A recent story from the Associated Press looks at the uncertainty facing doctors, and patients with life threatening pregnancies, now that the state’s abortion ban has taken effect. The story follows Knoxville criminal defense attorney Chloe Akers, from her first reading of the state's new criminal statute in June, to quitting her law firm to founding the non-profit Stand Together Tennessee. Through the new group, Akers hopes to explain the intricacies of the law to doctors and the lawyers who might defend them. Akers has launched a Go Fund Me account to raise money for the new venture.

Members of the TBA’s Young Lawyers Division visited Belmont University College of Law to discuss the student's coming entry into the profession and share some of the benefits of TBA membership. As part of the free membership package, students get the opportunity to network and increase their professional knowledge. Thanks to YLD presenters Patrick Morrison and Angela Denise Williams and Belmont’s Public Interest Coordinator, Alix Rogers, for their contributions to the event. YLD members are making visits to each of Tennessee’s law schools this year. See photos from the event.

In one of her final rulings before retiring, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled that the Tennessee Code Annotated is exempt from Tennessee public records law and that it cannot be copyrighted. She cited a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a similar case in Georgia as her rationale, the Nashville Post reports. Public.Resource.Org and Nashville law professor David Hudson had sued LexisNexis in Davidson County Chancery Court in July, asking the court to force the company to offer the complete and current electronic version of the TCA for free. Public.Resource President Carl Malamud said the organization would appeal the decision.

The state of Tennessee is no longer seeking a contractor to hold cryptocurrencies on its behalf, the Nashville Post reports. Earlier this year, the Department of Treasury was looking for a vendor to “be prepared in the event that unclaimed virtual currency is remitted to the state’s unclaimed property program.” After reevaluating its needs and the services requested, the department canceled that request and issued a new one that does not include custody of virtual currency among the services sought for the Unclaimed Property Division. The state directly holds unclaimed cash but uses a vendor to hold securities. The program seeks to reunite owners with funds.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board recently approved its FY 2023 budget outside of a public board meeting and without any public hearings “for fear there would not be a quorum to legally approve the budget,” the Times Free Press reports. With only five of the nine seats on the board filled, the federal utility needs every director to obtain a quorum for major actions. Two additional members will roll off the board at the end of the year, leaving the board even smaller unless their successors are named before then. The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Safety was to hold a hearing today to consider three new nominees: William J. Renick, a county judge executive in Kentucky; Adam "Wade" White, a former mayor in Mississippi; and Joe Ritch, a Huntsville, Alabama, attorney who was on the TVA board previously from 2012 to 2016. It previously held hearings on four Biden nominees.

The staffing shortage at the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) has gotten so critical a judge has warned lawmakers some of what’s happening to kids in the department’s care is “illegal,” WKRN reports. Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin, a member of the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, recently spoke to lawmakers, encouraging them to increase funding for the agency. Irwin told lawmakers that in Knox County there are divisions of DCS operating with half their positions open while other counties are operating with even fewer employees.

An article in yesterday’s issue of TBA Today omitted the names of two attorneys who have been selected for the TBA Public Service Academy. Brian Bush of Chattanooga’s Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams PC law firm and Jessica Schultz of Schultz Law in Nashville are among the 10 attorneys who will participate in the nonpartisan training that provides attorneys with the tools to run for local public offices, such as school board, city council and county commission. The program’s two sessions will cover topics like strategy, campaign finance, work-life balance and more. Read more about this year’s class.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, half a million Americans have seasonal affective disorder, a depression that occurs each year at the same time, usually starting in fall as the days get shorter, worsening in winter and ending in spring. Three-quarters of the sufferers are women, and the depression usually starts in early adulthood. Resources for lawyers include the website Lawyers with Depression, a piece from the website specifically on seasonal affective disorder and insights from Dan Lukasik, the judicial wellness coordinator for the New York State Office of Court Administration, in the ABA Journal.

The Daily Wire is seeking an associate general counsel with at least eight years experience in technology law, data privacy, risk management and insurance, and corporate law for its Nashville office. The position will support the general counsel on all legal matters, focusing primarily on negotiating technology and product contracts, vendor management, data privacy compliance, management of the company’s insurance and risk management programs, drafting various corporate documents, and compliance with corporate law. Get the full job description and instructions for applying on the TBA’s JobLink platform.

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti today announced that Tennessee is among 34 states and territories to reach a $438.5 million agreement in principle with JUUL Labs, resolving a two-year bipartisan investigation into the e-cigarette manufacturer’s marketing and sales practices. Of the $438.5 million, Tennessee will receive approximately $13 million. In addition to the financial terms, the settlement would force JUUL to comply with a series of strict injunctive terms that severely limit the company’s marketing and sales practices. A multistate investigation found JUUL, a dominant player in the vaping market, relentlessly marketed its product to underage users and that its packaging did not clearly disclose that it contained nicotine and implied that it contained a lower concentration of nicotine than it actually did. The Attorney General’s Office has more.