LegalOn Technologies announced today that a new study shows the AI chatbot GPT-4 outperforms most aspiring lawyers on the legal ethics exam required by most states to practice law, reports Reuters. GPT-4 answered 74% of the questions correctly on a simulated Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), compared with a 68% average among human test takers. LegalOn Technologies sells the AI software that reviews contracts. Reuters reports other studies have found that GPT-4 can pass the bar exam and improve speed on legal writing assignments but did not bolster the quality of law students' work.

The TBA Criminal Law Forum will take place virtually this year on Dec. 6 at noon CST. This year’s event will focus on the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s 2023 Plea Bargain Task Force report, featuring a discussion on the origins of the task force, ethical considerations and the 14 principles that represent the task force’s conclusions. Panelists will provide specific observations and recommendations about ways in which the plea-bargaining system can and should be improved. The program features two dual hours of CLE. Learn more and register here.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division will launch its inaugural statewide Diversity Law Week March 11-16 and is looking for attorneys and judges to provide high school students with a unique opportunity to learn firsthand from professionals. Students will shadow legal professionals during the week as well as engage in an immersive experience at a college or law school campus and observe a court proceeding. The goal of the program is to give high school students early exposure to the legal world and resources for a career in law. Those interested in volunteering to help the program are asked to register online. Contact TBA Young Lawyers Division & Law Student Development Coordinator Laura Labenberg with any questions.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee today announced two judicial appointments to state courts. Murfreesboro lawyer Terry Fann has been named to the 16th Judicial District Circuit Court. An attorney at Waldron, Fann & Parsley, Fann earned his law degree from the University of Memphis School of Law. The vacancy on the court, which serves Rutherford and Cannon counties, was due to the retirement of Judge J. Mark Rogers. In addition, Brentwood lawyer Erin Nations has been named to the 21st Judicial District Circuit Court. Nations currently serves as an attorney at Beal, Nations & Crutcher. She earned her law degree from the Nashville School of Law. The vacancy on this court, which serves Williamson County, was due to the retirement of Judge Michael W. Binkley.

The manhunt continues for Johnson City businessman Sean Williams, who is accused of sexually assaulting more than 50 unconscious women and two young children. While being transported to a federal court appearance in Greeneville on child rape charges, Williams escaped and remains a fugitive. His apprehension is now a top priority for federal law enforcement, WJHL reports. Willams’ arrest is at the center of multiple lawsuits, including one from a former federal prosecutor who claims police failed to investigate him for years and one from a group of alleged victims who says police knowingly failed to investigate multiple complaints and dissuaded women from pursuing charges. The city is also dealing with a “scathing audit” from an outside auditing firm that “exposed systemic failures in the way police investigated sexual assaults,” according to the Tennessean, which has released a lengthy report on the case.

Tennessee family law attorney Anne Hamer has released a new book “Fearless Freedom, A Divorced Lawyer’s Guide to Divorce.” As a seasoned divorce attorney who has navigated the legal complexities and emotional turbulence of divorce both professionally and personally, Hamer says she wrote the book as a guide for readers to embrace change, face the challenges of divorce with courage and resilience, and achieve empowerment in their lives. Hamer currently practices law in Memphis and Nashville. She graduated from University of Tennessee at Knoxville and the New York University School of Law in 1996. Read more in a release. Contact Hamer at 901-818-8600, 615-723-5650 or through her website.

Knoxville lawyer and former TBA President Tasha Blakney has been named the next executive director of the Knoxville Bar Association (KBA), the association announced today. She will join the KBA as its full-time director in mid-January, following the retirement of long-time director Marsha Watson, who served in the role for more than 30 years. Blakney has practiced law in Knoxville since graduating from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1999. She is a co-founding member of the law firm of Eldridge & Blakney PC, where she has practiced as a litigator for more than 20 years. She has served as president of the KBA and in leadership positions with other local, state and national bar associations. She was TBA’s 143rd president from 2022 to 2023 and currently serves on the TBA Board of Governors as immediate past president. Blakney said she looks “forward to continuing the KBA’s long legacy of service to the bar and the community.” Read more in a release from the group.

Defendant, Tailor James Simpson, appeals the trial court’s order revoking his probationary sentence for aggravated burglary and possession of methamphetamine with the intent to sell or deliver. Following our review of the entire record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

In 2013, the Petitioner, Marcus Anthony Robey, pleaded guilty to evading arrest and criminal impersonation in exchange for an effective sentence of eleven months and twenty- nine days. In a bifurcated proceeding, a jury convicted the Petitioner of aggravated robbery following which he pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. For these convictions he received concurrent thirty- and fifteen-year sentences, respectively. State v. Robey, No. M2015-00306-CCA-R3-CD, 2016 WL 4487954, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Aug. 25, 2016), perm. app. denied (Tenn. 2016). Thereafter, the Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, claiming that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel, that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction related to the indictment, and that the State withheld evidence resulting in prosecutorial misconduct. The post-conviction court denied his petition after a hearing. After review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment.

The Petitioner, Jerry P. Haley, appeals from the Lauderdale County Circuit Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus from his convictions for aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated criminal trespass and his effective sixty-year sentence. The Petitioner contends that the habeas corpus court erred by dismissing his petition. We affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court.