The Johnson City Press introduces the two candidates running to be public defender for the Third Judicial District, which includes Greene, Hamblen, Hancock and Hawkins Counties. DeAnna Snyder and Todd Estep are both running in the May Republican primary, and were asked the same five questions.

Scott County attorney Andy Tillman has announced his candidacy for General Sessions Court judge in the upcoming August general election, the Independent Herald reports. Tillman, who previously served as Chancery Court Judge in the 8th Judicial District, is one of three candidates vying to replace Judge Jamie Cotton, who is retiring this year. A 1989 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Tillman has also served as a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit and as senior clerk to Judge Charles Susano of the Tennessee Court of Appeals in Knoxville.

Nashville attorney Lee Pope has left his position as Tennessee’s open records counsel to enter private practice, the Citizen Tribune reports. Pope has held the position since 2017. Comptroller Jason Mumpower plans to announce the new open records counsel on Monday, spokesman John Dunn said in an email Thursday.

The Tennessee Supreme Court’s April docket includes eight cases. The first two are set for Jackson on April 5. The next five cases will be heard in Nashville on April 6, with the final case submitted on briefs. Oral arguments will be livestreamed to the Tennessee Courts YouTube page. Details on the individual cases are available on the Tennessee Courts website.

Secretary of State Tre Hargett is highlighting the Safe at Home confidentiality program as the state enters Sexual Assault Awareness Month. “Safe at Home is helping hundreds of individuals and families protect themselves from becoming victims again by keeping their home address from becoming public record,” Hargett said. “I encourage Tennesseans of any age or gender who have experienced sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking or domestic abuse to sign up for this free program.”

Whether you are catching up on CLE or starting to meet your 2022 requirements, the TBA's Spring CLE Blast has packages designed with your convenience in mind. Choose from two CLE packages that you can watch on-demand from the comfort of your own home or office. Whether you need one hour of CLE or 15, we have curated lists of CLE packages by the hour, topic and practice area. Create your own package any time by visiting us at cle.tba.org to access over 250 on-demand programs. Earn up to 15 hours of CLE when you purchase both packages!

Memphis law firm Evans Petree PC is set to acquire Bourland Heflin PLC, forming a combination of two of the city’s top 25 law firms, the Memphis Business Journal reports. “It has taken hard work by many people at both law firms," said Scott Peatross, a member at Bourland Heflin. "The moving trucks show up tomorrow morning, and by Monday, we're going to be ready to hit the ground running." The combined firm will have 96 total employees. Joe Getz, president of Evans Petree, will lead the combined firm.

Crossville attorneys Steven C. Douglas and William T. Ridley have submitted their names to be considered as interim Cumberland County General Sessions judge, the Crossville Chronicle reports. Their names will go before the Cumberland County Commission at a special-called meeting Friday. The attorney selected will serve until the next general sessions judge is sworn in following the Aug. 4 election.

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn is teaming up with Senator Cory Booker, D-NJ, to co-sponsor legislation that would place limitations on how the NCAA handles its investigations, the Nashville Post reports. “The NCAA has a well-established history of backroom deliberations that produce unfair punishments for athletes, coaches and universities,” said Blackburn. “With the emergence of new name, image and likeness (NIL) rules, it is more important than ever to address the systematic failures that have eroded league fairness.” Blackburn and Booker say their bill would tackle four new parameters for NCAA investigations: establishing due process; promoting fairness, consistency and accountability; enabling enforcement from the Department of Justice; and evaluating legal standing of any ongoing investigation.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law has been ranked among the top 20 law schools for African American students in the latest issue of preLaw magazine. Memphis Law was also included among the top schools on the magazine's annual "Diversity Honor Roll" for 2022. “Memphis Law offers one of the oldest and most successful pre-admission programs for diverse applicants in the nation,” said Dean Katharine Schaffzin. “We consistently enroll 1L classes with an extremely high percentage of diverse students, often 30% or more of the class.""