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. A networking reception will follow from 4:30 to 6 p.m. All times CST. Stay tuned for updates on this annual favorite produced by the Women in the Profession Committee.

A Bristol man was sentenced today to more than 24 years in federal prison for distributing fentanyl that led to a fatal overdose, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee announced in a press release. U.S. District Judge Clifton L. Corker handed down the 292-month sentence, followed by three years of supervised release. Whitaker pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl-laced counterfeit Roxicodone pills that caused a person’s death in Sullivan County in 2023. He was arrested in April 2024 after fleeing a traffic stop and was found in possession of a large quantity of fentanyl pills, $13,754 in cash, and more than 130 firearms, including stolen weapons. The case was part of Operation Take Back America and involved several local, state and federal agencies.

The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it will review the constitutionality of a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in a case involving Louisiana’s congressional map, which was amended to add a second Black-majority district. The justices will consider whether using race to create such districts as a remedy for violations of the act conflicts with the Constitution’s equal protection clause, Reuters reports. The court previously heard arguments in the case in March. But in June, the justices declined to issue a ruling and indicated they would invite the parties to address additional questions. The decision is expected by June 2026. 

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood has announced her candidacy for Tennessee governor. Blackburn is the state's longest-serving Republican woman at the federal level. "I'm running for governor to ensure Tennessee is America's conservative leader for this generation and the next," she said, Knox News reports. The primary election to replace term-limited Gov. Bill Lee is Aug. 6, 2026. Blackburn will face U.S. Rep. John Rose, Republican of Cookeville, who announced his candidacy March 20. Memphis City Council member and attorney Jerri Green announced her candidacy in July for the Democratic primary.

Tensions between community members and the Fayette County School Board have increased as the district continues efforts to push toward dissolving the consent decree that has held the school system accountable to the federal government for integrating public schools since 1965. According to the Tennessee Lookout, an order from U.S. District Court Judge S. Thomas Anderson in 2023 found the school system had worked to eliminate discrimination practices. He revised the consent decree to narrow desegregation obligations to a few remaining areas. Community members who attended school board meetings indicated a lack of trust in the school board’s decision-making processes and consideration of public feedback. Some also criticized the racial makeup of the board as six of the eight members are white, while more than half of the district’s students are Black. Advocates have urged board members to improve communication and public engagement as the district considers its next steps in the federal case.

A woman has filed a $6 million lawsuit against FedEx, alleging she was fired for repeatedly reporting a coworker’s racist comments. The lawsuit was filed in federal court on July 26, with an amended complaint submitted on July 30. According to the Commercial Appeal, Barbara Blake, a Black former security guard, claims she was wrongfully terminated in March 2024 after reporting that a white coworker used racial slurs and made references to police brutality. Blake said she initially reported the comments to her supervisor, who took no action. She says she was twice suspended in retaliation for reporting the behavior and reporting her supervisor’s inaction. The coworker also filed a complaint against Blake. FedEx later fired Blake citing complaints about her conduct and alleged use of threatening language. In a statement to the Commercial Appeal, FedEx said it “is committed to maintaining a workplace that is free from discrimination of any kind.”

The TBA’s Adoption Law Section will host its 2025 Adoption Law Forum on Sept. 19, offering a full day of programming on legislative and case law updates, child development and a judicial panel. The forum will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT at the Tennessee Bankers Association in Nashville. More details about the event and speakers will be announced soon on the TBA website.

A proposal to build a new jail and relocate all criminal and civil justice institutions in Shelby County to the former Firestone plant site in north Memphis recently was presented to the Shelby County Commission. According to the Daily Memphian, the first phase of the estimated $1.3 billion plan would move the county jail and criminal courts from downtown to the 71-acre site. Future phases could include relocating civil and federal courts. The second phase would build new facilities for chancery, circuit, general sessions and probate courts, while the third phase would add the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office training facility, the Mark Luttrell Transition Center, the Shelby County Corrections Facility and the Federal Correctional Institution of Memphis. Kemp Conrad, who presented the proposal, said leaders have met with community advocates and stakeholders over the last seven months to discuss the new site, which could be completed in three years.

Do you want to read a Tennessee Bar Journal article from 30 years ago? Did you miss an issue of TBA Today or a section Connect newsletter? You can access the archives of all TBA publications online. Journal issues going back to 1965 are available as PDFs; TBJ Select, which was launched in 2020, can be viewed as an online publication; nearly 20 years of TBA Today issues are available for viewing; and section Connect newsletter archives are available on each section's homepage in the right hand column under "Group Menu." Log in to your MyTBA account for full access to all of these great publications.

Combining existing law firms into a single business involves a lot of moving parts and personalities. Use this list to make sure you don’t overlook anything important. Find this and more in the Opening a Firm section of TBA’s Law Firm in a Box.