Gallatin resident Jack Jesse Griffith pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., the Tennessean reports. Griffith pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. He faces a $5,000 fine and a possible six months in jail with potential supervised release. He will also pay $500 in restitution. Griffith was captured on video participating in the riot and was arrested at his home in Gallatin on Jan. 16. He will be sentenced on Oct. 15.  

Attorney Steve Groom has announced the launch of Dedicated General Counsel PLLC, the Nashville Post reports. The new firm will offer legal services to companies without having to hire in-house counsel. Groom has previously worked at Nashville firms Neal & Harwell, Stites & Harbison and Butler Snow and general counsel and other leadership positions at CapStar Bank, Franklin Financial, CoreCivic and SunTrust. According to Groom, businesses who hire Dedicated General Counsel will pay “for a predetermined ‘fraction’ of the general counsel’s time.” 

Thomas “Tom” Jessee, a well-known attorney with offices in Greeneville and Johnson City, was found dead at his home Tuesday evening, WJHL reports. A spokesperson for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said yesterday that “foul play does not appear to be involved,” but the agency is heading up an investigation into his death. District Attorney General Dan Armstrong requested TBI’s assistance in the investigation. Greeneville’s assistant police chief, Mike Crum, says the TBI was requested due to “due to potential conflicts of interest.”

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services will host its annual Equal Justice University (EJU) virtual conference on Sept. 21- 23. Join members of the state’s equal justice community for three days of sessions covering substantive law, ethics and paraprofessional skills, engaging and inspiring plenary sessions, the annual Access to Justice Awards presentations and much more. Registration for the conference is now open.

If you missed the TBA Labor & Employment Law Section’s annual forum, it is now available in just 1-Click. This bundle of sessions from the forum includes a case law update, a discussion on what the first 100 days under the Biden administration looked like for the practice area, a discussion on controversial topics ranging from court-packing to kneeling and much more. This package is worth two dual and three general CLE credits and can be purchased on the TBA CLE website.

Seven Tennesseans struggling to find work have filed suit against Gov. Bill Lee for opting out of federal unemployment benefits earlier this year, the Tennessean reports. In May Lee withdrew from the federal program, which had given unemployed Tennesseans an additional $300 per week in benefit payments and an extra $100 in weekly benefits for mixed earners. Unemployment benefits now come from the state’s Unemployment Compensation program, which pays up to $275 per week—one of the lowest weekly benefits in the country and below the national average of $387 per week. The plaintiffs asked the court to order Lee to reenter the federal program. The filing also asks the court to open the suit to all members of a proposed class, specifically state residents who have or will continue to receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

Days before a jury trial was set to begin, opioid manufacturer Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to pay $35 million over its role in the state’s opioid epidemic, the Associated Press reports. Nine counties and 18 cities and towns in northeast Tennessee and a child born dependent on opioids, nicknamed Baby Doe, had originally sued Endo for $2.4 billion. An attorney for the plaintiffs, Gerard Stranch of Nashville’s Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, said the settlement was the drug maker’s “last, best and final” offer. He added that a jury verdict could have tied the money up on appeal or the company could have declared bankruptcy. Sullivan County Chancellor E.G. Moody previously entered a rare default judgement in April, ruling the pharmaceutical company was liable despite lack of a civil trial.  Moody said he entered the ruling due to a “coordinated effort” by Endo and its attorneys to delay proceedings and interfere with the administration of justice. The counties will each receive a lump sum big enough to fund mobile addiction units and the money for Baby Doe will be placed in a trust fund.

Marcus Floyd, a Nashville public defender and former prosecutor, announced today that he will run for General Sessions Judge Division VII. Growing up in Nashville’s Edgehill Homes and the Mississippi Delta, Floyd says he has personally experienced the poverty and injustice that impacts equity of the justice system. A 2015 graduate of Belmont University College of Law, Floyd has served as a probation officer, judicial law clerk and as criminal justice policy advisor in the Nashville mayor’s office. He also led a study on Nashville’s reliance on criminal justice fines and steered the Nashville Police Department's body camera program through the contract phase. Floyd is married to Amanda S. “Mandy” Floyd, an attorney at Bone McAllester Norton and a graduate of the TBA Young Lawyers Division’s Diversity Leadership Institute. Read the announcement.

Davidson County General Sessions Judge Rachel Bell was a featured speaker at last week’s White House Eviction Prevention Summit. Bell was able to share the work being done in Davidson County through the L.E.G.A.C.Y. Housing Resource Diversionary Court, which she oversees. The court partners with the city to disperse federal CARES Act funding and with the Tennessee Supreme Court to provide mediation services to participants. Learn more about the program or watch the summit. Read a press release from the court.

The Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Madison County lawyer Angela Joy Hopson from the practice of law today for failing to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility concerning a complaint of misconduct. Hopson is immediately precluded from accepting any new cases and must cease representing existing clients by Aug. 27. She must notify all clients as well as co-counsel and opposing counsel of her suspension, which will remain in effect until dissolution or modification by the court.