Last year’s law firm merger total saw a slight increase over 2022, beating what had been the busiest year for mergers since the pandemic, Reuters reports. Some 48 deals were completed in 2023 — two more than 2022, according to new data from legal consultancy Fairfax Associates. Among the largest deals were Holland & Knight's tie-up with Nashville-based Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis and Dentons' combination with Indian law firm Link Legal. This year, at least nine other mergers are expected.

When Tennessee lawmakers gather at the capitol for the start of session next week, Senate Speaker Randy McNally will not be among them, State Affairs reports. Following doctor’s orders, the 79-year-old Republican will miss the first few weeks while he recovers from ankle surgery. Second-in-line Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, will preside over floor sessions. McNally says he will monitor session remotely from his home in Oak Ridge. The General Assembly is schedule to return on Jan. 9.

Those interested in running for an elected office with the Tennessee Bar Association or as a TBA delegate to the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates have until Feb. 15 to qualify for the 2024 ballot. Positions open this year on the TBA Board of Governors include a new vice president from the state's West Grand Division, four district governors and six grand division governors. For the ABA House of Delegates, four positions are available. To qualify for any of these roles, candidates must file a nominating petition, including the signatures of 25 TBA members in good standing, with the TBA executive director by emailing barED@tnbar.org, or by mail to 3310 West End Ave., Ste. 590, Nashville, TN 37203. The TBA’s website has more information on the election process and the list of available positions.

The TBA Law Tech Lunch & Learn Series will make its next stop in Memphis on March 15. The two-hour program will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) issues, including an introduction to AI and a discussion of how AI can be incorporated into law practice. A second session will feature Memphis attorney Greg Siskind discussing ethical considerations with AI. Registration and lunch will begin at 11:30 a.m. CST. The program will begin at noon. Can't make this one? The series travels to Nashville on Feb. 7.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his year-end report on the federal judiciary that "any use of AI requires caution and humility," reports USCourts.gov. "[L]egal determinations often involve gray areas that still require application of human judgment," Roberts said. "AI is based largely on existing information, which can inform but not make such decisions ... I predict that human judges will be around for a while." Read the report.

Elmore Nickelberry, a civil rights activist who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., died Saturday, Local Memphis reports. Nickelberry was one of the last surviving Memphis Sanitation Workers who went on strike for better working conditions in 1968 after two fellow workers were accidently killed. The strike drew King to Memphis where he marched in solidarity with the workers before being assassinated in April 1968. After the strike was settled, Nickleberry remained a sanitation worker for the city, retiring in 2018.

Davidson County lawyer Samuel Calvin Blink received a public censure today from the Tennessee Supreme Court. Blink represented a corporate client in filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition and filed the petition for bankruptcy but did not timely file the required schedules. Neither Blink nor the client appeared at the initial meeting of creditors despite notice. The court entered an order directing the required schedules to be filed but the schedules were not timely filed. Blink then filed a motion for his law partner’s pro hac vice admission, but the motion did not comply with the requirements of the court. After a show cause hearing, Blink was sanctioned by the bankruptcy court for this conduct.

The January/February issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal is now available online and arriving in mailboxes soon! This issue's cover story is on the "Big 3" of intellectual property law: Wesley Barbee, Samuel Raque and John Willis Stevens explore recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings in trademark, copyright and patent decisions. A feature story by Nashville School of Law 3L Emily Crawford focuses on the much-anticipated Blue Oval City outside Jackson and what Tennessee's eminent domain law might mean for local landowners. Eddy Smith brings us a second installment on death and taxes, covering more trusts and estates developments; Edward G. Phillips and Brandon L. Morrow ponder Tennessee's employment-at-will doctrine in light of the state Supreme Court's ruling in Smith v. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee; President Jim Barry turns his column's focus toward retirement and shares suggestions on how lawyers may choose to spend their time post-career; and we shine the spotlight on the Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition and how you can get involved!

A Knox County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, Seth Powell, of possession with intent to sell, deliver, or manufacture 15 grams or more of heroin within 1,000 feet of a park; possession with intent to sell, deliver, or manufacture fentanyl within 1,000 feet of a park; possession with intent to sell, deliver, or manufacture .5 grams or more of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a park; three counts of possession of a firearm with the intent to go armed during the commission of a dangerous felony; three counts of possession of a firearm with the intent to go armed during the commission of a dangerous felony after having been previously convicted of a dangerous felony; and evading arrest. The trial court merged various convictions and imposed an effective 16-year sentence. On appeal, the defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions, that the trial court erred in failing to exclude inadmissible hearsay evidence, that his separate convictions for possession of heroin and fentanyl should be merged because they were contained in the same mixture, and that his firearm convictions should be merged into one conviction. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court but remand to the trial court for entry of judgments in Counts 8, 10, 14, and 16 through 21, showing that the charges for those counts were dismissed by the State.

Following a Henderson County jury trial, Defendant, Trinces Eugene Hart, was convicted of three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He appeals, arguing the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court; however, we remand the case to the trial court for merger of the three counts into a single judgment of conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.