The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated three lawyers this week who had been suspended for failing to complete annual continuing legal education requirements in 2023. View the reinstatement order or see the full list of those suspended and reinstated here.

Memphis Mayor-elect Paul Young has announced his transition team will include former Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong, former University of Memphis President David Rudd, Rhodes College President Jennifer Collins and Chris Winton, former chief people officer for FedEx, reports Local Memphis. According to a news release on Young’s website, the transition team represents "Young’s five pillars and other key focus areas." The release said more are expected to join the team in the coming weeks. "Diversity is a defining element of this team," said Young "It was important to pull together the best and brightest people from all neighborhoods and all facets of our community."

The Nashville Council accepted a $3.4 million state grant today that will partially reimburse Metro Police for the salaries of 62 existing school resource officers in Nashville's public middle and high schools, reports the Tennessean. The council approved the funding 23-12, with two abstentions. This year, 30 school resource officers have been assigned to Nashville's public middle schools while 16 — two per school — are assigned to Nashville's public high schools. The state grant will reimburse the Metro Nashville Police Department up to $75,000 per officer. Deputy Police Chief Chris Gilder said that the remaining $3 million will likely be used for officer overtime. Council members who voted against the bill cited contradictory language about the role officers would have in responding to discipline issues.

A Shelby County jury convicted the defendant, Frederick Peat, of aggravated rape, for which he received a sentence of twenty-five years in confinement. On appeal, the defendant contends the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction. The defendant also argues the trial court erred in preventing him from impeaching the victim with evidence of the victim’s prior convictions and in imposing an excessive sentence. After reviewing the record and considering the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The petitioner, Edward Dean, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received the effective assistance of counsel. After our review of the record, briefs, and applicable law, we affirm the denial of the petition.

This is a State appeal, filed by the State Attorney General and Reporter, from the entry of an order granting the petitioner’s, Courtney Anderson’s, motion to reopen his postconviction and amending/reducing his original sentence of 162 years, 11 months, and 29 days to a time served sentence of 25 years. The State appealed, arguing the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear the petitioner’s motion as it was barred by the one-year statute of limitations and the petitioner failed to prove the statute should be tolled. Additionally, the State submits that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to amend the petitioner’s sentence under the post-conviction statute and that the trial court’s actions amount to an improper commutation of the petitioner’s sentence. The petitioner contends that the State waived any challenge to the statute of limitations by failing to raise the issue below and that his claim meets the requirements of the statute and allows for the tolling of the statute, and therefore, the trial court properly granted the relief requested. Upon our thorough review of the applicable law and the briefs and arguments of both parties, we conclude that the instant petition is barred by the one-year statute of limitations and that the petitioner failed to establish and the trial court failed to find a proper basis for tolling the statute. Accordingly, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear the petitioner’s motion and amend the petitioner’s sentence. Therefore, we reverse the decision of the trial court, reinstate the petitioner’s original sentence, and remand this matter for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

The Community Legal Center (CLC) in Memphis will hold a fundraiser on Nov. 3. The CLCerveza event will take place at Grind City Brewing from 6-8 p.m. CDT. General tickets are available for $30. Client tickets can be sponsored for $20 apiece. All proceeds will go towards the CLC's work in providing legal services. Contact Austin Brown, 901-402-0509 with any questions.

Two former Memphis police officers are joining the City of Memphis' motion to dismiss the $550 million civil lawsuit brought against the city and others in the wake of Tyre Nichols' death, reports the Commercial Appeal. Attorneys for the officers argue that the lawsuit cites an incorrect constitutional amendment violation, that they are protected from the suit by the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act and that Nichols' mother does not have standing to sue on Nichols' behalf. Nichols was pulled over by Memphis police officers for reckless driving on Jan. 7 and was subsequently tased and beaten. He died three days later due to blunt-force trauma. The lawsuit was filed in late April and cites negligence and accuses MPD of having policies in place that would violate the civil rights of Memphians.

The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) announced in an email to U.S. law schools that it will delete the “logic games” section of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) exam in 2024, reports Reuters. The analytical reasoning section known as logic games will be replaced with an additional logical reasoning section in August 2024, the LSAC said. Logic games are viewed by many as the most difficult section of the LSAT to master. The elimination comes after the LSAC entered into a 2019 settlement with two blind LSAT takers who claimed the section violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because they could not draw the diagrams used to complete that portion of the test. The council had four years to replace the logic games with a new analytical reasoning section under the settlement.

Under the leadership of TBA YLD President Quinton Thompson, the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division launches its inaugural Diversity Law Week, March 11-16, 2024, across the state. We are calling upon local attorneys and judges to volunteer their time, providing high school students a unique opportunity to learn firsthand from professionals. Activities include a day with legal professionals, an immersive experience at a college or law school campus and an observation of local court proceedings. Our goal is to give high school students an early exposure to the legal world and a pathway to a career in law. The week's co-coordinators are Ariel Anthony, Erin Shackelford and Kevin Christopher. If you or your firm/organization are interested in hosting one or more high school students, please fill out this form. Contact TBA Young Lawyers Division & Law Student Development Coordinator Laura Labenberg with any questions.