U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge George W. Emerson Jr., who has served in the Western District of Tennessee for 14 years, retired yesterday. Emerson earned his law degree from the University of Memphis in 1980 and went to work for the Western District bankruptcy court, serving first as a law clerk to the late Judge William B. Leffler and then as clerk of the court. He later joined and became a partner in the law firm of Stevenson & Emerson. He served as a Chapter 7 Trustee from 1983 to 2006 and as a Standing Chapter 13 Trustee from 1988 to 2006. He also taught bankruptcy law for the paralegal studies program at the University of Memphis. Emerson was named bankruptcy judge in 2006. While in office, he served a four-year term on the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Sixth Circuit as the Sixth Circuit representative on the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group.

Floyd S. Flippin of Humboldt was installed as the 39th chair of the Tennessee Bar Foundation at the organization’s recent annual meeting. Flippin was first elected to the foundation’s Board of Trustees in 2013 as a West Tennessee trustee, and served as a member and then chair of the Grant Review Committee. He follows in the footsteps of his father, the late Jerry Flippin of Milan, who also served on the board. Flippin has been in private practice since 1983 and has served as the Gibson County attorney since 1991. In addition to leading the foundation, he is serving as chair of the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility.

More than 20 new laws go into effect in Tennessee today, News Channel 5 reports. The laws, which cover a wide-range of issues from both the 2019 and 2020 legislative sessions, include new penalties for child sex offenders, license revocation for teachers convicted of certain crimes against children, new requirements for those who flee arrest, revisions to Tennessee’s organized retail crime statute, ban on convicted animal abusers owning pets, extension of the state’s “slow poke” law, ban on creating false certificates of property or insurance documents that contain untrue or misleading information, and a new interstate driver license compact that will allow Tennessee to exchange information with 42 other states regarding driver license revocations or suspensions due to major traffic violations.

The Intellectual Property Law Forum — which will now be a virtual CLE event — will be held over two days on July 15-16. The first day of the program will provide accounts of bad actors running afoul of trade secret law, provide insight into the life of hackers, and then finish with ways to avoid trouble with online information. The sessions run from 1 to 4 p.m. CDT. Attendees can earn one dual and two general CLE hours. On day two, the program will explore the various forms of available IP protection for the cannabis industry and insights into how best to distinguish and protect home brew. Those sessions run from 1 to 3 p.m. CDT. Attendees can earn two general CLE hours. In an effort to provide flexibility, attorneys can register to attend day one, day two or the full two-day program.  Find out more about the sessions, speakers and registration options available.

Applicants to the 2020 bar examination today filed a petition asking the state Supreme Court to waive the bar exam requirement and grant diploma privilege for those currently registered for the July 2020, September 2020 and February 2021 exams. The petition argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has “created exceptional circumstances in Tennessee which warrants emergency diploma privilege,” and includes impact statements from applicants on hardships they’ve experienced because of the pandemic, such as financial stress and housing uncertainty, increased child care and familial responsibilities and lack of appropriate study space. The petition also argues that exam administration is “uncertain, unsafe, and disparately impacts applicants.” Read the petition in its entirety here.

Tennessee election officials have distributed absentee voting for counties to use in updating their voting information so that it reflects a court-ordered voting-by-mail option for all eligible voters during the coronavirus pandemic, the Associated Press reports. State Elections Coordinator Mark Goins sent the instructions after plaintiffs attorneys last week named 20 counties with absentee request forms or other website information that didn’t correctly reference COVID-19 as a reason to vote absentee. 

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris today issued an executive order for an embargo on any new prisoners coming to the Shelby County Corrections Center and three other local prisons from any prison or detention facility outside the county, the Daily Memphian reports. The order takes effect immediately to try and limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, but it does not apply to the Shelby County Jail or to admissions required by state or federal law. The order comes after 820 inmates and staff members at county facilities were tested for the virus, with six inmates and 13 staffers testing positive. Harris said his administration will take “an aggressive approach to protecting the inmates in our care.” Meanwhile, WPLN reports an additional 135 inmates at the Davidson County Correctional Development Center have tested positive for the virus after it was reported last week that 48 inmates and four staffers were positive. The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office says all inmates who tested positive are asymptomatic.

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to the federal government’s new lethal injection procedure, the ABA Journal reports, possibly opening the door for federal executions to resume as early as July. The plan, announced by U.S. Attorney General William Barr in July 2019, calls for replacing a lethal three-drug cocktail with a single drug—pentobarbital.

District Attorney General Neal Pinkston on Monday filed an affidavit in federal court calling out the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office for an alleged lack of cooperation with the criminal investigation of former deputy Daniel Wilkey, Times Free Press reports. The affidavit was filed in support of a motion by alleged victims of Wilkey who are suing the county for supplying dash camera videos to lawyers for the accused and the DA’s office, but not to lawyers for the plaintiffs. Pinkston claims his efforts to obtain a copy of the sheriff’s office policy manual, copies of all Wilkey’s 2019 dash cam footage and footage from other officers were intentionally made more difficult than necessary by the department. Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond denies those claims. Wilkey was indicted on 44 criminal charges in December, including six counts of sexual battery, two counts of rape and nine counts of official oppression. Many of those charges stem from four traffic stops.

The Tennessee Justice Center has named current board member Mika Moser as its new chief operating officer, the Nashville Post reports. Moser will join TJC full-time while on sabbatical as president of DirectorCorps, the publisher of “Bank Director” magazine. She will remain on DirectorCorps’ board of directors. “Mika’s considerable management skills and the strategic vision she has developed as a TJC board member will be an invaluable asset to our organization,”  TJC Executive Director Michele Johnsons said. “We are lucky to benefit from her knowledge and the talents she brings in her role as chief operating officer of TJC.”