While lawyer wellness is often a topic in the media, there is now an academic article addressing the business case for promoting and prioritizing lawyer wellness. Written originally for the Villanova Law Review, the four-part article (1) provides an overview of studies demonstrating the prevalence of mental health and substance abuse issues among the legal profession; (2) looks at the personal and professional risk factors that contribute to mental health and addiction; (3) investigates why firms mostly turn a “blind eye” to attorney well-being; and (4) makes the business case for promoting well-being, highlighting the direct and indirect costs of not doing so. Read more from Georgetown University Law Center Associate Professor Jarrod F. Reich in The Practice from Harvard Law.

The U.S. Department of Justice informed the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday that it will no longer defend the Trump-era "public charge" rule, NBC News reports. The policy, which had been challenged in court, had sought to impose new limits on the admission of immigrants considered likely to become overly dependent on government benefits. The Department of Homeland Security had announced in 2019 that it would expand the definition of "public charge" to include noncash government benefits (such as Medicaid, supplemental nutrition and federal housing assistance) and other factors such as age, financial resources, employment history, education and health, in a move to limit immigration into the country.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery and Secretary of State Tre Hargett have signed letters written by their Republican colleagues criticizing H.R. 1, a Democratic-backed federal voting rights bill making its way through the U.S. legislature. Slatery signed on to a letter written by the Indiana attorney general contending that the measure betrays “Constitutional deficiencies and alarming mandates that, if passed, would federalize state elections and impose burdensome costs and regulations on state and local officials.” Hargett signed on to a letter written by the Alabama secretary of state, which claims the bill is “a dangerous overreach by the federal government” into state-run elections. The bill passed the U.S. House along party lines last week. Tennessee Lookout has more on the legislation.

The U.S. Senate today confirmed Merrick Garland as the nation’s next attorney general, The Hill reports. Senators voted 70-30 to approve the nomination, easily topping the 50 votes needed. The paper notes that the vote came just days before the five-year anniversary of when then-President Obama nominated Garland to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Garland never received a hearing on that nomination. He has been serving on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals since 1997.

If you missed our ethics program Top 5 BPR Complaints of 2020 and How to Avoid Them in the Future in January, you are in luck! The TBA will air a special rebroadcast of the CLE on Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. CDT. Brittany Lavalle, a disciplinary counsel with the Board of Professional Responsibility, will review the most common complaints the board received last year and discuss with attendees how to avoid similar pitfalls in 2021.

State officials have announced that thousands of Tennessee prisoners are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, WPLN reports. The news comes days after an Associated Press investigation found that officials debated when to vaccinate prisoners, fearing that any decision could be deemed a “public relations nightmare.” State prisoners were among one of the last groups eligible to get the vaccine and, despite some becoming eligible earlier based on factors like pre-existing conditions and age, the Tennessee Department of Correction said last month that everyone housed in a state prison would be inoculated at the same time. State Health Commissioner Lisa Piercy refuted that claim and says any prisoner who fits the current requirements for phase 1c of the state’s vaccination rollout plan is now eligible for the shots.

The Community Legal Center of Memphis will host a benefit concert on April 1 at 7 p.m. CDT. “Cash for the CLC” will feature virtual performances and in-depth discussion on justice work in Memphis with Rosanne Cash. Local artist John Paul Keith will also be performing. The event is free to attend, but donations to the CLC are encouraged. RSVP to the benefit through the CLC’s Facebook page. Those interested in sponsoring the event should contact Jerri Green.

Baltimore mediation attorney and former American Bar Association President J. Michael McWilliams died on Feb. 23. He was 81. McWilliams spent two years as an assistant attorney general of Maryland and later served as counsel to the state Department of Transportation. He participated in the 1978 gubernatorial campaign of Harry R. Hughes and later headed his transition team. McWilliams became president of the ABA in 1992 and established McWilliams Dispute Resolutions Inc. in 1997, where he stayed until his retirement in 20017. Due to the pandemic, plans for a memorial service are incomplete.

A resolution to remove Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle from the bench has failed in a Tennessee House subcommittee, the Tennessean reports. After more than an hour of debate in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee, House Resolution 23 (HR23) failed on a voice vote. The resolution was sponsored by Rep. Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro, who said he filed the bill in response to Lyle’s ruling to expand absentee voting in the state—a move he called judicial overreach. The TBA issued a statement in opposition of HR23 last week. “We’ve heard from TBA members from all political persuasions and views expressing concern about the impact this resolution would have on the concepts of separation of powers and a fair and impartial judiciary,” TBA President Michelle Greenway Sellers said of today’s vote. “We were pleased that the subcommittee arrived at the conclusion it did.” 

The Tennessee Senate on Monday evening passed a resolution that will allow voters to change the way the state attorney general is selected, the Chattanoogan reports. In a 25-7 vote, legislators passed Senate Joint Resolution 1 (SJR1) which calls for a transparent nomination process by the Tennessee Supreme Court in selecting the State Attorney General, followed by a confirmation vote of the nominee by a majority of both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly. Once the nomination is made, the legislature would have 60 days to go through the confirmation process. In the event that the candidate is rejected, then the court would have 60 days to make another nomination. SJR1 will now go before the House where it must receive a two-thirds majority. If the resolution clears the House, it must then be passed by the majority of Tennessee voters in the 2022 gubernatorial election.