The 20th annual TBA Leadership Law (TBALL) program has launched their annual call for nominations for the 2024 class. Nominees should have from 5 to 15 years of experience in practice. Nominations are due Oct. 2. Last year, 33 lawyers from across the state were accepted into the program. TBALL programming will kick off in January 2024 with an opening retreat at Henry Horton State Park and end in June with class commencement during the TBA Annual Convention in Memphis. Read more about the program here or contact Paul Burch for more information.

The Tennessee Bar Association supports 33 sections, specialized groups that focus on a particular legal or practice area. Each of these sections provides its members with a number of resources and activities, from continuing legal education to news, information and advocacy. Each section has a leadership team called the executive council that directs the activity of the section. This role serves the organization and also provides leadership, networking and CLE opportunities. If you are interested in becoming a member of a section leadership executive council, please complete this form to share your expertise and grow your career with the TBA! If you have additional questions you may contact Lorne Hiller, YLD Sections Liaison. 

A Davidson County jury on Friday found a former security guard not guilty of murder in a fatal shooting outside a Nashville restaurant where he was working, reports the Associated Press. Nathan Glass faced an indictment for second-degree murder in the death of Deangelo Knox, who was engaged in a shootout outside the Pharmacy Burger Parlor & Beer Garden. Prosecutors argued that Knox was fleeing assailants who were firing on him. Glass’s attorneys contended he was protecting himself and patrons when Knox turned toward the restaurant holding a gun. A lawsuit filed by Knox’s family against Glass was settled privately. Glass had been admitted to the police academy prior to the shooting. His entry into the program was paused during the investigation. He resigned in 2021.

Donald Trump and 18 others were indicted by a grand jury in Georgia Monday night in connection with efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state, the Associated Press reports. The 41-count indictment includes charges of violating the state’s racketeering act and soliciting a public officer to violate their oath. Defendants include Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump’s former personal lawyer, and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. The charges carry a minimum penalty of five years in prison. Trump has been given until noon Aug. 25 to turn himself in to authorities in Fulton County. Trump is currently facing three other criminal indictments. 

Save the date for the Juvenile & Children's Law Forum to be held via Zoom on Oct. 27. This program is designed for newer Juvenile & Children's Law practitioners and will feature topics such as adverse childhood experiences and secondary trauma, guardian ad litem basics and neglect actions, guardian ad litem work in termination of parental rights cases, and much more. Visit the course page to register.

Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Ferrell Haile announced yesterday he has drafted legislation that would make any threat of violence against four or more people a felony, reports the Tennessean. Threats would include the use of firearms, vehicles, a bomb or other weapon. Penalties would be increased for threats against schools, churches, government buildings or other locations where 250 or more people gather daily. Currently, a threat of mass violence at a school is a misdemeanor offense. Haile plans to file the bill during the Tennessee General Assembly’s upcoming special session.

Quinton Thompson, president of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and an attorney at the Memphis office of Morgan & Morgan, has earned a place among the American Bar Association’s On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyers. Quinton's deep commitment to the legal arena, forward-thinking approach, and exemplary leadership has set him apart on the national front.  Learn more about the recognition program.

Retired NFL star Michael Oher, whose supposed adoption out of poverty by a wealthy, white family was immortalized in the 2009 movie "The Blind Side," told a Tennessee court last week that a central element of the story was a lie concocted by the family to enrich itself at his expense. The 14-page petition, filed in Shelby County Probate Court, alleges that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, who took Oher into their home as a high school student, never adopted him. Instead, the petition says, the couple tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators, which gave them legal authority to make business deals in his name, including millions of dollars from the movie. Oher is now petitioning the court to end the conservatorship and bar the Tuohy family from using his name and likeness. ESPN has more on the story. The Daily Memphian reports that Sean Tuohy responded to the allegations saying, “We’re devastated. It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children. But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.” Asked if he would support ending the conservatorship, Tuohy said, “Of course. I want whatever Michael wants.”

Memphis Area Legal Services will host its Attorney of the Day clinic this Thursday beginning at 1 p.m. CDT. During the clinic, volunteer attorneys will meet with pro se litigants to provide help and make referrals. Clients are seen on a first come first serve basis. The clinic takes place in Room 134 of the Judge D'Army Bailey Courthouse, 140 Adams Ave., Memphis 38103. Volunteer attorneys are needed to help. Sign up here.

The Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed a reinstatement petition filed by Blount County lawyer Charles David Deas on Aug. 8. Deas was suspended on Oct. 12, 2020, and remained suspended until the court transferred his law license to disability inactive status on March 18, 2022. The Board of Professional Responsibility opposed reinstatement. The court agreed, saying Deas failed to provide a factual or legal basis for reinstatement; that he failed to attach evidence demonstrating a change in his physical or mental health; and that he sought relief only from the temporary suspension, which was dissolved when he was transferred to disability inactive status.