Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate has remained steady at 3.7% for six consecutive months, continuing to track below the national average, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The national unemployment rate was 4.1% in February. Over the past year, total nonfarm employment in Tennessee increased by 19,200 jobs, with the largest gains in the government sector, followed by leisure and hospitality and education and health services.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, along with a bipartisan coalition, is urging consumers to check their eligibility for compensation related to certain generic drug purchases. The attorneys general are seeking preliminary approval for a $39.1 million settlement with drug manufacturer Apotex over a conspiracy to inflate prices and limit competition. Skrmetti and the coalition announced the settlement in principle with Apotex last year, along with a $10 million settlement with Heritage Pharmaceuticals. As part of the settlement agreements, both Apotex and Heritage have agreed to cooperate in ongoing multistate litigation and implement internal reforms to ensure fair competition and compliance with antitrust laws.

In this month's episode of BarBuzz, TBA Executive Director Sheree Wright speaks with Liz Todaro, TBA's director of access to justice and special projects, and John Farringer, a commercial litigator with Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison and TBA’s incoming president for the 2027-2028 bar year. The discussion focuses on the Administrative Office of the Courts’ plan for funding indigent representation. Get more information about indigent defense in Tennessee. Find past episodes of the podcast in the BarBuzz archive.

TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast is new this week, featuring TBA lobbyists Berkley Schwarz of Pier Strategies LLC, and Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin of Adams and Reese. This week, they discuss Gov. Bill Lee's budget amendment, funding for the indigent representation plan, a recap of TBA's Day on the Hill and a look ahead to upcoming bills this session. Tune in to the podcast on the TBA website or through this link.

The U.S. federal judiciary has launched the Judicial Security and Independence Task Force focused on ensuring the continued security and independence of the court. According to Reuters, Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Judge Robert Conrad stated in a memo that the task force would be chaired by Baltimore-based U.S. District Judge James Bredar and would "identify, analyze and propose responses to ensure the continued security and independence of courts and judges ... Through its efforts, it is hoped that the security of individual judges will be enhanced and that judicial independence will be assured," Conrad wrote. The announcement comes after U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts last week issued a rare statement rebuking calls for impeaching judges. In his 2024 year-end report, Roberts reiterated concerns about judges’ safety and condemned elected officials who intimidate judges or defy court rulings. 

Utah is scaling back a four-year-old program that loosened rules for delivering legal services in the state, leading to the exit or elimination of nearly 30 businesses and law firms, according to Reuters. The move comes as reforms to law firm ownership rules in Arizona have sparked an influx of legal businesses there.

A federal judge has approved a settlement between Tennessee and the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) over a lawsuit that sought to overturn name, image and likeness (NIL) recruiting rules, WBIR reports. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti had announced the deal on March 17. According to Skrmetti, student-athletes now will be able to negotiate NIL compensation before committing to a specific school. Skrmetti and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, along with the Florida, District of Columbia and New York attorneys general, filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA in January 2024, alleging that the NIL recruiting ban created anticompetitive restrictions that violate federal antitrust law and harm current and future student-athletes.

Mt. Juliet attorney Bethel Dean Robinson died Feb. 12 at age 84. He graduated from Belmont University with a degree in history and spent several years teaching there and at Panola Junior College (now Panola College) in Carthage, Texas. Robinson earned his law degree from Memphis State University College of Law (now University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law) in 1974. He began his practice as a general attorney, eventually focusing on property law. A highlight of his legal career was winning a federal civil rights suit for his client, who claimed she was wrongfully discharged in 1975 based on sex discrimination. Plans for a celebration of life will be announced at a later date.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and 17 other state attorneys general announced today they have concluded their investigation into Wells Fargo & Company following the company's decision to abandon certain environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies. The coalition has been investigating whether Wells Fargo and five other American banks — Bank of America Corporation, Citigroup Inc., The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley — violated antitrust or consumer protection laws by implementing net-zero emissions policies and restricting financing. In a release, Skrmetti said, “I commend Wells Fargo’s pro-consumer decision to step away from utopian policymaking, and I look forward to the rest of America’s major financial institutions following its lead.”

The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that Tennessee law does not prohibit a private employer from firing an employee for exercising the right to petition the government. In 2021, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee directed all employees to receive the COVID vaccine. One employee, Heather Smith, chose not to receive the vaccine. When Smith wrote to members of the state legislature to express her concern with the mandate, the company warned that the communication violated policy. When she sent a second email, the company terminated her. Smith then filed suit alleging that the company violated her right to petition the government under the Tennessee Constitution. The trial court dismissed the suit, but the Court of Appeals reversed. The Tennessee Supreme Court found that the state constitution’s protection of the right is enforceable only against the government, not private actors. Justice Sarah Campbell concurred but wrote a separate opinion. Read more in a press release or read the opinions.