Gov. Bill Lee today announced he has appointed Michael Jenne to the 10th Judicial District Circuit Court and Gadson “Will” Perry to 30th Judicial District Chancery Court. Bradley County lawyer Jenne is a partner at the Jenne Law Firm and formerly practiced at Baker Donelson. He earned his law degree from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. His appointment will take effect July 1, following the retirement of Judge Lawrence H. Puckett. Shelby County lawyer Perry is a partner at Butler Snow and previously served as a law clerk for the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. Perry will fill the seat of former judge Walter L. Evans effective immediately.

Bass, Berry & Sims has appointed Nashville lawyer Lillian M. Blackshear to its executive committee, The Ledger reports. The seven-member committee includes attorneys from the firm’s Memphis, Nashville and Washington, D.C., offices. Committee members oversee strategic priorities of the firm, including client service, diversity and inclusion, growth and pro bono initiatives. Blackshear practices in the public finance  group and has represented clients in public finance transactions since 2010. She also counsels governments and banks to secure financing for development projects and debt refinancing. She is a member of Nashville’s Metropolitan Planning Commission, serves as secretary of the Women in Public Finance Tennessee Chapter, and is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers.

Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston announced Wednesday that his Cold Case Unit has solved a murder going back 42 years in a case he says has ties to the Gov. Ray Blanton administration. The Chattanoogan.com reports that the Hamilton County Grand Jury ruled it would have indicted Chattanooga crime figure Ed Alley for the first-degree premeditated murder of liquor store operator and alleged mob associate Samuel Pettyjohn, except for the fact that Alley died in 2005. With that, Pinkston said, the case will be considered closed. Pettyjohn and an accomplice allegedly solicited payments from prisoners and passed the funds to the Blanton administration in exchange for those prisoners’ early paroles. When federal authorities began looking into the cash for pardon scheme, Pettyjohn cooperated with the investigation. He was later killed in an execution-style hit inside his store. Others who cooperated with the investigation reported that Alley said he murdered Pettyjohn because he knew too much about the scheme.

A total of 16 sponsors have signed up to help underwrite the costs of this year’s annual convention. Thank you to Fastcase, presenting sponsor of the event; premier sponsors Clio, Geico, L Squared Insurance Agency, TBA Member Insurance Solutions and The Bar Plan; and event partners ABA Retirement Funds, Elite-Brentwood Reporting Services, Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin, HealthCare Appraisers, LawPay, Midwest Special Needs Trust, MyCase, Patterson Intellectual Property Law, Tabs3 Software and Time Miner. Check out their virtual exhibit halls anytime!

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will hold an in-person legal advice clinic tomorrow for members of the public with questions about housing and renters’ rights, bankruptcy, medical bills, debt collection, domestic violence, SNAP benefits and unemployment benefits. The clinic will take place from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. CDT at the Belmont Ministry Center, 2005 12th Ave. S., Nashville 37204.  To help answer questions, contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek or call 615-780-7131.

Davidson County General Sessions Court Judge Lynda Jones has received Nashville Cable’s Spirit of Leadership award, which recognizes a Cable member who exemplifies leadership through personal and professional accomplishments. Judge Jones was elected to the bench in August 2014 and served as presiding judge of the court from 2019 to 2020. She also presides over the Nashville Homeless Court. Jones is president of the Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference and chair of the Nashville Bar Association’s General Sessions Court Committee. She previously practiced law in Middle Tennessee.

Gov. Bill Lee is asking the U.S. Senate to investigate the arrival of unaccompanied migrant children in Tennessee, The Tennessean reports. Lee and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds sent a letter yesterday to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who previously had asked Senate leaders to hold hearings on the recent influx of migrants at the southern border. Both Lee and Reynolds previously declined a request by the federal government to provide housing for unaccompanied minors in their respective states.

C. Kenneth Still, longtime bankruptcy trustee in Chattanooga, died Wednesday morning. He was 89. In 1968, Still was appointed Chapter 13 Trustee for the Chattanooga and Winchester Divisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. He also served as a Chapter 11 Trustee and Chapter 12 Trustee for all of east Tennessee and was on the Chapter 7 Panel of Trustees. During his 47-year tenure as a trustee, he presided over a number of notable cases, including the Hamilton National Bank bankruptcy, which was one of the largest in the South at the time. Still and Bankruptcy Judge Ralph H. Kelley also standardized several procedures and forms that were adopted by courts across the country. He also helped develop the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees and served as one of its early presidents. Still retired in 2014. The family will receive friends Monday from 5 to 7 p.m. EDT at the East Brainerd Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at Brainerd Baptist Church on Tuesday at 11 a.m. EDT. Interment will follow at Hamilton Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank or the Alzheimer’s Association.

The Chattanooga Bar Association is seeking nominations for its annual Liberty Bell Award, which honors an outstanding citizen in the Chattanooga area for community service who has strengthened the America system of freedom under law. Nominations may be submitted through Aug. 18 to Executive Director Lynda Minks Hood, Chattanooga Bar Association, The Pioneer Building, Ste. 420, 801 Broad St., Chattanooga, TN 37402. The 2021 award will be presented at the association’s Law Day Luncheon on Sept. 15. Chattanoogan.com has more on the award.

The Tennessee Bar Association next week will honor Marc Perrusquia with its Fourth Estate Award for his reporting on complaints of excessive use of force by the Memphis Police Department. The award will be presented June 18 during the TBA’s annual convention in Memphis. A long-time reporter at the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Perrusquia is currently the director of the Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis. His reporting on this issue in the Daily Memphian resulted in policy changes at the MPD and greater transparency in its reporting on complaints of excessive use of force.