The TBA will be closing at 3 p.m. CDT today and remain closed tomorrow, July 4, for Independence Day. The office will reopen Wednesday at 8 a.m. CDT. As always, our TBA.org website has plenty of continuing legal education options and other information available to you 24/7. Reach out to staff directly using contact information posted on our online staff directory.

The TBA Attorney Well Being Committee will host a free webinar on July 26 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. CDT to provide insight into how to find a therapist who fits your individual needs. Therapy can teach us how to have better inner dialogue, better understanding of our own quirks and foster better relationships as a result. Speakers include TBA Attorney Well Being Committee Chair Adam Hill, who handles estates and conservatorships and teaches lawyers about mindfulness techniques; Chase Pittman, a lawyer and leadership coach at Tin Man; and Lauren Castor, a clinical case manager with the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP). Get more information or register here.

The appellant is a property owner who sought review of a decision by the Metropolitan Historic Zoning Commission by filing a petition for writ of certiorari in chancery court. The chancery court affirmed the decision of the Historic Zoning Commission. The appellant property owner appeals. We affirm.

By a vote of 6-3 last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration overstepped its authority last year when it announced it would cancel up to $400 billion in student loans. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court in Biden v. Nebraska, characterizing the decision as a straightforward interpretation of federal law, SCOTUSblog reports. Justice Elena Kagan dissented in an opinion joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The Hill notes that Roberts included a note at the end of the majority opinion defending the legitimacy of the court and calling attacks on its "proper role" as "disturbing." Before issuing its ruling in the case brought by Nebraska and five other states, the court ruled unanimously in Department of Education v. Brown that two individual borrowers lacked standing to challenge the plan. Responding to the ruling, President Joe Biden this afternoon announced new plans to offer loan forgiveness through the Higher Education Act, which allows the education secretary to “compromise, waive or release” students loans. A public hearing on the plan is set for July 18. Biden also announced a repayment program for borrowers who miss payments when they resume this fall, The Hill reports.

Tennessee Bar Association members who have died recently are memorialized.

Justice Sharon G. Lee sat down with Tennessee Bar Journal Editor Julia Canada Wilburn to talk about her upcoming retirement and share highlights from her career as a lawyer, judge and Supreme Court justice.

Tennessee Bar Journal Editorial Board member Lynda O. Gilbert reviews Jeff Hobbs' Children of the State, which she says puts readers on an emotional and insightful ride through the American juvenile justice system.

We must be cognizant that the principles set forth in the Code of Judicial Conduct give us assurance that judicial independence remains an abiding obligation governing our judges. Walter Kurtz reminds us of the problems facing state judges as they confront contrary influences.

The Tennessee General Assembly codified Tennessee’s “loser pays” statute (the “statute”) in 2012. The statute provides that upon successfully granting a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the trial court must award the successful movant up to $10,000 for attorney’s fees incurred during the successful prosecution of the motion to dismiss. Everett Hixson III writes that in Donovan v. Hastings, the Tennessee Supreme Court strengthened the statute’s reach when it overturned the appellate court’s narrow reading of when attorney’s fees should be recovered.

Russell Fowler recounts a grisly chain of events that transpired in Rutherford County in the late 1800s, from a home invasion and murder to a dual hanging and questionable medical experiments.