The TBA’s Corporate Counsel Section will hold a one-hour webcast on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on corporate governance. The program will air at 9 a.m. CDT on Oct. 25. Tune in to hear from Matt White, a shareholder with Baker Donelson and co-chair of the firm’s Financial Services Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Team, and Barbara Bennett with Frost Brown Todd, a nationally recognized health care, data privacy and AI governance attorney. The course offers one hour of dual CLE credit. Learn more and register online.

Monroe Waldemar Gibbs Sr. died Sept. 17 at age 87. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran and a 1971 graduate of Howard University Law School. A Tennessee Bar Association member and senior counselor, Gibbs served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher at the Temple of Deliverance. A memorial service will be held Sept. 27 at 11 a.m. CDT at Temple of Deliverance, Church of God in Christ, 547 Mississippi Blvd., Memphis 38126.

A state investigation has found that Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office secretly recorded criminal defense attorneys, office employees and visitors. From 2020 to 2021, Funk’s office used government funds to install a surveillance system throughout the building, according to a joint report from the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. WPLN News reports that former members of Funk’s staff told investigators that it was common practice to record criminal defense attorneys without their knowledge. The report noted that the practice violates attorney-client privilege, and encroaches on Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. According to a letter obtained by WPLN News, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti will not be prosecuting Funk or his office and stated “that the facts and law do not provide sufficient basis for a successful criminal prosecution.” Funk has maintained that there is no expectation of privacy within a DA’s office. The Associated Press reports that the investigation also found that Funk used government resources to support his re-election campaign and surveilled an employee whose family supported a different candidate for the DA position. Metro Nashville Chief Public Defender Martesha Moore is requesting that Funk’s office disclose all cases, both pending and closed, in which this surveillance occurred.

A U.S. district judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s consideration of race or gender when awarding federal highway and transit project funding to disadvantaged small businesses is unconstitutional. According to Reuters, the judge on Monday ruled that a federal program that was enacted in 1983, which treats businesses owned by racial minorities and women as presumptively disadvantaged and eligible for funding, violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection guarantees. The plaintiffs argued the program discriminated against other racial groups, such as white people, and violated the Fifth Amendment. The judge cited a recent Supreme Court ruling that effectively prohibited affirmative action policies long used in college admissions to raise the number of Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority students on American campuses.

A Nashville judge’s ruling last week that a man serving a life sentence is eligible for credits that could reduce his prison time by up to 36 years has raised questions about whether others in prison have sentences that should have ended. According to The Tennessean, the decision by Chancellor Russell Perkins means that anyone sentenced to life in prison before 1995 or sentenced to life as a juvenile should have sentence reduction credits, or “good time,” applied to their sentences’ expiration dates, says David Esquivel, an attorney representing the plaintiff in the case. A 1995 sentencing law required people serving life sentences to serve at least 51 years behind bars. However, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that this law was unconstitutional as applied to minors. As a result, juveniles sentenced after 1995 have had their sentences recalculated under a less harsh law. Adults sentenced after 1995 are not affected by this ruling. It remains unclear how the Tennessee Department of Correction will respond to this court decision and its potential implications.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa, one of the world's largest payment networks, of violating antitrust law by suppressing competition by threatening merchants with high fees and paying off potential rivals, according to Reuters. The DOJ seeks a court order barring these practices to restore competition for processing debit transactions. Julie Rottenberg, Visa's general counsel, says competition is thriving in the debit market. According to the report, prosecutors are seeking to block Visa from imposing pricing structures that discourage competition, and paying rivals not to compete, which prosecutors say will restore competition for services to process debit payments both online and at physical stores.

The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury is investigating an incident at the Knox County Property Assessor’s Office where a newly purchased laptop was reported stolen after the office was ransacked. According to Knox News, the missing laptop may have contained sensitive taxpayer information. The county’s IT department confirmed that the laptop was purchased outside of normal procedures and was not connected to the county’s internal network, which is uncommon practice and forbidden for most county offices. The incident has raised questions about the security and oversight of constitutional offices in Knox County. According to the report, whether the laptop factors into the state investigation remains to be determined, but if it contains taxpayers’ personal information, Knox County Property Assessor Phil Ballard implies it will likely come under scrutiny.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court, Lonesome Ten Miles LLC, an entity affiliated with Good Time Design Hospitality Group, challenged what it called “extortionate” Metro Nashville permitting policies. The developers alleged that Metro required the developer to replace a waterline along Division Street “at enormous expense” as a condition of its permits, according to the Nashville Banner. In the complaint, the plaintiff asked the court to award damages to cover the expense of the replaced waterline and alleged that it bore all the costs. Earlier this year, the Tennessee legislature passed a law giving developers the option of appealing offsite improvement conditions imposed by local utilities to the Tennessee Board of Utility Regulation. In recent years, Metro has paid out multiple settlements to developers who successfully sued over a city policy, according to the report.

Tennessee educators plan to meet with lawmakers this week to propose ideas for potential legislation, including a bill to allow the state to place students who make credible school threats in holding cells in juvenile detention facilities for up to three days. According to WKRN News, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security has investigated more than 320 school threats so far this year that were reported to their department. J.C. Bowman, executive director and CEO of Professional Educators of Tennessee, told the news outlet that school threats are negatively impacting students, staff and communities. “If it is a credible threat, we need to take action,” Bowman said.

Need a customized technology plan, review or practice management roadmap? Members can complete an electronic survey prepared by Affinity. Once the survey results are received, a call will be scheduled with the firm to discuss the results and get clarification, then a report will be prepared that considers every issue and topic revealed by the completed questionnaire with Affinity's recommendations. TBA members receive a member discount at time of consultation. Please request your Tennessee Bar Association Member discount. Get started in the Expert Advice section of TBA’s Law Firm in a Box.