Johnson & Johnson has settled an opioid lawsuit with the state of New York for $230 million days before the company was set to be put on trial, The Hill reports. Under the settlement, the company will leave the opioid business, not just in New York, but across the country. Payments to the state will be made over nine years and be contingent on the legislature creating an opioid settlement fund. The lawsuit began in September 2020 when New York sued the company for allegedly committing insurance fraud by promoting addictive painkillers.

Hamilton County Public Defender Steve Smith will serve as the next president of the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference. Smith was elected public defender in 2014. During his first term, he expanded the number of attorneys in the office and helped establish the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Mental Health Court. Prior to becoming public defender, he served as an assistant district attorney and was a partner in a litigation firm. Smith earned his law degree from the University of Memphis School of Law. The conference supports public defenders across the state’s 31 judicial districts.

Lieff Cabraser partner Mark P. Chalos, managing partner of the firm’s Nashville office, has been elected the next president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers’ Association (TTLA). He will serve as president-elect for 2021-2022 and then as president for 2022-2023. The association defends the principles of trial by jury and advances the cause of those who experience personal harm or property damage. At the firm, Chalos represents those with catastrophic personal injuries and families whose loved ones died due to the negligence of others. He is also an adjunct professor of law at Vanderbilt University Law School. He earned his law degree from Emory University School of Law.

The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to consider an appeal from a Virginia school board in a long-running battle over bathroom access, effectively handing a victory to transgender student Gavin Grimm, SCOTUSblog reports. The development leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling in favor of Grimm, a transgender student who first sued his school district in 2015 for access to the boys’ bathroom. In other action today, the justices added a First Amendment case and an immigration case to their docket for next term. And they ordered a lower court to take a closer look at a wrongful-death lawsuit by the parents of a man who died after police officers pinned him to the ground while he was handcuffed.

Congressional leaders are calling for an investigation into the FBI’s treatment of former Knoxville professor Dr. Anming Hu, who was the subject of a failed espionage investigation, Knoxnews reports. They want the Justice Department to look at whether racial or ethnic profiling were part of the previous administration’s China Initiative, which investigated Chinese academics. Hu was ultimately arrested on fraud charges. Last week, a deadlocked jury failed to convict him.

Federal Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton, 64, will retire effective Jan. 31, 2022, and the process to choose his successor is close to completion, Victor Ashe writes in KnoxNews. A committee established by Eastern District Chief Judge Travis McDonough of Chattanooga in February has completed its work. It considered 50 applications and selected five candidates to advance in the process. Those applications have been sent to the active and senior judges in the district for their consideration. Committee members included chair and former state representative Wayne Ritchie; Dwight Tarwater, former legal counsel to Gov. Bill Haslam; Knoxville attorney Karmen Waters; former University of Tennessee College of Law Dean Melanie Wilson; former U.S. Marshal Jimmy Fowler; LMU professor Maha Ayesh; and businesswoman Tanya Ickowitz.

District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn announced last week that he is seeking re-election as district attorney general for the Fourth Judicial District, which covers Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson and Sevier counties. He touted his work increasing victims’ rights advocates and with the Elder Abuse Unit, which prosecutes crimes against and provides resources to older adults. Before election as district attorney in 2006, Dunn was assistant district attorney for more than 16 years, a state trooper and law enforcement instructor. He earned his law degree from the Nashville School of Law. The Newport Plain Talk has more.

The D.C. Bar is presenting a nonpartisan, virtual program in July that is designed to give women lawyers the tools they need to run for local, state or federal office. The group’s first ever “Legislative Women's Collective: Unleashing the Political Power of Women Attorneys” is a two-day program that will focus on the various elected and appointed positions available, how to create a roadmap to reach individual political goals, and the unique ethical requirements of practicing attorneys running for office. The program is open to women lawyers across the country. The early bird and scholarship application period ends July 6. The final application deadline is July 20. The program will be held July 23 and 24 from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. EDT each day. Learn more in this recent podcast.

Tenth Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Larry H. Puckett will retire from the bench next week after nearly 24 years of serving the people of Bradley, McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties. He is stepping down a year early to allow a successor time to gain experience in the job before having to run for election in 2022, the Administrative Office of the Courts said. The AOC looks back at his career in this profile piece. Two weeks ago, Gov. Bill Lee appointed Bradley County lawyer Michael Jenne to replace Puckett on the court.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee filed suit in federal court today challenging a new Tennessee law that requires businesses and other entities that allow transgender people to use the restroom that matches their gender to post a government-prescribed warning sign. The suit alleges the law violates the First Amendment. It was filed on behalf of business owners in Nashville and Chattanooga who objected to the message. Read more and get the filings from the ACLU.