The Tennessee Supreme Court on Wednesday removed disability inactive status from Davidson County lawyer Carla L. Arevalo. In November 2018, the court had transferred Arevalo to disability inactive status and referred her case to the Board of Professional Responsibility to determine her capacity to practice law and respond to or defend against a disciplinary complaint. On April 23, the hearing panel determined that Arevalo was capable of practicing law and could participate in and defend herself in the disciplinary action. It recommended that the inactive status be dissolved and the disciplinary action be allowed to proceed. The court adopted the recommendation. A temporary suspension imposed in January 2018 remains in effect.

The TBA YLD is hosting a wellness roundtable on Monday at noon CDT. The event will feature Lindsey O’Donell with the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) and Erin Watt with Cottonwood, a holistic health center in Tucson, Arizona. The pair will present strategies for alleviating stress and anxiety during this time of uncertainty and improving communication and healthy relationships. They also will lead a group discussion. The roundtable is free but registration is required. Login details will be provided after registering. For questions contact YLD Coordinator Stephanie Vonnahme, 615-277-3217.

The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville and its Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts (VLPA) program will hold a virtual legal clinic by phone on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. Artists, musicians or other creatives are invited to attend and speak to an attorney at no cost for 30 minutes about any arts-related legal questions. Those who would like to participate should register here. A VLPA staff member will contact registrants to gather more information and determine pro bono eligibility.

Lebanon attorney Henry Douglas Hall died Jan. 16 at the age of 73. A graduate of Tennessee Tech, Hall served in the U.S. Air Force from 1968 to 1972. He then attended the University of Mississippi School of Law, where he earned his law degree. He was licensed to practice law in Tennessee in 1975 and served as assistant district attorney for 20 years before retiring in 2002. He also served in the Air National Guard for 18 years.

An all new episode of the TBA's BarBuzz podcast is now streaming with special guest host Terica Smith! An assistant district attorney for the 26th Judicial District and the new TBA YLD president, Smith joins the show to talk about legal news, upcoming events and more! BarBuzz is part of the TBA Podcast Network and can be found on the TBA’s website or anywhere you listen to podcasts by searching the show's title or “Tennessee Bar Association."

Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors will host a free seminar titled Advocating for Our Immigrant Neighbors on May 29 from 2 to 5 p.m. CDT via Zoom. JFON attorneys will provide an overview of the U.S. immigration system, including how an individual might change their immigration status and the most frequent obstacles to a status change. Participants will learn how to screen an individual for potential immigration relief and best practices in representing clients in immigration matters. Get registered through JFON’s website.  

Online news website “MLK50: Justice Through Journalism” is suing the City of Memphis for not sending it media advisories regarding Mayor Jim Strickland’s administration, the Daily Memphian reports. The suit was filed in March on behalf of MLK50 founder, editor and publisher, Wendi Thomas, by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The complaint alleges Thomas noticed in October that she had been left off an email advisory for a city press conference and, after sending multiple email requests to be included, received no response from the city and is still not receiving the advisories. Thomas is seeking an injunction that requires the city to add her and MLK50 to the advisory list and another injunction requiring the city to have specific standards and a policy for who is included on the list. RCFP attorney Paul McAdoo in a press release said it is “flatly unconstitutional for the city to disrupt and interfere with Ms. Thomas’s ability to gather and report the news because it doesn’t like the content of her reporting.”

The 2020 TBA Annual Convention, originally scheduled to take place in-person in Knoxville, is being converted to an all virtual, FREE event for members of the TBA. The conference will take place entirely online during the week of June 15. Executive Director Joycelyn Stevenson recently released a message to members about the new event. Highlights of the conference include roundtable discussions on issues affecting law firm managing shareholders, in-house counsel and diversity and inclusion in the practice of law, as well as a legislative update from members of the Tennessee General Assembly, law school alumni mixers, and a program celebrating the ratification of the 19th Amendment featuring Elaine Weiss. Members can earn up to eight hours of CLE credit at no cost. The annual Lawyers Luncheon, featuring the passing of the gavel from President Sarah Sheppeard to Michelle Greenway Sellers, will be accessible to registrants and also live streamed on Facebook and YouTube. Register now or learn more about what is to come.

An emergency motion was filed today by two libertarian groups on behalf of four parents who are pushing for the implementation of Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account program, WPLN reports. Chancellor Anne Martin earlier this month deemed the program unconstitutional because it violated the state’s “home rule” amendment since it only applied to two counties without their consent. But, in today’s emergency motion, the Beacon Center of Tennessee and the Institute for Justice argued the amendment was misapplied because the voucher law doesn’t apply to school districts. The groups are now asking the Tennessee Court of Appeals to allow for the implementation of the program while it decides whether the program is constitutional. The Court of Appeals has not yet scheduled a hearing date.

Eight boxes of reel-to-reel tapes labeled “George Jones albums” sat forgotten in a New Orleans bank vault for nearly 30 years. The boxes were rediscovered six years ago by a Louisiana federal court clerk after he inventoried the vault used by the U.S. District Court of Eastern Louisiana for storage. The clerk soon learned the tapes originally belonged to David Snoddy and Donald Gilbreth—men who were partners in the music industry and also the drug trade. After Snoddy and Gilbreth were arrested on drug trafficking charges, the tapes, which they claimed were master copies of 1966 live performances by George Jones and the Jones Boys, were used as collateral to post bail. The Knoxville News Sentinel tells the full story of the tapes, which were allegedly valued at $1.2 million in 1984, and the ongoing legal battle that brought them back to Benton County, Tennessee.