Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery announced today that his office and the Secretary of State’s office joined with the Federal Trade Commission and multiple state agencies to stop a massive fundraising operation that collected more than $110 million through deceptive robocalls. Associated Community Services (ACS) and a number of related defendants have agreed to settle charges by the FTC and state agencies. According to the complaint, the defendants claimed to support homeless veterans, victims of house fires, breast cancer patients, children with autism, and others, but knew that little or no money raised was going toward supporting those causes. The defendants kept as much 90 cents of every dollar they solicited on behalf of the charities. The AG’s website has details on the terms of the settlement.

A new episode of the TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast is now streaming. TBA’s Public Policy and Government Affairs Director Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorney and TBA lobbyist Brad Lampley discuss House Resolution 23 that would remove Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle from the bench, Senate Join Resolution 1 that would change the way the state Attorney General is selected and confirmed, and more. You can watch the full video of Legislative Updates on the TBA’s Facebook page. It is also available as a podcast on the TBA’s website or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

TBA member and Miller & Martin partner Kyle Eiselstein has been appointed to serve on the board of directors for the Boys & Girls Club of Chattanooga, the Chattanoogan reports. Board Chair LaTonya Lyons said she looks forward to Eiselstein’s “engagement and assistance in guiding our objectives of building great futures for Chattanooga youth.” Eiselstein is the vice-chair of Miller & Martin’s Litigation Department and concentrates his practice in the area of civil litigation with an emphasis on complex commercial disputes. He is also a member of the TBA’s Litigation Section.

Volunteer registration is now open for the Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition. Presiding judges, attorneys, law students and paralegals can sign up now to volunteer as a judge, scorer or bailiff. Additionally, the schedule for the final championship featuring eight teams from across the state is now available. Winners of the competition will be announced on March 20.  

Several Tennessee lawyers have been named to the University of Tennessee’s inaugural class of Volunteer 40 Under 40. Attorneys Martesha Johnson, Will Perry and Todd Skelton were honored with the awards, which are given to UT alumni who have excelled personally and professionally since completing their degree. Johnson is the first African American to be elected as chief public defender for Metro Nashville. Perry is a partner at Butler Snow’s Memphis office where he practices in commercial contract disputes and other business litigation. Skelton, who was previously deputy counsel to former Gov. Bill Haslam, is the chief legal counsel for Strategic Acquisitions Group of Knoxville. UT College of Law alum Wesley Rich was also named to the list. Rich lives in Texas where he works for Google. UT has more on each award winner and the full list of the Volunteer 40 Under 40.

If you missed the Tort and Insurance Law Section’s 2021 Winter Forum, the program is now available on demand. The forum provides an overview of the ethical issues that attorneys face in conducting investigations and interviewing current and former employees of an opposing corporate litigant. It will also feature a discussion of emerging legal issues on the enforceability of arbitration agreements and provide recent legal developments involving claims for health care liability actions. Members of the Tort and Insurance Law Section receive special pricing for the program, so join the section today!

Most of us are really good at activating our stress-response. But how do you wind down? Here are four research-backed ways to de-stress your mind and body from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. First, practice breathing exercises because, believe it or not, you can change how you feel by your breath. Second, adopt an attitude of self-compassion. Acknowledge failures or shortcomings but don’t dwell on them. Third, foster genuine connection. Feelings of loneliness are extremely destructive to the body and mind so make time to make connections. Fourth and finally, practice having compassion for others. Service is one of the most profound ways to nourish the community around you as well as inspire and energize yourself.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP this week announced a major expansion of its national real estate and finance practices with the addition of six lawyers to its Nashville office. The lawyers, who previously handled real estate, banking and healthcare law at Baker Donelson, are: Elizabeth C. Sauer, Mary O’Kelley, Kacie McRee and John P. McGehee, who join as partners; Kyra F. Howell who joins as counsel; and Taylor P. Scott who joins the firm as an associate. Brooks R. Smith, chair of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group, said the additions would significantly enhance the firm’s ability to serve clients in the growing practice area of long term care facilities and senior housing matters.

Belmont University College of Law is ranked fifth in the nation for female enrollment, according to the 2020 annual report from Enjuris. The report uses compiled data from the ABA on law school enrollment to break down law school gender diversity by state and highlight the top-ranked schools for women. Based on that data, at least half of the students attending law school in 35 states and Puerto Rico are women, and women accounted for 54% of all students in ABA-approved law schools. The numbers follow the country’s five-year trend of women making up the majority of students pursuing law degrees, the school reports.

James W. Cuminale, a 1978 graduate of Vanderbilt Law School and partner at PJT Partners in New York, has endowed a permanent director to lead the law school’s Public Interest Office. Once funded, the position will be named in honor of 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey, a 1968 graduate of the school. The position is currently held by Spring Miller, who has directed the public interest program since 2015. Daughtrey is a pioneering lawyer and judge who became the first woman to serve as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, an assistant district attorney in Nashville, a judge on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, and the first woman hired for a tenure-track professorship at Vanderbilt Law School. She was appointed to a seat on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1993 and assumed senior status in 2009.