenzie — who was prominent in the prosecution of John T. Scopes in the landmark 1925 Scopes Trial — McKenzie often was cast in the role of his grandfather for the county’s annual reenactment of the trial. Visitation will take place tonight until 8 p.m. at Coulter Garrison Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held tomorrow at 1 p.m. EST at First Baptist Church of Dayton. Interment to follow at Buttram Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the First Baptist Church of Dayton’s Benevolent Fund or Rhea County Sheriff’s Christmas Toy Drive.

The TBA’s highly regarded Estate Planning & Probate Forum will return this year as a virtual program on Feb. 26. This annual staple will feature legislative and ethics updates, a clerk and masters’ panel, and sessions on trust modifications, decanting and anticipated tax changes from the new Biden administration. Check out all sessions and speakers and register here.

The Community Legal Center of Memphis has named Jerri Green as interim executive director in anticipation of the upcoming retirement of Anne Mathes in March. Green, who currently serves as director of community engagement, will serve in the role while the CLC Board searches for a permanent director. Green graduated from Georgetown University Law School in 2003. Since joining the CLC in 2016, she has played a key role in the center’s growth. The CLC also announced that in addition to a new executive director, it will hire for the new position of associate executive director. Read more in a release from the center.

Shortly after moving into her first ever corner office, Sheri Fox announced she was leaving her post as executive director of Legal Aid of East Tennessee to move to Savannah, Georgia. Fox took on the LEAT position in 2016 with two goals in mind: to strengthen and grow LAET and to make sure the firm could take advantage of new opportunities she saw on the horizon. She says both of these goals have been accomplished thanks to the hard work and dedication of LAET staff. Fox will practice with a small plaintiff’s firm in Savannah. She is a TBA member, TBA Labor and Employment Section member, a 2008 graduate of the TBA Leadership Law program and has a member of the TBA’s Access to Justice Committee. Read the full profile on Fox from the Hamilton County Herald.