The Tennessee Bar Foundation has opened the 2026–2027 grant application process for the Tennessee Legal Initiatives Fund (TLIF). Launched in 2018, the grant program focuses on projects that broaden the capacity of organizations across the state that help break the cycle of poverty and overcome barriers to justice through civil legal services and education. The 2026-2027 application features three distinct funding categories designed to meet the diverse needs of service providers. Prospective grantees may apply in the Rapid Innovation, Capacity Building & Readiness, or Implementation & Scaling categories. Interested organizations may review eligibility requirements and information on the foundation’s website. The deadline to submit grant applications is May 8 at 11:59 p.m. CDT. Read more in a news release from the foundation and email info@tnbarfoundation.org with any questions.

The Tennessee Bar Association is now accepting nominations for three awards that will be presented at its 2026 Annual Convention. The Claudia Jack Award honors an outstanding public defender or court-appointed private practitioner who has served the legal community and clients in an exemplary fashion. It is named after the late Claudia Jack, a public defender and long-time champion of the poor and underprivileged. The Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award is given to a judge or judicial branch official of a federal, state or local court in Tennessee who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion and dedication to the improvement of the law, the legal system and the administration of justice, as exemplified by the career of former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Frank Drowota. Submit nominations for either of these two awards by April 6. The Fourth Estate Award honors courageous reporting on justice and the law. Nominees must be Tennessee-based journalists who have shown exemplary courage in exercising First Amendment rights in the promotion of public understanding of how the law and our legal system works, or how it should work, as demonstrated by a story or series of related stories published in 2025. Read more about the award in TBA's press release. Submit nominations for the Fourth Estate Award online by April 30. Access the submission forms for each award on the pages linked above.

The Tennessee Bar Association again this year will honor the work of Tennessee journalists through the Fourth Estate Award, which honors courageous reporting on justice and the law. This year's prize, honoring reporting in 2025, includes a $250 honorarium for the winner. The TBA strongly supports freedom of expression under the First Amendment, as exercised by lawyers on behalf of their clients and by journalists on behalf of the public, and particularly wants to recognize and encourage journalists who promote public understanding of the rule of law and our system of justice through vigorous exercise of their First Amendment rights. The deadline for entry is April 30. Submit a nomination here. Attorneys who have relationships with reporters or observed a particularly compelling piece of journalism in 2025 are encouraged to submit a nomination. Read about past recipients here and read the TBA's full press release.

Democrat-sponsored legislation that would restore voting rights for formerly incarcerated people passed with bipartisan support in the state Senate, the Nashville Post reports. SB336/HB687 would remove a current requirement that individuals returning from incarceration have to pay off outstanding court fees in order to restore their voting rights. It also restructures a current requirement that those individuals must be caught up on any child support payments. Under the legislation, they would be required to be compliant with child support orders only within the past year. A House version of the bill passed the Judiciary Committee last month and is waiting further action.

TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast returns with attorneys and TBA lobbyists Berkley Schwarz of Pier Strategies LLC and Brad Lampley of Adams & Reese. This week they discuss TBA's Day on the Hill, happening next Wednesday; the extrajudicial adoptions bill HB1263/SB1238; real estate bills HB569/SB394, HB1970/SB1985 and HB1762/SB1707; TBA's adoption bill SB2165/HB2350; a probate bill SB2184/HB2451; and a family law bill SB2324/HB2429. Tune in on the TBA website or through this link. Attorneys may support the TBA’s lobbying efforts by contributing to LAWPAC.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the convictions of one of the men who fatally shot Memphis rapper Young Dolph — whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr. — in 2021, the Daily Memphian reports. A jury convicted Justin Johnson, known as “Straight Drop” in 2024 of shooting the rapper. He was sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 35 years. Johnson appealed the conviction, challenging the prosecutors’ evidence against him. Read the appeals court opinion. Hernandez Govan, the accused mastermind of the plot to kill the rapper, was found not guilty by a jury in 2025.

The city of Nashville has renamed a stretch of road from 8th Avenue South to Music Square West in the Edgehill neighborhood for civil rights activist King Hollands. It will now be known as King Hollands Avenue, the Nashville Banner reports. In 1954, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Hollands was one of the first 14 African American students to attend the previously all-white Father Ryan High School. Six years later, he took part in Nashville's lunch counter sit-ins, helping to draw attention to the racial segregation of downtown businesses, enduring insults, threats and physical violence. At a ceremony unveiling the new street sign, Hollands’ fellow sit-in participant Gloria McKissack was on hand to share her memories. "King Hollands was a dear friend and a colleague. He stood by me and helped me in so many ways." Hollands died in 2023.

This week is Civic Learning Week and the American Bar Association and iCivics are celebrating by making resources available to help lawyers promote civics education. The designation of the week is designed to highlight the important role civics education plays in sustaining and strengthening constitutional democracy in the United States. To learn more, visit civiclearningweek.org. In related news, the theme for this year’s Law Day celebration has been announced. “The Rule of Law and the American Dream” embodies the idea that no person is above the law — a founding principle that ensures the rights of people to live their lives as freely as possible and to pursue their dreams. Learn more in the recent Law Day Launch program, which can be streamed online.

In a filing Thursday, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee laid out the government’s justification for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention of Nashville journalist Estefany Rodríguez. The brief was submitted in response to a show-cause order from District Court Judge Eli Richardson. In it, the prosecutor argues that Rodríguez has not exhausted all administrative remedies because she has not had a bond hearing yet, that agents did not arrest Rodríguez without a warrant, and that the arrest was not in retaliation for her work as a journalist. Read more from the Nashville Banner. 

Birmingham-based law firm Bradley, with offices in Knoxville and Nashville, has launched an Outside General Counsel Services team to provide businesses with day-to-day legal and compliance support. Dallas-based Corporate & Securities partner Jeffrey M. Harvey will lead the team. In a news release announcing the move, Harvey says the team will bring “right-sized resources to emerging or mid-size businesses with limited or no in-house legal resources” and strengthen existing legal teams to “ensure continuity and scalability.” The team will draw on the expertise of the firm’s more than 750 lawyers to offer a range of services including entity formation, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, risk mitigation, trade compliance, securities obligations, employment matters, intellectual property protection, and litigation management.