Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, is asking Gov. Bill Lee to call a special session of the legislature to “curtail the overreach by independent health boards and officials” and “protect all Tennesseans from misdirected mandates” related to COVID-19, WPLN reports. In a letter to the governor, signed by all House Republicans, Sexton also says the legislature should “evaluate the ongoing discrimination” against people prevented from entering buildings because they are unvaccinated. Senate Speaker Randy McNally has dismissed the idea of a special session but says if one is held it should focus on keeping classrooms healthy and safe. Lee’s office says he is reviewing the request.

Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner has formed an exploratory committee to seek the seat of Memphis mayor in 2023, the Commercial Appeal reports. “I’m exploring the opportunity. I’ve seen that it’s an open seat in 2023 and after that exploratory effort I’ll announce what my intentions are,” Turner said yesterday. Turner is a partner in the law firm of Bruce & Turner PLLC. He was first elected to the county commission in 2014 and reelected in 2018. His term ends in 2022. Turner is also president of the Memphis branch of the NAACP, and president and CEO of Memphis Greenspace, the nonprofit that purchased a number of public parks to remove confederate monuments. He is a former Shelby County Democratic Party chairman and was a member of the TBA’s Leadership Law class of 2008.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands (LAS) will hold an in-person legal clinic this Saturday from 8:30-10:30 a.m. at the Belmont Ministry Center, 2005 12th Ave. S. Nashville 37204. Next week, LAS will hold a phone clinic on Tuesday at 2-3:30 p.m. Both of these clinics will serve those with questions about housing and renters’ rights, bankruptcy, medical bills, debt collection, domestic violence, SNAP benefits and unemployment benefits. Then on Wednesday, a clinic will be held from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. for veterans only at Operation Stand Down Nashville, 1125 12th Ave. S. Nashville 37203. All times central. To volunteer, contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek or call 615-780-7131.

The Tennessee Bar Association is accepting applications to fill its coordinator position for the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) and Law Student Development. The successful candidate for this position will facilitate and coordinate meetings, projects and activities of the YLD and coordinate the TBA’s law student membership program and law school outreach efforts. Find out more about the opening or apply by email to TBA Assistant Executive Director Barry Kolar now. 

Arizona-based Guidant Law Firm yesterday announced it is expanding its entertainment practice with the opening of a new office in Brentwood. Entertainment attorney James Kuzmich will lead the new office in helping artists negotiate legal contracts, such as record deals, management, production, publishing and licensing agreements, trade name protection and copyright registration and termination. The Brentwood office will be located at 9005 Overlook Rd., Ste. 224. Read more on Guidant’s website.

A coalition of Nashville residents is calling on state lawmakers and Metro Council members to regulate the entertainment vehicles that operate downtown after a 22-year-old fell off a party bus and was run over late last month, the Tennessean reports. The group, Safe Fun Nashville, has launched an online petition asking for the creation of common sense safety standards for party vehicles and for the Nashville Transportation Licensing Commission to “step up and enforce existing rules.” Local governments are prohibited from regulating party vehicles under state law. An operator must obtain a state license to hit the road, and enforcement of safety standards after that is lax. "Nashville should also be for Nashvillians," wrote one petition signatory. "This industry is under-regulated, and it impacts our day-to-day life. It’s a safety hazard and a blight on our community."

The University of Tennessee College of Law is hosting the American Bar Association's 19th Amendment traveling exhibit, "100 Years After the19th Amendment: Their Legacy, and Our Future,” Aug. 13-26 in the Joel A. Katz Law Library. The traveling exhibit, co-sponsored by the Library of Congress, celebrates the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment with historic photos and artifacts. It also provides details about the story of the battle for ratification, its influence on subsequent movements related to equal rights and gives focus to the challenges that remain. Read more from the college of law.

The University of Tennessee has been billed for more than $756,000 in legal fees for the investigation into football recruiting violations, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. The investigation is a cooperative effort between the university and the NCAA into allegations of rules violations pertaining to recruiting that are said to have happened under former coach Jeremy Pruitt. Bond, Schoeneck and King, a law firm from Overland Park, Kansas, that specializes in athletics compliance reviews was hired last November for the investigation. UT athletics director Danny White said the university is working to prevent a years-long investigation, but noted that he “can’t really put a time frame on it.” Pruitt was fired in January in what his lawyer called an “orchestrated event” focused on "financial convenience and expediency" over fairness.

Kentucky lawyer and former American Bar Association President Leonard Stanley Chauvin Jr. died on May 12. He was 86. Chauvin was licensed to practice in 11 states, including Tennessee, where he had many friends. Chauvin earned his law degree from the University of Louisville School of Law and began practicing in 1961. He argued cases at every level of state and federal court including the U.S. Supreme Court. Chauvin served as president of the Louisville Bar Association, president of the American Judicature Society, chairman of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation and president of the American Bar Association. He is remembered for his advocacy of the legal profession, his mentorship of young lawyers and for “not letting the truth get in the way of a good story.” 

The Shelby County Commission on Monday overrode County Mayor Lee Harris’ veto of a new ethics advisory panel, the Daily Memphian reports. The panel would advise the commission on anyone the mayor appoints to the county’s ethics commission as well as any proposed amendments to the county’s ethics ordinance. The veto and subsequent override come during longstanding differences between Harris and County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. Ford is currently the subject of an ethics probe surrounding s grant he allegedly proposed for Junior Achievement of Memphis & the Mid-South in 2019. In his veto letter, Harris said the panel might look like “possible interference into a current criminal investigation of an elected official,” which he cautioned was “dangerous ground.” Ford said Harris crossed a line by mentioning the investigation. He also questioned the mayor’s “timing of his focus on ethics,” alleging that someone has filed an ethics complaint against Harris. Several commissioners abstained on the veto override, including Van Turner, who urged a delay on both the ordinance and in considering any of Harris’ proposed changes to the ethics code.