We hope to see you on Oct. 18 for the TBA Creditors Practice Annual Forum in Nashville! We have a stellar lineup of speakers and topics for this year's program. The day will begin with a hot-topic presentation by Zack Glaser on artificial intelligence (AI) and its advantages, limitations and ethical considerations within the legal sphere. He will discuss specific use cases for LLMs, AI and machine learning in the creditors rights industry, including document management, litigation analysis, e-discovery and general productivity. Dan Puryear will present on charging orders and theories of successor liability, and Walt Winchester and David Anthony will follow with a session discussing the use of contractual and statutory liens to increase likelihood of payment. The day will end with a presentation by Griffin Dunham and Gray Waldron providing tips that debtors' lawyers don't want creditors to know. There will be a networking reception immediately following the program offering wine, beer, soft drinks, snacks and more. 

Reserve your spot by registering today.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today suspended Shelby County lawyer Brian Chadwick Rickman from the practice of law for five years, with two years to be served on active suspension and three years on probation. The court took the action based on six disciplinary complaints, including that Rickman failed to ensure the safekeeping of client funds, protect clients against misconduct by his supervising employer, and report supervisors’ misconduct to the court or the Board of Professional Responsibility. He also failed to comply with court orders directing the disbursement of client funds, comply with requests for information from the board and notify the court and opposing counsel of his suspension. Rickman agreed to a conditional guilty plea acknowledging his conduct violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.2, 1.15, 3.4, 5.1, 8.1(b), 8.3 and 8.4(d) and (g).

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated two lawyers on Friday and one lawyer today who had been suspended for failing to complete annual continuing legal education requirements. View the Sept. 8 order and the Sept. 11 order to see two reinstated after meeting requirements for 2022, and the Sept. 8 order for one meeting requirements for 2021.

The Biden administration formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to overturn a ruling from a federal appeals court that would limit the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, The Hill reports. The manufacturer of the brand name pill, Danco Laboratories, also filed an appeal with the court. In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the drug could stay on the market in states where abortion is legal, but struck down changes made in 2016 to expand access. The appeals court said those changes did not follow proper procedure. Its decision, however, remains on hold while the Supreme Court decides whether to take up the case.

JOHN K. BUSH, Circuit Judge. Therese Waters, on behalf of her daughter Kelly Waters, sought judicial review of the Medicare Appeals Council’s denial of Waters’s Medicare Part B claim. Her claim was for Vitaflo Homocystinuria Cooler, an orally consumed enteral nutrition formula that provides her with necessary protein to compensate for her limited liver functionality. The Council's decision is considered the final decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. That ruling affirmed the denial of Waters's claim by an Administrative Law Judge, which in turn affirmed decisions of a Medicare Administrative Contractor and a Qualified Independent Contractor. On judicial review, the district court granted summary judgment for the Secretary-holding that the Secretary’s decision was based on substantial evidence and contained no legal error. We AFFIRM.

Defendants appeal from the entry of a $650 million judgment on an Ohio law claim in this multidistrict litigation matter involving the opioid epidemic. Because neither side addressed the issue of certification in their briefs, we ordered supplemental briefing. Following review, we sua sponte certify a question of law to the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio.

Eric Munchel, the Nashville man known as "zip-tie guy," has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol — one of the longest sentences imposed for activities that day, the Tennessean reports. Munchel was sentenced to 57 months of incarceration and three years of supervised release. His mother, Lisa Eisenhart, received 30 months of incarceration with three years of supervised release. Both also were ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution. Munchel is one of 26 Tennesseans charged or sentenced. Read about the other cases here.

KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judge. Fillmore County Park in Genoa Charter Township, Michigan, includes a fifteen-station “Leopold the Lion Reading Trail”—with a series of large signs that, as one walks along the path, tell “the entire story” of Leopold. Meanwhile, on a wooded 40-acre property a few miles away, Catholic Healthcare, Inc. created a prayer trail with fourteen “Stations of the Cross”—depicting the story of Christ’s last day. That trail the Township chose to treat as the zoning equivalent of a church building—for which, the Township insisted, Catholic Healthcare must apply for a “special land use” permit. At considerable expense, Catholic Healthcare has submitted two such applications—both of which the Township denied. The Township also forced Catholic Healthcare to remove all the Stations of the Cross, along with a stone altar and mural, from its prayer trail.

In this appeal, Catholic Healthcare seeks a preliminary injunction allowing it to restore the Stations of the Cross, altar, and mural to its prayer trail—relief for which it moved in the district court some two years ago. The district court has twice denied that request, most recently holding that—notwithstanding all the events described above—Catholic Healthcare’s free-exercise and statutory claims are unripe. We reverse that holding and grant Catholic Healthcare’s request for an injunction. We also reject the Township’s cross-appeal.

The Defendant, Roger Scott Herbison, entered a guilty plea to one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of attempted aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor in exchange for an effective four-year sentence, suspended to probation, and the Defendant’s placement on the sex offender registry. As a part of his plea, the Defendant sought to reserve a certified question of law, concerning whether probable cause existed for issuance of a search warrant, which was the subject of an unsuccessful suppression motion. Because the Defendant did not properly reserve a certified issue for review, we are without jurisdiction to review the merits of the Defendant’s claim, and we dismiss his appeal.

This appeal arises from a will contest by the decedent’s children. Counsel for the contestants and counsel for the executrix engaged in settlement negotiations on behalf of their clients. The executrix submitted a motion to enforce the settlement. After an evidentiary hearing on the motion, the Probate Court granted the motion and entered an order of voluntary dismissal of the contestants’ claims with prejudice. The contestants appeal. We affirm.