The Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts (VLPA) has an upcoming Pro Bono Legal Clinic on May 1 from 6-8pm CDT at the Country Music Association, 35 Music Square East #201, Nashville 37203. Volunteering would involve meeting with income-qualified artists (in 30-minute appointment slots) to answer their legal questions. Legal clinic clients most frequently need assistance with contract review, business entity formation, copyrights and trademarks. Attorneys will not be asked to maintain ongoing attorney-client relationships with any of the clients. To volunteer, email vlpa@abcnashville.org or fill out this volunteer intake form.

This matter concerns prior restraint on speech. Patrick M. Malone (“Father”) is a party to an action in the Chancery Court for Williamson County (“the Trial Court”) against maternal grandparents James William Rose and Jennie Adams Rose (“Respondents”) concerning Father’s minor child, Rosie (“the Child”). Father’s father, Michael P. Malone (“Petitioner”), testified voluntarily at a hearing on Father’s motion to set bail pending appeal of Father’s convictions for criminal contempt. In two written orders, the Trial Court ordered Petitioner not to discuss the legal proceedings of Father’s case with the Child. Petitioner, a non-party, filed a petition for writ of certiorari in this Court seeking reversal of the Trial Court’s orders against him as he contends they were improper. We granted the petition. The Trial Court’s restrictions lack an adequate evidentiary basis. In addition, the Trial Court erred in abridging Petitioner’s constitutional right to free speech when Petitioner is a non-party who lacked the benefit of notice or a hearing. We reverse the provisions of the Trial Court’s orders dated August 15, 2023 and August 17, 2023 restraining Petitioner from discussing the legal proceedings of Father’s case with the Child.

This is an appeal from a final order entered on November 3, 2023. The notice of appeal was not filed with the Appellate Court Clerk until December 8, 2023, more than thirty days after the date of entry of the order from which the appellant is seeking to appeal. Because the notice of appeal was not timely filed, we have no jurisdiction to consider this appeal.

This appeal arises from a breach of contract action wherein the appellee was directed to deposit funds owed to the appellant with the Clerk and Master. The appellee claimed an interest in some of the deposited funds pursuant to a separate contract. The trial court granted a default judgment in favor of the appellee for the requested amount. Because the appellant failed to comply with the briefing requirements set out in Rule 27 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure and Rule 6 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals of Tennessee, we dismiss the appeal.

A mother and a father appeal the termination of their parental rights. The juvenile court found clear and convincing evidence of four statutory grounds for termination of the mother's parental rights and five statutory grounds for termination of the father's parental rights. The court also determined termination was in the child's best interest. After a thorough review, we vacate and remand for further proceedings.

In case you missed it, recordings from last bar year’s TBA Entertainment & Sports Law Forum are available on-demand as individual videos or in a convenient 1-Click CLE package. Topics include the American sports betting boom and developments in Tennessee’s betting framework; litigating copyright claims in the Copyright Claims Board; producer agreements with an inside look at licensing beats, sampling clearance, and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence in production technique and innovation; and best practices for maximizing attorney well-being and mental health. TBA Entertainment & Sports Law section members always receive a discount on CLE programs produced by the section.

Former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland will be the new head of the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis, reports the Daily Memphian. The announcement follows the law school telling staff Strickland was the preferred candidate in an email two weeks ago. Strickland is an alumnus of both the law school and the university, and he was a practicing attorney until he became mayor in 2016. Strickland will join the law school’s faculty as a professor of practice April 8 and become dean June 1. Current Dean Katharine T. Schaffzin announced to the law school community in August of last year that she would step down at the end of the school year.

Dear Colleagues, 
 
First, and most importantly, thank you for your work on behalf of children and families in Tennessee. You are quite literally the glue that is holding an incredibly fragile system together right now. You are also the best bet we have to strengthen the system for safe children and families in Tennessee, and don’t we have so many ways to do that?!?
 
First, let’s work together to improve resources for guardian ad litems and parents’ counsel, shall we? Please share your experiences with me via email so we can share them with policy makers in Nashville. Also, please contact your legislators personally; you can contact me any time for forms to use to call, fax or email your representatives. 
 
Second, we want to know how the TBA can better support you. Please send me your ideas for CLE topics, networking events or resources you need to be your best for your child and parent clients, as well as other ideas to improve our section and our area of industry.
 
Let’s tackle these first and go from there. Thank you for staying committed to a challenging practice. You are making the world a better place, and I appreciate you. 
 
Best, 
Stacie Odeneal

A national group representing the Satanic Temple filed a lawsuit against Memphis-Shelby County Schools alleging it violated the organization’s First Amendment right to free assembly when it blocked the After School Satan Club (ASSC) from meeting at Chimneyrock Elementary School. According to the Tennessee Lookout, a representative of the group contacted school district officials in November of last year to request space for club meetings at the same rate charged to other after-school groups, including the Good News Club, a group sponsored by Child Evangelism Fellowship. The lawsuit alleges Memphis Schools charged ASSC “exorbitant” fees, including a $2,045 “special security fee” for additional security officers if it wanted to host a meeting, while not assessing a similar fee to other nonprofit organizations meeting at school facilities.

A bill that would increase the penalty for making a threat of mass violence against a Tennessee school has passed the House 90-0. WCYB reports that the bipartisan HB2198/SB2263, introduced by Rep. Bo Mitchell, D-Nashville, and Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, "increases the penalty from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony," according to Mitchell. The Senate Judiciary Committee was set to take up the bill this week but deferred it to next week.