The TBA will host its annual Construction Law Forum on Jan. 24, 2025, in Nashville with the theme "Let's Get Technical." The 2025 event will feature discussions on a range of construction law topics with attorneys Theresa Critchfield with TLC Law Office; Stephanie Durman and Ellery Richardson with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation; Thomas Hall with Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison; and Regan Steepleton with Evans Petree. More details about program topics will be announced soon. To register now visit the TBA’s website.

The Shelby County District Attorney General (DA) will appeal two recent decisions by a lower court judge to release multiple shooting suspects without bond. The DA’s office is challenging decisions by Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court Judge Bill Anderson, who allowed suspects involved in multiple shootings to be released on their own recognizance. Among them is a man who engaged in a nearly 12-hour standoff with police earlier this month, as well as three suspects charged in the shooting of a FedEx employee last month. According to the Daily Memphian, the appeal follows a series of headlines in recent months over bail decisions by Anderson, particularly in cases involving violent crimes.

The American Bar Association (ABA) has approved 56 law schools — more than a quarter of all ABA-accredited campuses — to use JD-Next, an alternative law school admissions program. Developed in 2019 by the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, the program recently was acquired by Aspen Publishing, Reuters reports. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. JD-Next participants take an eight-week online course that concludes with an exam. Earlier this month, the ABA created a new pathway for law schools to admit students without relying on traditional standardized tests, offering more flexibility in admissions. While JD-Next is currently offered four times a year and remains a small part of the law school admissions landscape, Aspen says it plans to expand the program's reach with more participants and law schools.

Former Tennessee State Sen. Katrina Robinson, who represented parts of Memphis, has been resentenced for misrepresentations made to the Health Resources and Services Administration, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee. Robinson was resentenced to time served and fined $48,600. Her original sentencing in 2022 was for time served and one year of supervised release. Robinson was founder and director of The Healthcare Institute, a for-profit organization that provided educational and training programs for jobs in the health care field. The institute received $2.2 million in federal grants between 2015 and 2019. In 2021, a jury found Robinson guilty of two counts of wire fraud in connection with transfers she made from the institute's operating account for personal expenditures.

The Corporate Counsel section will present Mass Arbitration — A Massive Proposition on Dec. 11 at noon CST. This one hour webcast will discuss the recent proliferation of mass arbitrations, where hundreds or even thousands of similar individual claims are filed by common counsel against the same party. Plaintiffs are finding significant leverage in utilizing this vehicle, while companies face significant logistical and financial burdens in defending a multitude of separate claims. Make plans now to join colleagues as we explore the legal, practical and strategic considerations at play in this arena.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division will hold an Essential Documents for Essential Workers (EDEW) clinic on Jan. 10 for Sumner County police officers from 9 a.m. to noon CST at the Sumner County Sheriff's Office, located at 117 W. Smith St., Gallatin 37066. Contact Grace Burnett to volunteer or for more information.

It is never too late to make a resolution for 2025. In Faith Watson's Building Connections and Careers: The Benefits of Joining Bar Associations, she invites readers to become more involved with bar associations. Though it may seem daunting to some, the benefits of networking and cultivating a collegial legal environment are worth it. Watson is an assistant professor of law at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law teaching Legal Methods to first-year law students. She is a graduate of Memphis Law and has practiced law in the areas of family law, criminal law and civil defense. Prior to practice, Watson was a judicial law clerk to Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins in Chancery Court Part III in Shelby County and a judicial law clerk to the Honorable William Campbell Jr for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Watson serves as the West Tennessee Governor for the TBA YLD.

The link for the second installment of TBA's Indigent Representation Primer published on Friday did not work for some TBA Today readers. The post, which highlights background and data about Tennessee's Indigent Representation Program, including how courts determine and assign counsel for indigent defendants and vulnerable individuals, can be accessed here. The post also looks at a recent performance audit report of the Tennessee court system conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury, including an evaluation of the "effectiveness and efficiency" of the current system of indigent representation as well as other court programs. See past primer posts here.

The Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) has filed comments with the Tennessee Supreme Court in response to an order soliciting comments on proposed changes to the Appellate, Civil, Criminal and Juvenile Rules of Procedure as well as the Tennessee Rules of Evidence. The TBA’s comment is limited to proposed changes in three rules: Rule 24 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 47.02 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure and Rule 26 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. Read the full comment.

The Defendant, Ladarius Quashon Kees, appeals the revocation of his community corrections sentence and reinstatement of the remainder of his original five-year sentence in confinement, arguing that the trial court erred by failing to adequately consider the appropriate consequences for his violations and by failing to weigh his request for a rehabilitation program. Based on our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.