Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is calling for an accelerated trial date for a lawsuit that challenges the new state law blocking minors from accessing gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapies. The law is set to go into effect July 1. The lawsuit, brought by several Tennessee families and Memphis physician Dr. Susan Lacy, was joined by the Department of Justice. Read more at the Tennessean.

The Second Quarter Restoration Clinic will be held at the Bordeaux-North Community Justice Center in Nashville, 2013 25th Ave. N. in Room 23, on Saturday, May 6, at 9 a.m. CDT. The clinic will offer pro bono legal counseling as well as a job fair. To get on the docket, call the Criminal Court Compliance Division at 615-880-3838. Registration is required by May 5 at 2:30 p.m. The event is limited to the first 100 registrants. Read more about the clinic.

The 27th Annual Labor & Employment Forum is tomorrow in Nashville. Bonus? It's not downtown, so if you're not a Swiftie, you can avoid the traffic! This is a terrific opportunity to learn from some of the top professionals and judges in the labor and employment arena who will provide practical insight on emerging trends and critical issues. This year’s program features topics such as the new NLRB, FLSA case law update, a judicial panel of both state and federal judges, the ins and outs of effective mediations, and an ethics presentation on interviewing witnesses within the workplace.

The Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA) has created the Larry Daughtrey Courage in Journalism Award to be given periodically to a journalist who has covered civil justice issues of public interest to Tennesseans. The award is named after reporter and journalist Larry Daughtrey, whose career began during the civil rights movement and spanned nearly 50 years. Judges will be looking for someone who has ethically shined light on issues that might otherwise have been forgotten, presented complex issues to the public in a fair and understandable way, and displayed courage in their journalism. The deadline to receive nominations is May 15.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti will begin fiscal year 2023-2024 with 10 more attorneys who will comprise a new “strategic litigation unit.” As part of a $56.2 billion budget, the legislature approved the new positions at a cost of $2.25 million, giving Skrmetti a $52.95 million payroll for 363 positions with an average salary of $146,600. The Tennessee Lookout reports that Skrmetti’s Chief of Staff Brandon Smith says the new attorney unit will focus on “proactive litigation defending the separation of powers and the constitutional rights of Tennesseans, the defense of state laws presenting significant federalism issues, and pursue transparency and accountability for certain corporate activities that undermine the democratic process and harm consumers.”

In addition to not disclosing years of luxury travel and a real estate deal, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas also failed to disclose that billionaire Harlan Crow paid for Thomas’ grandnephew’s boarding school tuition. According to a ProPublica investigation, Thomas did not report the tuition payments from Crow on his annual financial disclosures. Several years earlier, Thomas had disclosed a gift of $5,000 for his grandnephew’s education from another friend.

Petitioner, Terrance Stepheny, appeals from the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, wherein he challenged his jury conviction for aggravated robbery. Petitioner claims that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because trial counsel failed to explain his sentencing exposure as a multiple offender before trial and failed to provide a copy of the State’s notice to seek enhanced punishment. Discerning no error, we affirm the post-conviction court’s denial of relief.

Kenneth J. Mynatt (“Plaintiff”) served as the vice president of the local chapter of his union. He filed an action for malicious prosecution and civil conspiracy against the union, the local chapter, and several individuals associated with the union. He alleged that after he publicly criticized the union’s financial waste, its leadership accused him of misusing union funds. Those accusations led to his indictment on two felony charges. In the resulting criminal case, the State filed a motion to retire the charges for one year, and those charges were ultimately dismissed after the year passed. In Plaintiff’s complaint for malicious prosecution, he stated that he continued to maintain his innocence, that he refused any plea deals, and that the criminal case terminated in his favor because it was ultimately dismissed. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the retirement and dismissal of the criminal charges was not a favorable termination on the merits. Thus, they argued his complaint was missing an essential element of a malicious prosecution claim. The trial court agreed and dismissed the complaint. The Court of Appeals reversed, concluding that Plaintiff sufficiently alleged that the underlying criminal proceedings terminated in his favor. The defendants sought review from this Court, arguing that the Court of Appeals did not apply the correct standard for determining what constitutes a favorable termination for the purpose of a malicious prosecution claim. We conclude that the prohibition in Himmelfarb v. Allain, 380 S.W.3d 35 (Tenn. 2012), precluding a factintensive and subjective inquiry into the reasons and circumstances leading to dispositions in civil cases also applies to dispositions in criminal cases. We hold that plaintiffs can pursue a claim for malicious prosecution only if an objective examination, limited to the documents disposing of the proceeding or the applicable procedural rules, indicates the termination of the underlying criminal proceeding reflects on the merits of the case and was due to the innocence of the accused. Under this standard, Mr. Mynatt did not allege sufficient facts for a court to conclude that the dismissal of his criminal case was a favorable termination. We therefore reverse the holding of the Court of Appeals and affirm the trial court’s judgment granting the motion to dismiss.

Representatives Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, have officially filed for reelection. The two representatives were expelled after protesting on the House floor in April in support of the public’s calls for gun reform. Both were reappointed to their seats within days of expulsion and have been serving as interim representatives. The special elections are estimated to cost somewhere between $70,000 and $120,000 in Nashville and around $400,000 in Memphis, according to News Channel 5 and the Daily Memphian.

The autopsy report of Tyre Nichols, the motorist who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, reveals that Nichols was killed by blunt force trauma to the head. The Commercial Appeal reports that Nichols' family viewed the autopsy report Wednesday, nearly four months after Nichols' death, and attorney Ben Crump said the manner of death was homicide.