The 2022 Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition kicked off today in Nashville. Hosted by the TBA’s Young Lawyers Division, 14 teams from across the state will compete for the title of champion. This year’s qualifying teams are Unicoi County High School, Farragut High School, Knoxville Catholic High School, two teams from Girls Prepatory School, Signal Mountain High School, Warren County High School, Clarksville High School, two teams from Montgomery Bell Academy, two teams from Agathos Classical School, Memphis University School and St. Mary’s Episcopal School. The final round will take place tomorrow afternoon, with new Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sarah Campbell presiding. Winners of the competition will qualify for the National High School Mock Trial Championship.

Legal tech company Clio announced this week it is offering three months of free legal practice management software to legal professionals, firms, non-profits and legal clinics financially impacted or displaced by the conflict in Ukraine, as well as lawyers offering pro bono assistance to Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers. You do not need to be a Clio customer to take advantage of this offer. If you are a legal professional who could benefit from this offer please complete the Assistance Application. If you have any issues accessing or completing the form, please contact affinity.partners@clio.com.

Washington and Lee University School of Law has named Melanie D. Wilson as its next dean. She will also hold the Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Professorship in Law. Wilson served as dean of the University of Tennessee College of Law for five years, stepping down in 2020 to return to teaching. She is currently UT Law’s dean emerita and Lindsay Young Distinguished Professor. Before entering academia, she clerked for a federal district court judge and practiced for 13 years in both the private and public sectors, including six years as an assistant United States attorney and four years as an assistant attorney general for the state of Georgia. She later joined the faculty of the University of Kansas School of Law where she went on to serve as professor of law, associate dean for academic affairs, and director of diversity and inclusion. “I am deeply honored and excited to join the Washington and Lee University community at a time of great promise,” Wilson said. Read more from Washington and Lee.

A circuit court in Benton County this week ruled that a state statute authorizing warrantless trespassing and surveillance by Tennessee game wardens is ‘unconstitutional,’ the Associated Press reports. The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit brought by two Benton County landowners, represented by the Institute for Justice, against the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). According to the Tennessee Lookout, the landowners filed suit after the TWRA in 2018 installed surveillance cameras on their private property. The suit challenged the constitutionality of a state statute that says TWRA officers may “go upon any property, outside of buildings, posted or otherwise.” Institute for Justice attorney Josh Windham says the new ruling will apply broadly to land across the state. The state has 30 days to appeal the ruling.

Chattanooga attorney Caldwell Huckabay this week qualified to run for judge in Hamilton County’s General Sessions Court, Division II, the Chattanoogan reports. According to his firm’s website, Huckabay previously practiced at Chattanooga’s Chambliss Law and later the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office before opening his own practice. “As a former prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office and, later, as a teacher here in Hamilton County, I have tried to make our community better and stronger,” Huckabay said in a statement.   

The Tennessee Supreme Court is seeking public comments on amendments to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B that were proposed by the Tennessee Trial Judges’ Association this week. If adopted, the proposed amendments will provide for summary denial of improper repetitive recusal motions, give the appellate court a means of supplementing the factual record and codify existing case law on the scope of expedited interlocutory appeal and the procedures to be followed on remand from orders reversing trial court orders denying recusal motions. Read the proposed amendments here. Comment must be submitted by May 23 and should be emailed to appellatecourtclerk@tncourts.gov or mailed to James Hivner, Clerk, RE: Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B, 100 Supreme Court Building, 401 7th Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37219-1407.

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday adopted an amendment to Rule 9, section 33.1(d) regarding appeals of disciplinary enforcement. The amendment went into effect immediately after it was filed. Read the entire amendment here.  

Several lawmakers are set to testify in front of a grand jury on Monday morning amid an ongoing FBI investigation into a kickback scheme involving a political consulting firm, the Tennessean reports. Former Republican state Rep. Robin Smith earlier this month pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud for her involvement with Phoenix Solutions, a consulting firm with alleged ties to Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and his former chief of staff Cade Cothren. Federal subpoenas for House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, Rep. Bud Hulsey, R-Kingsport, and others suggest that investigators might also be looking into Right Way Counseling, a second consulting firm set up by Casada. At least one legislator said the subpoenas do not specify the subject of the investigation. A Tennessean analysis found that 13 Republican representatives and one political action committee spent around $20,948 with Right Way Consulting in 2019 and 2020.

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday suspended Shelby County lawyer John Louis Dolan from the practice of law for one year, with 30 days on active suspension and 11 months on probation under supervision of a practice monitor. The Board of Professional Responsibility found that Dolan failed to reasonably respond to his client’s request for information about the status of his criminal case and failed to diligently represent his client over a period of approximately two years. In a second matter, the board found that Dolan failed to properly communicate with his client and failed to submit various pleadings.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today suspended John Ryan Poole from the practice of law for six years, with four on active suspension and the remaining two years served on probation upon the appointment of a practice monitor. The Board of Professional Responsibility filed seven complaints alleging Poole failed to reasonably communicate with his clients regarding the status of their case, failed to act in a diligent manner and expedite the clients’ litigation, failed to comply with court orders, failed to protect client funds, failed to provide proper notice following temporary suspension and failed to reply with lawful demands for information from disciplinary counsel.