A recent hearing before a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation — chaired by Sen. Marsha Blackburn — explored the secondary ticket market. Members heard from singer Kid Rock who criticized the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster and said the companies have not kept their promise to keep ticket prices affordable. He also called on Congress to open a formal investigation into the deals between artists, promoters, venues, ticketing companies, agencies and vendors, alleging such an inquiry would reveal "mountains of fraud and abuse." Blackburn has introduced the "Main Event Ticketing Act," which would and require Live Nation to report successful bot attacks to the Federal Trade Commission according to Axios Nashville. Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation requiring total ticketing fees to be disclosed upfront. The Trump administration also has made eliminating price gouging in ticket sales a top priority. Chattanooga CW has more on the hearing.

Christopher A. Call is the new clerk of court for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, according to Chattanoogan.com. He replaces William T. Magill, who retired over the weekend. Call has served as the chief deputy clerk since 2021 in the Chattanooga office. He previous clerked for Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge J. Steven Stafford, then-Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Jeffrey Bivins, U.S. Magistrate Judge Juliet Griffin and Bankruptcy Judge Shelley D. Rucker. Chief Judge Suzanne H. Bauknight thanked Magill for his more than 28 years of service to the court, including 11 years as clerk. She also announced that Caitlin Ray would succeed Call as chief deputy clerk. Ray joined the court’s Knoxville office as operations manager in 2022.

A third Democratic candidate has emerged for state House District 59, which sits along the southern edges of Davidson County. Beth West, a Democratic Party organizer and former nonprofit executive, joins Rick Ewing and Mark Proctor in seeking the seat being vacated by Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville. Republican Bill Hancock also is running in the Aug. 6 primary according to the Nashville Banner. West says the 2022 court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the 2023 Covenant School shooting motivated her to get involved in politics.

A total of 445 youth spent at least one night in the offices of the Tennessee Department of Children's Services (DCS) in 2025. The Tennessean reports that the average office stay was around a week, while the longest topped out at 102 days. DCS says that an influx of high-need cases and the closure of several transitional homes contributed to the 400% increase over 2024 numbers. The issue has been under scrutiny since 2021 when it was first revealed that hundreds of kids were spending the night in offices. In early 2023, the department told lawmakers that childen were no longer sleeping in offices, save for a few in Shelby County who would be placed soon. The practice began again in November 2023 according to the paper.

The Putnam County Bar Association kicked off the new year with a meeting on Jan. 22. The following leaders were elected for 2026: President Russell Tribble, Vice President Taylor Beth Gothard, Treasurer Dale Bohannon and Secretary Rachel Moses. Tribble practices as an assistant district attorney with the Office of the District Attorney General for the 13th Judicial District. Gothard practices with the Law Office of Joy Buck Gothard. Bohannon practices with the Law Office of Dale Bohannon. Moses practices with the Legal Aid Society. All are in Cookeville.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Jan. 22 suspended 22 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee, 12 of whom also failed to file proof that client funds are held in an IOLTA-compliant account. View the fee suspension order and IOLTA suspension order. Lawyers reinstated in the last month include nine suspended in 2025 and one suspended in 2021. Access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.

The Tennessee Supreme Court currently is considering a range of potential changes to regulation of the state's legal profession. In response, the TBA has formed the Legal Access and Regulatory Reform Task Force to consider the issues, and make recommendations for any proposed action to the TBA Board of Governors. Members are encouraged to become familiar with the issues as well and provide feedback to the task force. Comments to the task force should be submitted via email to townhall@tnbar.org. Comments also may be filed directly with the court. Visit TBA's Legal Access & Regulatory Reform resource page to learn more about the areas the court is reviewing.

New Memphis Bar Association (MBA) leaders recently took office at the group’s Annual Meeting. They are: President and Shelby County Attorney Marlinee Iverson; Vice President Matt May with Rosenblum & Reisman; Secretary/Treasurer Justin Joy, a shareholder at Lewis Thomason; and Immediate Past President Lauran Stimac with Evans Petree. Six board members also took office: Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court Judge Taylor Bachelor, Will Gibbons with the City of Memphis, Mathew Jehl with Burch, Porter & Johnson, Charles Mitchell with Black McLaren Ryland & Griffee, Amber Griffin Shaw with Harris Shelton and Van Turner with Turner Feild Law. Read more in a news release from the group and see photos from the meeting.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division is hosting a Leadership and Law Academy in Chattanooga! The academy is for all high school students in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades. Qualified students must be interested in pursuing a legal career and be motivated learners who actively participate in school classes. The academy will take place during a teacher in-service day on March 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT.  Applicants must be available to attend the entire day and have parent permission to participate. The academy will provide students with an opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge about the legal system, meet local judges and lawyers, and learn about legal careers. There is no cost to attend. Interested students should apply here by Feb. 20.

Knox County lawyer Carey Davis Patin was reinstated to the practice of law on Jan. 21 after being on inactive status since Aug. 4, 2020. Patin filed a reinstatement petition, which the Board of Professional Responsibility found to be satisfactory.