Belmont University College of Law hosted its annual Law Review Symposium Sept. 19, highlighting emerging challenges in national security, data privacy, cybersecurity and constitutional law. This year’s theme was “Data, Power and Security: Contemporary Issues in National Security and the Law,” and the event featured sessions on executive orders, AI regulation, non-fungible tokens, vehicle-ramming attacks and cyber insurance. The student-run symposium offered students practical experience in organizing scholarly events while connecting them with practitioners and academics addressing fast-evolving legal and technological issues. “We started planning the symposium in the spring of 2025 ... There was so much valuable information being shared, and it was clear people were fully engaged with the topic and conversation,” said Executive Symposium Editor Kristi Jensen. Symposium presentations and discussions will be published in the second volume of the Belmont Law Review in the spring.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has set 2026 execution dates for four death row inmates, including Christa Pike, the state’s only woman on death row. According to the Tennessean, The court issued orders on Sept. 30 scheduling executions for Tony Carruthers on May 21, Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines on Aug. 13, Pike on Sept. 30 and Gary Wayne Sutton on Dec. 3. Carruthers was sentenced to death for the 1994 kidnapping, shooting and burying alive of three people in Memphis and has argued he is mentally ill and incompetent to be executed. Hines was sentenced for the 1985 rape, robbery and murder of a motel maid, and his case briefly reached the U.S. Supreme Court before being reversed. Pike was convicted for the 1995 torture killing of a fellow Knoxville Job Corps student and would be the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years; her attorneys cite her youth and severe mental illness as grounds to commute her sentence. Sutton was sentenced for the 1992 killings of a friend and the friend’s sister in Blount County; he maintains his innocence and supporters say he is intellectually disabled. Tennessee resumed executions earlier this year following a pause in 2022, and all four inmates continue to challenge their sentences on legal and mental health grounds.

Dueling proposals to end the federal government shutdown failed in the U.S. Senate today. While critical services such as mail delivery and Social Security and Medicare benefits continue, other federal operations have ground to a halt, sending the government into its 22nd shutdown since 1976. Starting today, federal workers nationwide are affected, including more than 32,000 Tennesseans, the Tennessean reports. The state is expected to see closures at national parks, including the Great Smoky Mountains and Manhattan Project sites, as well as local U.S. Department of Agriculture farm service centers. According to The Hill, federal courts may be forced to limit operations as soon as next week after funding lapses, potentially delaying trials and hearings across the country. Unlike past shutdowns, when courts were able to rely on fees and other resources to maintain functionality, ABC News reports that years of tighter budgets and rising costs make sustaining full operations much more difficult today.

U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman on Tuesday declined to dismiss key portions of the civil rights lawsuit filed by Tyré Nichols’ family and estate against the city of Memphis. Lipman ruled that the city’s motion to dismiss was denied in part, saying Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, had shown enough evidence to argue that the actions of former Memphis police officers who beat Nichols in January 2023 could have stemmed from lax supervision and a corroded police culture, the Daily Memphian reports. Lipman also declined to dismiss Police Chief C.J. Davis from the suit and rejected the city's arguments of qualified immunity, but did dismiss three EMTs who responded to the scene on Jan. 7, 2023. Wells and her attorneys said they look forward to continuing the fight for accountability.

In October, Tennessee lawyers are joining colleagues across the country to increase meaningful access to justice and commitment to pro bono work. Now in its 17th year, Tennessee’s statewide Celebrate Pro Bono Month initiative brings together legal services providers with bar associations, law schools, law firms and individual volunteers to offer free services to those unable to afford a lawyer. The month of October is an opportunity to focus attention on the significant need for pro bono services as well as a time to celebrate the outstanding work of those in the legal community who volunteer their services throughout the year. Events, including in-person and virtual opportunities to volunteer, will be promoted in TBA Today throughout the month. The American Bar Association's National Pro Bono Celebration will be held the week of Oct. 19, recognizing lawyers' roles in supporting communities through pro bono work. If you have information about an upcoming pro bono event, please share it with TBA at tbatoday@tnbar.org.

Two law schools have introduced optional essay questions incorporating AI on their applications this year, reflecting the technology’s growing role in legal education and the practice of law, Reuters reports. The University of Miami School of Law’s new essay asks applicants to submit a detailed prompt for a generative AI large language model to generate a “comprehensive analysis” that will help them make an informed decision about which law school to attend. Applicants must also provide three to five follow-up AI prompts to help explore their law school options. The new AI essay has proven more popular, with 45% of applicants submitting responses so far. Additionally, the University of Michigan Law School has a new optional essay question that requires them to use AI to answer a question on how they use generative AI tools and asks them to predict how much they will use generative AI by the time they graduate from law school and why.

University of Tennessee (UT) leadership, partners, faculty and students gathered Sept. 9 to dedicate the newly named Winston College of Law and Frank Winston Law Building on the Knoxville campus. “We are profoundly grateful to the Bill Gatton Foundation for its transformational gift, which apart from the naming also establishes the Frank Winston Public Interest and Business Law Fellows, a signature scholarship program that will enable us to attract talented future lawyers who will carry on Frank Winston’s storied legacy for years to come,” Dean and Elvin E. Overton Distinguished Professor of Law Lonnie T. Brown Jr. said in a press release. The fellowships will provide full scholarships covering three years of studies, plus a stipend, paid summer work experience and additional educational and professional activities. The gift also introduces Frank Winston Law Grants, which will award $1,000 annually for three years to at least 50 students in each class to help with the cost of law school. In May, UT announced the college’s naming in recognition of the Gatton Foundation’s gift honoring Winston, an alumnus of the college and former Tennessee lawmaker.

Knoxville attorney Dalton Lynn Townsend died Sept. 27 age 82. He attended the University of Tennessee College of Law (now Winston College of Law), where he served as an editor of the Tennessee Law Review and graduated with top honors as a member of the Order of the Coif. Townsend was a member of the ROTC in college and, after his admission to the bar in 1968, served as an Army captain on active duty, including a tour in Vietnam. After returning home, he began practicing law and joined Hodges Doughty & Carson in 1973, where he worked for more than 40 years. Townsend was a member of the Knoxville Bar Association Board of Governors, the Tennessee Bar Association Committee for the Study of Standards of Professional Conduct and the American Board of Trial Advocates. A military service will be held at 11 a.m. EDT on Oct. 13 at the pavilion of Berry Highland Memorial Cemetery, 5315 Kingston Pike, Knoxville 37917. In the event of rain, the service will be held at the mausoleum. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation or Church of the Ascension.

Join the Tennessee Department of Revenue (DOR) on Oct. 8 at 8:30 a.m. CDT for a free webinar specifically designed for new businesses. Participants will learn about state tax obligations for new businesses, as well as other resources that may help their business. Each new business webinar, offered quarterly, covers topics such as tax registration, sales and use tax, business tax, franchise and excise taxes, and how to get help from the DOR, as well as other relevant state agencies.

Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) will hold a clinic in Washington County on Saturday at Good Samaritan Ministries Inc., 100 North Roan St., Johnson City 37601. The event will provide free legal assistance to individuals in need, focusing on various legal issues. For more information, visit the LAET website.