A Brentwood man who threatened to "firebomb" the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and Courthouse in downtown Nashville in the next two weeks was arrested Monday. Alexander F. Thompson, an attorney whose license was suspended in 2022, was charged with making a threat of terrorism and a false report. He is being held on a $100,000 bond and is not eligible for release until his mental health is evaluated. WSMV has the story.

The American Bar Association (ABA) Civil Rights and Social Justice Section will host a free two-day virtual boot camp titled “The Civil Rights Lawyer Boot Camp” on March 7 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST and March 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT. The webinar is designed to help those interested in civil rights issues better understand how to advocate for justice, equality, legal rights and protections. The sessions are open to law students, recent law graduates, public service lawyers, other working or retired attorneys, and lawyers from any background.

A dozen federal offices are slated for lease termination in Tennessee, including the Social Security Administration (SSA) office in Nashville. The SSA explains: “Most of the leases we are not renewing are for small remote hearing sites that are co-located with other Federal space ... Other offices are non-public facing, being consolidated into nearby locations, or we had planned to close.” Other federal offices targeted for lease terminations in Tennessee include a 135,000 square-foot IRS office in Franklin and a 17,000-square-foot IRS space in Chattanooga; a 1,000-square-foot Department of Homeland Security border patrol field operations office in Chattanooga; an Occupational Health and Safety Office in Nashville; Food and Drug Administration offices in Memphis and Nashville; and a Mine Safety Health and Administration office in Knoxville. Tennessee Lookout has more on the plans.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division will host a new installment in its Rookie Series on April 4 at noon CDT. "Beyond the Courtroom: Exploring Different Career Paths with a Law Degree" will feature a panel of young attorneys who are shaping their careers in fields beyond the courtroom. From in-house counsel and lobbying, to sitting on the bench as a judge and working in academia, panelists in a variety of fields will offer insights into the wide range of opportunities available to law students and young attorneys. The program is free for all TBA members. CLE credit is available for a fee of $50. Get more information and register.

The March/April issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal is now available online. Enjoy J. Hunter Robinson and Erik Halvorson's cover story on the Case v. Wilmington decision by the Tennessee Supreme Court, David Hudson Jr. and Bill Spaniard's look at remorse in lawyer disciplinary hearings, and columns by Buddy Stockwell, Wade Davies and Russell Fowler. TBA President Ed Lanquist Jr. reminds readers that lawyers can have a profound effect on their communities through active engagement in local initiatives and civic activities. Also get plenty of news in The Legal Life, including announcements of future leadership, an upgraded legal research tool launch, a tiny new addition to the TBA staff, mock trial information, an update on the Justice Drowota Trust and more!

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced it will not enforce a March 21 deadline for most businesses to report ownership information required by the Corporate Transparency Act, the Nashville Business Journal reports. The act, passed by Congress in 2021, has been the subject of ongoing court battles that have created a shifting set of guidelines and deadlines. Most recently, in January, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the reporting mandate to take effect. On March 2, the department said it would not enforce the upcoming compliance deadline or issue fines for businesses that do not report the information. Instead, it said it will go back to the rule-making process to "narrow the scope of the rule" to apply to foreign companies only.

The indigent representation proposal from the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) on behalf of the Tennessee Supreme Court is expected to provide a range of benefits. These include increasing the number of attorneys willing to accept appointments, enhancing the quality of representation with training and mentorship opportunities, focusing on complex cases and smaller rural communities to build capacity, and eliminating the need for judges to find attorneys to take cases. The plan also is expected to lead to more timely representation and better outcomes for children needing guardian ad litem services, and a smoother process in adoption cases. In addition, it will assist in the proper determination of indigency by developing processes and safeguards to protect against misuse. The TBA applauds the collaborative efforts of the Supreme Court, the AOC and stakeholders in developing and advocating for a new plan moving forward. Learn more about the plan and indigent representation in Tennessee.

Author and past TBA Convention speaker Elaine Weiss will share insights from her new book “Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools That Built the Civil Rights Movement” at an event in Nashville this week. She will speak with community relations expert Joyce Searcy on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CST at the Nashville Public Library, 615 Church St., Nashville 37219. The event is being held in conjunction with Parnassus Books, Fisk University, American Baptist College and Tennessee League of Women Voters. Tickets are required. A portion of proceeds will benefit the Nashville Public Library Foundation.

Several wrongful death lawsuits recently have been filed across the state. In Memphis, the mother of Shelby County Jail inmate Ramon McGhee — who died malnourished and covered in bed bugs — has filed a lawsuit against the county and its jail health care provider, the Commercial Appeal reports. In Chattanooga, the son of a man beaten to death in 2018 at the McMinn County Jail has filed a $25 million wrongful death suit. Gavin Cook says that "deliberate indifference" by the county sheriff led to his father Timothy Brian Cook’s death, according to the Times Free Press. And in Knoxville, a court has ruled that a suit can proceed against three police officers in the shooting death of Anthony Thompson. That case alleges the officers failed to provide medical care to Thompson after he was shot by police. The appellate decision reverses a lower court ruling that the officers could not be sued personally, Knox News reports.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has sued Fayette County over its 2021 electoral map. The suit alleges that the map adopted by commissioners was chosen “at least in part with the intent to racially discriminate against Black voters” and that the decision was made against the advice of the commission’s redistricting committee and legal counsel. The filing comes after the U.S. Justice Department sued the Fayette County Board of Commissioners in January, similarly alleging the board violated the Voting Rights Act when it adopted the redistricting plan. Tennessee Lookout has more on the suit and a copy of the filing.