Join the Corporate Counsel section for its annual forum, full of the essential content for in-house attorneys. The program will be held virtually via Zoom, with topics including how the Corporate Transparency Act affects in-house counsel, guiding your company through a government investigation, the recent FTC guidance on noncompetes and no-poaching agreements, and what in-house counsel needs to know about parent/subsidiary relationships.

Schedule (all times Central Daylight Time):

9-10 a.m. — Navigating Compliance Requirements of the (Unconstitutional?) Corporate Transparency Act with Vince Schilleci
10-11 a.m. — Ethics Questions Encountered by In-House Lawyers, Including Issues Regarding Parent-Subsidiary Relationships with Steven Christopher (DUAL)
11 a.m. - Noon — Guiding Your Client Through a Government Investigation from A to Z with Tim Casey, Jeff Wheeler
Noon - 1p.m. — Non-Competes & Other Restrictive Covenants: Are we watching their demise due to attacks from the federal government and state/local legislatures? with Joe Shelton

Renea Jones has announced that she will run to represent Tennessee's Fourth District, which covers Unicoi County and much of Carter County, to replace outgoing Rep. John Holsclaw, an Elizabethton Republican in his fifth term who has said he does not plan to seek reelection. WJHL reports that Jones served on the Unicoi County School Board for 12 years and was elected president of the state school boards association. She has a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech and a master’s in crop science and integrated pest management from North Carolina State University and serves as chair of Unicoi County’s Farm Bureau. Jones will face Elizabethton Mayor Curt Alexander in the Aug. 4 Republican primary.

Nigel Lewis, an attorney supervisor in the Shelby County Public Defender’s Office, died March 17 at age 49 after a short cancer battle. He received his bachelor’s degree from Saint Leo University in Florida and later attended law school at Southern University and A&M in Louisiana. He also received a master's degree in tax law from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. began his legal career in a private firm where he worked for two years before moving to the public defender’s office. Lewis served there for 14 years until his death and worked in the direct representation unit, which handles clients charged with most serious felonies. Visitation and rosary will be held at Immaculate Conception, 1695 Central Ave., Memphis 38104 on Sunday. Visitation will begin at 5 p.m. CDT, and the rosary will start at 6:30 p.m. A funeral and celebration of life will be held Monday at Immaculate Conception at 1 p.m. The Daily Memphian has more.

Happy Spring! As the Adoption Law Section chair, thank you for being a member of the section and supporting adoption in Tennessee. This past September, our section held its annual Adoption Law Forum to a very well-attended audience. It was a successful in-person event covering an array of noteworthy topics, specifically extensive legislative changes, updates on case law and creating a trauma-informed law practice. If you missed it, you can catch up on those presentations in the TBA CLE Course Catalog; they are available either individually or as a convenient 1-Click Package. As we go forward this year, we plan to have our annual forum in the fall so we can capture all of this year's legislative changes.
 
Our section executive council has been working diligently on possible legislative initiatives, including collaborating with the Department of Health on much-needed changes to Title 68 as it relates to birth certificates, and collaborating with our legislative sponsors on doing some clean-up from last year's slew of changes. As always, our legislative proposals seek to improve Tennessee’s foster care and adoption systems. We welcome any input throughout the year to effectuate necessary legislative changes. 
 
Thank you for being part of our section. We hope to see you at the fall forum and, of course, welcome any ideas for future programming.

Lisa Collins

Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday signed the ELVIS Act at iconic Nashville country music venue Robert's Western World. The Ensuring Likeness, Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act is designed to protect songwriters, performers and other music industry professionals against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI). The Associated Press reports that the new law, which takes effect July 1, makes Tennessee, long known as the birthplace of country music and the launchpad for musical legends, the first state in the U.S. to enact such measures. Supporters say the goal is to ensure that AI tools cannot replicate an artist’s voice without their consent.

A nine-page report from Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower’s Local Government Audit Unit, released Thursday, says the Shelby County Clerk’s office has been using different software to record parts of the same transactions and for years has not reconciled conflicting dollar amounts in financial statements. In a press release announcing the findings, the comptroller’s office says that the clerk's office "is not utilizing the software to its full capabilities." The Daily Memphian reports that the clerk’s office also "lacks an understanding of its software system." Auditors also noted issues with reconciliations not being performed, a signature stamp being used on checks, employees deleting their own transactions without authorization, and a failure to properly track how much money the county is owed after bad checks are written by customers. Shelby County Trustee Regina Newman told the news outlet that the county government may hire an auditor to further reconcile the money it gets from County Clerk Wanda Halbert’s office, stating "that’s obviously a longer-term issue." According to the Commercial Appeal, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp, who was appointed to lead the investigation, told reporters Friday she learned things that give her "great concern" regarding Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert. "It makes sense that there are unhappy citizens and unhappy commissioners and unhappy elected officials, that makes sense to us at this point. There certainly are failures that must be fixed at some point whether that's through removal of office or not, we will make those decisions," Wamp said.

TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast is back with attorney and TBA lobbyist Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorneys and TBA lobbyists, Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin. They recap TBA's Day on the Hill, discuss HB2644/SB2633 (adoption clean-up bill), HB2002/SB2517 (Memphis judge bill) and funding for indigent representation. TBA President Jim Barry and Bedford County attorney Garrett Haynes testified before the House Civil Justice Committee during Day on the Hill. You can view their testimony at this link by clicking the Tennessee Bar Association tab. Legislative Updates airs each week on the TBA’s Facebook page. It is also released as a podcast on the same day and can be found on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Law Tech 2023 is now available as a 1-Click package. Topics covered include using technology to advance your practice, what role ChatGPT and artificial intelligence will play in legal document creation, a deep dive into remote ADR, and the ever-popular "Bill & Phil Show" with Bill Ramsey and Phillip Hampton. Earn 4.5 dual credit CLE hours with this four-part series.

The TBA's International Law Section will host its annual forum on May 17 in Nashville. Topics include a session on how to use the U.S. Federal Trade Office Market Diversification Tool, an introduction to practicing international law, and a discussion with Brie Knox, director of U.S. Commercial Service Tennessee/U.S. Department of Commerce/International Trade Administration. You won't want to miss this informative program, held in the beautiful Tennessee State Archives building, and don't forget that your section membership includes a discount on all section-sponsored CLE!

With the Tennessee Supreme Court’s recent decision to abolish a common law rule that required testimony of a criminal defendant’s accomplice to be supported by other evidence, the Tennessean looks at how this change could impact trials in the state. The piece quotes a number of criminal defense attorneys, as well as Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk, who says the change “has the potential to impact a large number of cases.” Read more reactions in the article.