Enrollment is now open for the Tennessee Bar Association’s BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee group health insurance plan, available exclusively to TBA members. The plan offers guaranteed issue coverage with no health questions or pre-existing condition exclusions and may deliver savings compared to your current health plan. Don’t wait! Enroll today and give your firm the benefits it deserves. Watch this Q&A with Buck Orrison with TBA Member Insurance Solutions to get answers to your questions about coverage in the coming year. Not part of a group? TBA also offers a dedicated health plan for solo attorneys.

New lawyers recently were welcomed to the legal profession at swearing in ceremonies in Knoxville, Nashville, Jackson and Memphis. Representatives from the TBA and local bar associations were on hand to congratulate the new admittees. See photos from the events.

The Trump administration on Friday asked an appeals court to immediately block an order requiring full November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to be paid to states by the end of the day. According to The Hill, the emergency request to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals calls the lower court’s order “unprecedented.” On Thursday, U.S. District Judge John McConnell ruled the administration’s plan to provide partial SNAP benefits for November during the shutdown was insufficient and that it was obligated to use other funds to issue full payments. “Courts are charged with enforcing the law, but the law is explicit that SNAP benefits are subject to available appropriations,” the Justice Department’s new filing reads.

A national group that seeks to end affirmative action is threatening to sue Knox County. According to Knox News, the American Alliance for Equal Rights emailed each member of the county commission on Nov. 4 saying the county’s “supplier-diversity program” violates the U.S. Constitution. The county program helps develop small businesses and minority, women-owned and disadvantaged businesses. The alliance cited contract language encouraging vendors to include minority-owned businesses and argued such provisions amount to “race- and sex-based preferences.” County officials note the program’s language is largely drawn from federal policies established under Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. The group's founder Edward Blum, who also founded Students for Fair Admissions, has previously led successful legal challenges to race-based programs.

The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to enforce a policy blocking transgender and nonbinary individuals from choosing passport sex markers that match their gender identity, SCOTUSblog reports. The ruling halts a lower court order that required the government to let people select "male," "female" or "X" on new and renewed passports to reflect their gender identity. It permits the administration to continue enforcing its policy while a lawsuit over the issue moves through the courts. The lawsuit argues that listing the sex assigned at birth on passports could lead to harassment or violence against transgender people. The court found that the State Department’s policy does not appear to discriminate against transgender individuals and “attests to a historical fact.”

Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, reportedly received calls from President Donald Trump on Thursday offering them full pardons for their convictions, according to the Nashville Post. No official paperwork has appeared on the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney's website. The two were found guilty in May of honest services wire fraud, conspiracy, bribery, theft and money laundering in a mailer fraud scheme. In September, Cothren was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, while Casada received a three-year federal prison sentence. Legal counsel for both men had requested a mistrial, which was denied, and were pursuing appeals of their convictions. Former Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, who was also involved in the scheme, is seeking a pardon from the president as well.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker said he plans to deny Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr.’s motion to dismiss a charge in the federal criminal case against him, the Commercial Appeal reports. Attorney Michael Scholl filed the motion in October to dismiss the first count in the indictment, which specifically charges Ford with bribery, arguing in court documents that the charge is “unconstitutionally vague and insufficient.” The order had not been entered as of Nov. 6. Ford was indicted in February 2025 on federal bribery and attempted tax evasion charges stemming from a grant scheme.

The Knox County Commission voted to temporarily shelve for six months a pair of proposed ordinances that would compel nonprofits receiving county grants to pledge not to serve immigrants without legal status. According to the Tennessee Lookout, the vote came after groups stood before the panel of commissioners to deliver pleas against approving the ordinances with no expressed support for the measures during a public comment period. The two ordinances were initially introduced by Commissioner Angela Russell, an accountant who said the county should more strictly monitor nonprofits that receive county funds. One ordinance would attach the new requirements to nonprofits receiving funding via the county’s hotel tax while the other applies to general funds distributed to nonprofits. The county distributes about $1.9 million in grants to nonprofits annually — less than 1% of its budget.

Disciplinary Counsel Heather Piper with the Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) will lead the TBA's Ethics Update 2025-2026 webcast on Nov. 17 from 11 a.m. to noon CST. The session will review recent ethics developments from the BPR and offer attorneys a convenient opportunity to earn dual CLE credit before the Dec. 31 deadline. To register, visit the TBA website.

Three community-based organizations in Memphis will receive grant money from the Kresge Foundation for programs that strengthen climate justice and health equity. According to the Commercial Appeal, the money will go to the Center for Transforming Communities, a nonprofit that focuses on health, land and food justice; Knowledge Quest, which promotes education and economic mobility for youth; and The Works Inc., an organization that works to increase the availability of affordable housing and revitalize Memphis neighborhoods. The grants are part of the foundation's Climate Change, Health and Equity Imitative. This year, the foundation awarded $18.6 million to 32 groups across the country.