Following the withdrawal of Sevierville Rep. Andrew Farmer as a candidate for House majority leader, the only contested leadership race Republicans considered today was for caucus chair, with Jeremy Faison of Cosby prevailing over Robin Smith of Hixson. His election means there will be no changes to the leadership team, the Nashville Post reports. Here’s the full lineup: Speaker Cameron Sexton of Crossville, Speaker Pro Tempore Pat Marsh of Shelbyville, Republican Leader William Lamberth of Portland, Assistant Majority Leader Ron Gant of Rossville, Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison, Caucus Whip Johnny Garrett of Goodlettsville, Floor Leader Paul Sherrell of Sparta, Caucus Vice-chair Brandon Ogles of Franklin and Caucus Treasurer Mark Cochran of Englewood.

Check out our Cyber Monday CLE deals! For a limited time, TBA is offering discounted CLE packages with your needs in mind. Earn all the CLE you need before the Dec. 31 deadline with savings over $160. Choose from two packages: the Legal Essentials Package, which offers eight hours of CLE, or Navigating the Pandemic Package, which offers 7.75 hours of CLE. Take them both and earn 15.75 hours! Pricing will be available through Dec. 4. If you have questions, please contact the CLE team at cle@tnbar.org.

If you have not yet completed your survey of Tennessee lawyers, now is the perfect time to do it. Your responses to this survey from the Tennessee Bar Association will help us learn how to better serve attorneys across the state. This year we have also added questions related to diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as attorney well-being. Your participation in this survey will also help the TBA meet its objectives of informing, educating, promoting and supporting the Tennessee legal community. This video from TBA President Michelle Greenway Sellers tells more about why it is important for you to take part. You should have received an invitation email from TBASurvey@tnbar.org with details on how to access the survey. If you did not receive the email, let us know or wait for a reminder email coming out next week.

A bipartisan group of state attorneys general, including Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery III, plan to file an antitrust lawsuit against Google as early as next month, Reuters reports. The lawsuit is separate from a widely anticipated Texas antitrust action that could also come before the end of the year and the suit filed by the U.S. Justice Department in October, though the states hope to combine their case with the government’s. Other states involved in the suit include Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina and Utah. Google has denied any wrongdoing, arguing its services are dominant in the market because consumers prefer them.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the second installment of Crim Law Day was presented in a virtual format last week with nearly 50 attorneys and judges volunteering to mentor students from LMU Law and the University of Tennessee College of Law. Members of the TBA Criminal Law Section were paired with small groups of five to seven students to discuss the case of William James Rummel vs. W.J. Estelle Jr. Students also had the opportunity to ask section leaders about their day-to-day activities and the challenges of practicing in the criminal justice field.

The University of Tennessee College of Law’s National Moot Court team has advanced to the finals of the National Moot Court Competition after winning the regional event earlier this month. The team defeated Vanderbilt University and Cumberland School of Law in two preliminary rounds, Vanderbilt in the quarter-final round, the University of Mississippi in the semi-final round and the Cumberland team in the championship round. Tennessee’s brief, with a score of 95, was also the highest in the competition. The team will compete in the national finals Feb. 9-12, 2021. The National Moot Court competition is sponsored by the New York City Bar Association’s National Moot Court Competition Committee and the American College of Trial Lawyers. More than 120 law schools compete annually in regional rounds with the top two teams from 14 regions advancing to final rounds.

Gov. Bill Lee has named Tony Mathews as the interim commissioner of the state Human Services Department effective immediately, the Tennessee Journal reports. He takes over from Danielle Barnes, who left state government for the private sector. “Tony Mathews has served the Department of Human Services well and I thank him for his willingness to take on this important role,” Lee said. Mathews has served as the agency’s deputy commissioner and chief operating officer since May 2017. He previously worked for Aetna, Cigna, TennCare and the Department of Environment and Conservation.

The Tennessee Municipal Judges Conference recently honored the late Judge John Harrison Lowe with a scholarship at the Nashville School of Law. Lowe, a graduate of the school who became a municipal court judge for the City of Millersville and president of the Tennessee Municipal Judges Conference, died in March 2018. Conference President and Pleasant View Judge Gregory D. Smith thanked the school for producing graduates who have gone on to serve as municipal judges. Presenting the scholarship to Dean William Koch were Judge Bill Higgins, an alumni and general sessions judge in Nashville; Judge Lynn Alexander, an alumna who teaches at the law school and serves as a municipal and general session judge in Smyrna; and Judge William Johnson, an alumni who took Judge Lowe’s position at the Millersville City Court. Read more from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The bones of Nathan Bedford Forrest and wife should soon be exhumed from where his mounted statue once stood in Memphis, the Commercial Appeal reports. Lawyers for Memphis Greenspace, the owners of the land where Forrest is buried, and lawyers for Forrest's remaining descendants, filed court documents Friday asking that the pair be disinterred and transferred to the Sons of the Confederate Veterans for reburial at the National Confederate Museum at Elm Springs. Forrest, a Confederate cavalryman during the Civil War, early Ku Klux Klan leader and slave trader, died in Memphis in 1877. He originally was buried at Elmwood but in 1904 was reburied under the statue during a veterans gathering in Memphis. Last year, the Sons of the Confederate Veterans took possession of the statue, which also will be re-erected at the museum. The parties are awaiting final approval of the plan from Chancellor Walter Evans.

The Nashville Conflict Resolution Center is working with clients to battle a looming eviction crisis, Tennessee Lookout reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered a ban on evictions nationwide through Dec. 31, but cases are already starting to fill up the courts. Daily, representatives from the center are at the Davidson County Courthouse to help those facing eviction with financial assistance, legal documents and mediation with landlords. But even for those who receive a reprieve on rent, they still accrue debt, fines and late fees. Starting Jan. 1, 2021, they will be facing “huge debt” the group says.