Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday requested that President Donald Trump grant an expedited major disaster declaration for 23 Tennessee counties following impacts from Winter Storm Fern. The request seeks Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) public and individual assistance to support response and recovery efforts statewide. According to a news release, the expedited request covers counties where damage is already evident and expected to exceed federal assistance thresholds, allowing resources to reach Tennesseans more quickly. Damage assessments are ongoing and will determine whether additional counties qualify. The request includes Cheatham, Chester, Clay, Davidson, Decatur, Dickson, Hardeman, Hardin, Henderson, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Macon, McNairy, Maury, Perry, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Trousdale, Wayne, Williamson and Wilson counties.

The TBA will host its 21st Annual Bankruptcy Law Forum April 24 and 25 in Gatlinburg, offering a two-day educational retreat focused on developments in bankruptcy law. The program will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn and will feature presentations from bankruptcy judges and practitioners from across Tennessee and the Southeast, including judges from the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts in the Eastern, Middle and Western districts of Tennessee, as well as the Northern District of Georgia. The forum includes a full day of programming on April 24, followed by a networking reception and dinner, with additional sessions concluding late morning April 25. Lodging reservations must be made by March 24 to ensure availability. For more information visit the TBA website.

Unemployment rates remained below 5% in nearly every Tennessee county in December, with 91 of the state’s 95 counties reporting rates under that threshold, according to data released Thursday by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Rates declined from November in 87 counties, increased in six and remained unchanged in two, while only four counties posted unemployment rates of 5% or higher, led by Maury County at 5.7%. Williamson and Cheatham counties recorded the lowest rates in the state at 2.6%, followed by Sevier, Wilson, Rutherford, Dickson, Macon, Sumner, Knox and Haywood counties at 2.7%. Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate was 3.6% in December, though county rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Knoxville paid $579,327.40 in total to litigate and settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Anthony Thompson Jr., who was shot and killed by city police inside an Austin-East Magnet High School bathroom in 2021, Knox News reports. A federal judge finalized the settlement Jan. 15 and canceled a scheduled jury trial in which officers would have had to defend why they did not provide medical care to Thompson. In an earlier ruling, a federal judge determined the family could not sue over the officers’ use of force or the lawfulness of Thompson’s arrest, a decision later upheld by an appeals court.

The latest episode of BarBuzz focuses on legislative advocacy and what Tennessee lawyers can expect from the Tennessee Bar Association during the 2026 session of the General Assembly, featuring TBA lobbyists Berkley Schwarz, Ashley Harbin and Brad Lampley. Hosted by TBA’s Communications Coordinator Azya Thornton, the episode covers key priorities for the second session of the 114th General Assembly, including indigent representation funding, adoption and family law proposals, probate legislation, the elimination of the professional privilege tax, as well as TBA initiatives such as the Public Service Academy, Day on the Hill and LAWPAC. The discussion also outlines how TBA members can stay informed and engaged as legislation moves forward. Beginning next week, the TBA’s weekly Legislative Updates Podcast is back providing regular updates from the Capitol and analysis of issues affecting Tennessee lawyers. Listeners can catch past episodes of the podcast anytime in the BarBuzz archive.

A number of lawyers have been reinstated after being suspended for failing to complete continuing legal education requirements. They include 27 suspended in 2025, two suspended in 2024, one suspended in 2017, one suspended in 2014 and one suspended in 2013. The TBA has records of all administrative suspensions and reinstatements going back to 2005. See all lists here.

TBA members were sent an email today with a ballot for the two candidates running for TBA vice president. The email was sent from Intelliscan Inc. Members also were sent an email with profiles of the two candidates running for vice president. That email was sent from elections@tnbar.org. If you did not receive either email in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If either email indeed was not received, please contact elections@tnbar.org to request that the missing email(s) be resent. The candidate profiles also are available on the TBA website. Electronic voting begins today and will close on Feb. 13.

State Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, and Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Eads, have sponsored the Memphis Safe Task Force Accountability Act to require Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy to report on actions tied to felony cases originating from two federal initiatives: Operation Viper and the Memphis Safe Task Force. According to the Daily Memphian, the lawmakers are seeking information about any plea agreements entered, any charges that have been reduced, any cases that have been dismissed or any declinations of prosecution. Reports would be submitted to the Tennessee attorney general, the speakers of the House and Senate, the district attorneys general conference and the relevant U.S. attorney. Taylor said in a press release that if “cases are being dropped, reduced or quietly swept aside, the public has a right to know.” Mulroy responded to the proposal saying it would be “incredibly burdensome” to comply.

The Tennessee Bar Foundation has announced its 2026 grant awards have totaled more than $4 million — the largest grant amount in the history of the program. According to a news release, this year’s grants will go to 41 recipients, reaching residents in all Tennessee counties. Projects funded include individual legal representation, legal clinics and navigation, dispute mediation, housing advocacy, and specialized assistance for survivors of domestic violence. The funds, distributed through the IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts) program, provide critical resources for organizations that provide direct civil legal services to the poor and for programs that improve the administration of justice. With this latest round of funding, the foundation has awarded more than $34 million in grants since its inception. See the full list of grant recipients and read more in a news release from the foundation.

As artificial intelligence (AI) steadily seeps into U.S. courtrooms, a group of state and federal judges has joined forces to confront the technology, Reuters reports. The Judicial AI Consortium launched last week by U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell in Colorado, U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez in Texas and Judge Scott Schlegel of Louisiana’s 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The group aims to connect judges nationwide to swap ideas, discuss emerging risks and share how they are using AI on the bench. “GenAI is here, and we have to start thinking through proper use cases,” Schlegel said. According to Braswell, about 90 judges already have expressed interest. The group will hold its first meeting in February.