The TBA will host a one-hour webcast replay of Tennessee Family Law Update 2025 from 3 to 4 p.m. CST Dec. 23, featuring Family Law Section Chair K.O. Herston of the Herston Law Group in Knoxville. The program will cover key legislative and case law developments affecting family law practitioners. Register on the TBA website.

The TBA will host a webcast replay of a Tennessee-specific criminal law legislative update from 9 to 10 a.m. CST on Dec. 23, featuring Chelsea Curtis of the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference in Nashville. The webcast will cover new laws and recent legislative changes practitioners should know, including updates on DUI laws, expungements, the new persistent domestic violence registry and definitions related to abortion exceptions. For more information and to register visit the TBA website.

Memphis attorney Matthew Kristian Eggleston died Nov. 28 at age 53. Eggleston practiced as a public defender in Memphis and later worked in Nashville for the Tennessee Drug Interdiction Program until his death. He earned his law degree in 1997 from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. A memorial service will be held at a later date at Legacy Golf Course in Springfield. Donations in Eggleston’s honor may be made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

In the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Sept. 16 order soliciting comments from the legal community, the court asks whether it "should modify, reduce, or eliminate regulations prohibiting nonlawyer ownership of law firms or fee sharing with nonlawyers." Arizona, Utah and Puerto Rico formally changed their rules earlier this year to allow nonlawyer ownership. California and Florida rejected proposals to allow nonlawyer ownership. Washington launched a pilot program to allow entities with innovative business models (including those operated by individuals not licensed to practice law) to apply to offer legal services under timebound, limited exemptions of the rules governing the practice of law. At the end of the pilot, the state’s Supreme Court will consider the accumulated data to determine whether to move forward with more permanent regulatory reforms. Feedback on Tennessee's potential modification of nonlawyer ownership of law firms or fee sharing with nonlawyers may be sent to TBA's newly formed Legal Access & Regulatory Reform Task Force at townhall@tnbar.org as well as directly to the court. Watch TBA Today to learn more about the seven points in the Supreme Court’s order and specific ways to engage with the task force. Visit TBA's Legal Access & Regulatory Reform resource page for more information.

A retirement reception for Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge D. Michael Swiney will be held Jan. 8, 2026, at 3 p.m. EST at the Tennessee Supreme Court Building in Knoxville. The building is located at 505 Main St., STE 200, Knoxville 37902. The event will take place on the second floor. RSVP to Tammy Capps at tammy.capps@tncourt.gov by Jan. 5 to attend. Swiney plans to retire on Jan. 12.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated Florida lawyer Heather Chastain Parker on Dec. 19. Parker was placed on inactive status more than five years ago, on May 16, 2012. The Board of Professional Responsibility reviewed Parker’s petition for reinstatement and found that reinstatement would be appropriate.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this month called the American Bar Association’s (ABA) law school accreditation system a “monopoly” that increases the cost of legal education and limits the supply of new lawyers, endorsing a proposal by the Texas Supreme Court to end the state’s reliance on ABA accreditation for bar admission, Reuters reports. In a letter to that court, the FTC criticized current accreditation standards — including a now-suspended diversity rule — and noted that other states such as Florida and Ohio are reviewing their requirements, while the ABA has launched a review of the standards. The chair of the council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar recently addressed these state reviews in a Bloomberg Law opinion piece.

Cocke County lawyer Charlotte Ann Leibrock was temporarily suspended from the practice of law on Dec. 16 after the Tennessee Supreme Court found she posed a threat of substantial harm to the public. Leibrock immediately is precluded from accepting any new cases, and must cease representing existing clients by Jan. 16, 2026. The suspension will remain in effect until dissolution or modification by the court.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland has ordered U.S. immigration officials not to re-detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia after his release from immigration detention until the court holds a hearing on a motion for a temporary restraining order, WSMV reports. Abrego Garcia appeared Dec. 12 for a scheduled appointment at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office after being released. To try to protect their client, Abrego Garcia's lawyers asked Xinis to block authorities from detaining him again.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (LAS) announced it has been awarded a $209,056 Technology Initiative Grant from the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to help fund improvements to its legal helpline intake system. The technology program distributes annual grants to legal services providers across the United States. This year, LSC is awarding 32 grants totaling $4.2 million for projects that use technology to improve legal services for low-income Americans and increase access to high-quality legal assistance, the judicial system and legal information. LAS will use the grant to integrate artificial intelligence agents into its intake system. The upgraded system will be scalable, secure and offer multilingual intake capabilities, according to the group. By automating processes and improving data accuracy, the technology hopefully will shorten wait times and expand access to legal help.