While Tennessee's new law allowing would-be gun owners to get a concealed carry handgun permit with video training is garnering the most news coverage, there are 17 other new laws that went into effect on Jan. 1. The Times Free Press has a run-down of some of them, including new requirements for health insurance and medical billing transparency; new protections for elderly and vulnerable adults who are victims of sexual exploitation; a requirement that the state health insurance plan allow proton radiation therapy to treat cancer; a new grant program for volunteer fire departments; and new requirements for residential contractors.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has appointed former Republican state Sen. Mae Beavers to serve on the state Board of Parole, the Commercial Appeal reports. Beavers, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2018, will begin a six-year term this week. Board members are paid approximately $102,000 a year. In other news, Beavers has sued Mt. Juliet Republican Susan Lynn, alleging that the state representative spread rumors about Beavers breaking into her home and trying to have her killed. Beavers also has accused Ann Calabria, a former county election commissioner, of defaming her character. Beavers says the lawsuits will not affect her work on the board, the Tennessean reports.

"It turns out that we actually have an ethical duty to be reasonably prepared for the worst," TBA President Sarah Y. Sheppeard writes in her January Tennessee Bar Journal column. She helps you think through and plan for any disasters that may befall you or your practice, with information about where to get help. Also read about a new law about employee classification that went into effect yesterday. Sandra S. Benson and Dr. Timothy R. Koski give you details you'll need. You'll also find a preview to the TBA's upcoming, newly refreshed website, which will be filled with more features to make your practice go even more smoothly. And have you already given thought to the new year and its built-in hindsight? That's right, it's 20/20! Read more in this month's Spark! column -- and read the whole issue here.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has dismissed a 2018 lawsuit brought by Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE) against the City of Memphis, Shelby County and the Memphis Grizzlies over its plans to build a 6,200-seat arena, the Daily Memphian reports. It was the second suit filed in the matter but unlike the first, which challenged a noncompete agreement between the local governments and the Grizzlies barring public financial incentives for another arena, this suit accused the entities of intentionally interfering with its business relations. The judge dismissed the case saying EPE should have amended its original suit with the new information rather than file a second complaint, which he ruled could not be pursued further under the res judicata legal theory.

Bryan Stevenson has led one of the most successful efforts to combat mass incarceration and racial injustice in the U.S. legal system and now a new legal drama documents his life, ABC News reports. The film is based on Stevenson’s 2014 memoir “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption,” which centers on the case that led him to create the Equal Justice Initiative. Since founding the initiative, he has challenged more than 125 death row convictions. The movie will be released nationwide on Jan. 10.

The Tennessee Bar Association will close at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow and all day on Wednesday for the New Year’s holiday. There will be no TBA Today issue published on Wednesday. We will reopen on Thursday at 8 a.m.

The TBA’s 2019 CLE Blast wraps up tomorrow with sessions from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Choose from general or dual certified programs in three rooms. All available for live classroom credit.

Longtime McMinnville attorney Larry Barton Stanley died Thursday. He was 78. Born in Spencer, Stanley was elected as state representative for Warren and Van Buren counties while he was a 21-year-old student at the University of Tennessee College of Law. He held that office until 1970, serving on the House Fiscal Review Committee during that time. He practiced law for many years in partnership with Bernard Smith and later Thomas Bratcher, and also served as Warren County Attorney for many years.

The ABA Law Student Division Region 4 Client Counseling Competition will be held Feb. 7-8 at the Duncan School of Law in Knoxville. Region 4 includes schools from Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. This year’s topic is estate planning. The competition is looking for attorneys, judges and counselors to judge preliminary rounds on Friday (4-7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.), and the semifinal round (2-4 p.m.) and final round (4:30-7:30 p.m.) on Saturday. The competition, which simulates a law office consultation between the student and a “client,” is designed to develop interviewing, planning and analytical skills in the lawyer-client relationship. Lawyers interested in volunteering should contact Elton Hutton at 770-765-2360 by Jan. 5.

The Associated Press looks at the lengths to which some are going to obtain a travel ban waiver, including suing the federal government in court to get an adverse finding overturned. Lawyers who have filed such suits are often successful but say the process is unpredictable and unfair to those who do not have the luxury of hiring an attorney. The third version of the administration's ban took effect in December 2017 and was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in part because of the waiver system. The Times Free Press has the story.