Major crime in Memphis is lower than it has been since at least 2019, The Commercial Appeal reports. The data compares the first nine months of 2025 with the same period in previous years and includes Tennessee Bureau of Investigation statistics tracking crime through individual victims. Memphis has seen crime decline year over year since reaching a near-record high in 2023. According to the crime commission’s data, violent crime fell 21.5% and property crime fell 23.4% between 2024 and 2025. Compared with the same period in 2023, violent crime is down 23.1% and property crime is down 38.6%.

Michael Dunavant was sworn in Oct. 10 as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. U.S. District Judge Mark S. Norris administered the oath of office during a brief ceremony at the Odell Horton Federal Building in Memphis, according to a press release. Dunavant was nominated by President Donald Trump in June and confirmed by the U.S. Senate earlier this month. He is serving for the second time as the president-appointed, Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney for the district. He also is the first person to hold the position twice after previously serving from 2017 to 2021 during Trump’s first administration. A native of Ripley, Dunavant earned his law degree with honors from the University of Mississippi and has practiced law in Tennessee since 1995.

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.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today held that a defendant waited too long to challenge the plaintiffs’ standing to bring a lawsuit. In Houghton v. Malibu Boats, LLC, the court found that Malibu Boats waited too long to challenge the standing of plaintiffs Brett and Ceree Houghton in their lawsuit against the company. The Houghtons, owners of a now-defunct boat dealership, sued Malibu for allegedly misrepresenting whether the business relationship would continue and won compensatory damages at trial for assets that were sold when the company went out of business. After the verdict, Malibu argued the lawsuit should be dismissed because the Houghtons’ company — not the couple themselves — was the proper party to sue. In a unanimous opinion by Chief Justice Jeff Bivins, the court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision that Malibu forfeited the challenge by raising it after the trial concluded, holding that shareholder standing limitations cannot be raised post-trial. Read more in a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments will consider five applicants when it meets to select nominees for an upcoming vacancy on the Tennessee Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Holly Kirby on June 30, 2026. The applicants are: Court of Appeals Judge Carma Dennis McGee, Court of Criminal Appeals Judges J. Ross Dyer and Kyle A. Hixson, Memphis lawyer Shea Sisk Wellford, and Eileen Kuo, assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Public interviews are scheduled for Nov. 25 at 9 a.m. CST in the courtroom of the Nashville Supreme Court Building located at 401 7th Ave. N., Nashville 37219. At the conclusion of the interviews, the council will vote to send three applicants to the governor. Any member of the public may attend the hearing and express, orally or in writing, objections concerning any of the applicants. Those with questions should contact Administrative Office of the Court’s Assistant General Counsel Laura Blount at 615-741-2687.

The Tennessee Judicial Conference Foundation (TJCF) set up a legacy scholarship to honor the late Judge James Curwood Witt Jr. over ths summer. The foundation will match funds up to $12,500, which will yield a $1,500 annual scholarship to the University of Tennessee Winston College of Law. Knoxville attorneys Ann Short and Eric Butler serve as scholarship chairs and are continuing to work diligently to raise funds. Donations may be made online or by check, payable to the TJCF, with a notation to fund the Judge Curwood Witt Scholarship. Checks should be mailed to the Tennessee Judicial Conference Foundation, c/o Suzanne Keith, 629 Woodland St., Nashville, TN 37206. Questions may be directed to Ann Short, 865-637-2142 or Eric Butler, 865-546-4646.

TBA's "Raising the Bar" program will be held Nov. 19 at Baker Donelson in Nashville. Breakfast will begin at 9:15 a.m. with programming from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This CLE will address the age-old concept of "the grass is greener on the other side," challenging attendees to think instead that "the grass is greener where you water it." The program will encourage participants to live their best life as a lawyer by re-focusing their energy. Adriana Linares — founder of LawTech Partners, nationally recognized legal tech consultant and host of the New Solo podcast — will lead a session on “Tech Tips to Optimize Efficiency and Reduce Stress for Lawyers.” Other speakers will include Meera Ballal, Heidi Barcus, Julie Bennett, Rebecca Blair, Dixie Cooper, Jackie Dixon, Sherie Edwards, Psonya Hackett, Rachel Lawson, Sarah Beth Myers and Laquita Stokes. A networking reception will follow from 4:30 to 6 p.m. All times CST. Click here to register for this annual favorite produced by the Women in the Profession Committee.

The Lawyers' Association for Women (LAW) will hold its annual New Admittee Breakfast on Nov. 4 from 7:30 to 9 a.m. CST at the Grand Hyatt, 1000 Broadway, Nashville 37203. This year’s keynote speaker will be Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Stephanie Williams. For almost 50 years, the breakfast has been recognized as a signature event in the Middle Tennessee legal community. It is attended by new admittees, judges, local bar dignitaries and attorneys. The event is free to new admittees. General admission tickets are $75. The plated breakfast includes avocado toast, breakfast entrée, pastries, juice, water and coffee. View a flyer for the event or register here.

In a court filing on Friday, U.S. District Judge Mark Norris provided an explanation for his recusal from the criminal case involving the former Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers who beat Tyré Nichols. “… I did not recuse because of any personal bias against anyone or anything. I recused because of the apparent bias of others against the Court,” Norris wrote. “It had become clear to me that certain individuals in the U.S. Attorney’s Office were personally adverse to me. They instructed the U.S. Marshals not to investigate the attempted murder of my law clerk. They instructed the FBI not to return my calls.” He continued: “I do not harbor any bias toward MPD. It has never been my theory or belief that the Martin (et al vs. U.S.) defendants or any other MPD officers have gang affiliations.” According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Norris last year said he believed MPD had been “infiltrated to the top with gang members” and at least one of the defendants in the Nichols case was in a gang. Norris’ explanation came in a separate federal case monitoring MPD’s compliance with a 1978 consent decree that limits how it can use information on residents exercising First Amendment rights. Two of the parties in that case had asked Norris to recuse himself, which he declined to do. The Daily Memphian reports on the story.

Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier this week made his first comments about a proposed “compact” with the Trump administration that would provide preferred access to federal grants in exchange for the school implementing a series of government mandates. "Our North Star has always been that academic freedom, free expression and independence are essential for universities to make their vital and singular contributions to society," Diermeier wrote in a campus-wide message according to the Nashville Business Journal. "We also believe that research awards should be made based on merit alone." He went on to explain that the university was not asked to accept or reject the compact but rather to provide feedback on it. A number of campus groups had called for an outright rejection of the proposal. The campus paper has more on the story. The leaders of seven of the nine schools to receive similar offers have rejected it so far.