The Tennessee House of Representatives has approved legislation that would allow state residents to carry handguns without a permit, the Tennessean reports. The bill, backed by Gov. Bill Lee, would allow for permitless concealed or open carry for most adults 21 and older. The Senate passed the bill two weeks ago, and the governor is expected to sign it into law. In related news, on Friday, the Memphis City Council passed a resolution opposing the bill. Council members said the proposed legislation would endanger the “health, welfare and public safety” of Memphians. Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings, District Attorney General Amy Weirich and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland also have said they oppose the measure.

The TBA Mentoring Committee will host a virtual program allowing mentors and mentees, or those who are interested in becoming mentors and mentees, to share successful ways to network remotely and ask questions of colleagues. Each group will meet separately in a Zoom breakout room and then come together to share insights. The program will take place April 6 from 4 to 5 p.m. CDT. RSVP here.

TBA CLE will present the Biden Your Time Until the Next Tax Bill program on April 28 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT. The CLE will cover potential changes to the Tax Code that have been discussed by the Biden administration, both during and prior to his 2020 presidential campaign. This presentation will consider the ramifications such changes could have for taxpayers and their planning on an income, gift, and estate tax level. The program is one installment of the Tax Law CLE Series 2021, a collection of one-hour webinars that look at current issues impacting taxpayers.

Across the state, women hold key leadership roles as executive directors at the state and four largest city bar associations. Nashville lawyer Joycelyn Stevenson is director of the Tennessee Bar Association. Prior to joining the TBA, Stevenson spent 12 years at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings before becoming a shareholder at Littler Mendelson PC. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School and has served as president of the Nashville Bar Association, the Lawyers’ Association for Women in Nashville and the Council on Aging of Greater Nashville. She also serves on the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority Board.

Lynda Minks Hood heads the Chattanooga Bar Association. Hood is a graduate of Leadership Chattanooga and was nominated for the group’s first Lifetime Achievement Award. She has served on the boards of the American Cancer Society, Erlanger Health System Foundation, Rotary of Chattanooga and the Women’s Fund of Chattanooga. She was named one of the city’s “Women of Distinction” in 2011.

Marsha Watson heads the Knoxville Bar Association. A graduate of George Mason University in Northern Virginia, Watson first worked at the Association of Trial Lawyers of America in Washington, D.C., as a fundraiser. She later was named executive director of Maryland Trial Lawyers Association. Wanting to be closer to family, she moved to Knoxville and was hired as the first director of the KBA. She remains the only person to hold that position, marking her 30th anniversary with the organization in September 2020.

Maury Tower has been the Memphis Bar Association's interim executive director since August 2020. She graduated from the University of Tennessee and earned a master’s degree in marketing from the University of Memphis. Tower’s experience includes positions at Good Advertising, WREG-TV and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She also has served as president of the American Advertising Federation Memphis Chapter and the Midtown Memphis Rotary Club.

Finally, Monica Mackie has been executive director of the Nashville Bar Association since 2015. Mackie ran her own consulting business before joining the NBA. She worked at the TBA from 1998 to 2012, first as financial administrator and then as director of the Leadership Law program.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today censured Roane County lawyer Jason Ralph Hines. The court took the action after determining that Hines engaged in inappropriate text communications with a client, failed to deposit client funds into his trust account, provided inappropriate financial assistance to his client, and failed to promptly refund advance payment of unearned fees. He agreed to a conditional guilty plea admitting his conduct violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.7(a), 1.15 (a), 1.8(3) and 1.16(d).

The American Bar Association has announced that the 2021 Law Day theme will be “Advancing the Rule of Law Now." The rule of law is the bedrock of American rights and liberties — in times of calm and unrest alike. This year’s theme reminds all of us that “we the people” share the responsibility to promote the rule of law, defend liberty and pursue justice. Watch the virtual launch event. Look for details about Law Day celebrations planned in Tennessee in the coming weeks.

Tennessee is projected to receive $8.56 billion from the latest round of federal COVID-19 relief funding, according to Gov. Bill Lee’s Financial Stimulus Accountability Group. The news was reported last week by the Tennessee Journal. The funding includes $4 billion for the state, $2.26 billion for local governments and $2.3 billion for local school districts. Funding for the state includes $3.82 billion for the fiscal recovery fund and $216 million for coronavirus capital projects.

Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced today that Tennessee, as part of a coalition of 41 state attorneys general, has settled with Retrieval-Masters Creditors Bureau, a debt collection agency doing business as American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA). The settlement resolves a multistate investigation into a 2019 data breach that exposed the personal information of more than seven million individuals, including 132,451 Tennesseans. Under the settlement AMCA promises to implement an information security program with detailed requirements and an incident response plan, hire a duly qualified chief information security officer, hire a third-party assessor to perform an information security assessment, and cooperate with the state attorneys general with investigations related to the data breach.

The Tennessee Bar Foundation recently announced it has awarded $963,200 as part of a second round of Implementation Grants from the Tennessee Legal Initiatives Fund. The awards follow $1.1 million given in 2019 to a number of pilot projects designed to broaden the capacity of organizations to break the cycle of poverty and barriers to justice by using civil legal aid and education to help vulnerable populations. The projects have since been evaluated with 10 of them receiving funding for an additional year. The funds come from a consumer relief settlement negotiated by the Department of Justice. Under the settlement, monies were donated nationwide to organizations that administer each state’s Interest On Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program.

The Supreme Court of Tennessee on Thursday suspended Davidson County lawyer Charles Edward Walker from the practice of law for three years, with two years to be served on active suspension and one year on probation. During the probationary period Walker must be supervised by a practice monitor. The court imposed the discipline after finding that Walker failed to correct statements made to a lower court; failed to disclose his disciplinary history; prepared legal documents that were deceitful; was found in willful contempt of an injunction; and was convicted of criminal contempt in a court in Texas. His actions were determined to violate Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 4.1 and 8.4 (a), (c) and (d).