A federal judge has ruled that Georgia failed to show it would be harmed by the Biden administration's plan to forgive $73 billion in student loan debt held by millions of Americans. "There is no indication that the rule is being implemented to attack the states or their income taxes, so any loss of ... tax revenue is incidental and insufficient to create standing for Georgia," U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall wrote. The ruling removes Georgia from a lawsuit challenging the forgiveness plan and moves litigation to federal court in Missouri, one of the other seven states that is suing. Reuters reports that the states have asked the Missouri judge to rule on whether to continue blocking the proposal.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Oct. 4 suspended Williamson County lawyer Jason Scott Mangrum from the practice of law for six months, with one month to be served on active suspension and the remainder on probation. The court found that Mangrum failed to adequately communicate with a client, failed to expedite litigation, charged an unreasonable fee, failed to properly withdraw from representation, and disobeyed an obligation under the rules of a tribunal. He agreed to a conditional guilty plea acknowledging his conduct violated Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.16, 3.2, 3.4, and 8.4 (a) and(d).

Lincoln Memorial University's Duncan School of Law recently announced the addition of a new dean of admissions and several new faculty members. Dr. Stephen Adkins has been named director of admissions. He joins the law school after serving in other programs at the university. In addition, three other faculty members have joined the school. Laura Mott joins as an assistant professor of law from CUNY School of Law in New York. She served there as director of the Academic Skills Center for the Evening 1L Program. John Poore and Celsy Johnson join as visiting assistant professors of law for the 2024-2025 academic year. Poore has spent nearly 15 years as a prosecutor in Southern California. Johnson is a solo practitioner and previously an attorney at Held Law Firm in the areas of family law, juvenile law and estate planning.

Davidson County lawyer John Benneth Iwu received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court on Oct. 7. The court found that Iwu agreed to the setting of a criminal court hearing on a particular date and then failed to attend the hearing. He also failed to advise his client of the date, which led to his client failing to attend the hearing. Iwu agreed to a conditional guilty plea acknowledging that his conduct violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.4, 3.2, 3.4(c) and 8.4.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Oct. 7 suspended Knox County lawyer Loring Edwin Justice for one year. The court found that while he was representing a client in a workers’ compensation matter, Justice failed to communicate reasonably with his client and failed to act diligently to provide the legal services for which he was retained. His actions were determined to violate Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3 and 1.4.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated Davidson County lawyer Robert Redman Laser III to the practice of law on Oct. 7. He had been temporarily suspended on Nov. 1, 2023, for failing to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility concerning a complaint of misconduct. On Sept. 25, Laser filed a motion demonstrating he had responded to the complaint and complied with conditions imposed by the suspension.

A six-judge panel on Monday ruled that two bonding companies did not break local court rules after Bricen Rivers bonded out in Nashville and was later accused of killing his girlfriend, Lauren Johansen, in Mississippi. The Tennessean reports that a clerical error prevented full implementation of Rivers' bond conditions, which included restrictions on traveling outside the county. "Obviously a calamity of human and institutional errors occurred in the release process of (Rivers)," the panel of judges wrote. "Ultimately, however, the cause and responsibility for any violations of release conditions, including the commission of additional criminal acts, rests squarely with the Defendant himself."

The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued a corrected version of an order released on Sept. 23 reassigning justices to the state’s various judicial districts. Jeffrey S. Bivins has replaced recently retired Roger A. Page as the justice for Circuit No. 2, which consists of Judicial Districts 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 31. Mary L. Wagner has replaced Bivins as the justice for Circuit No. 4, which consists of Districts 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 and 32. The amended order clarifies that Circuit No. 4 includes the 32nd Judicial District.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has filed a motion in Tennessee's 20th Judicial District requesting the court provide remedies to address TikTok’s failure to preserve and produce relevant evidence in response to a state investigation into possible violations of Tennessee consumer protection laws. Skrmetti also asked the court to compel TikTok’s compliance with an order entered by the court on April 17, 2023. Tennessee’s investigation is part of a bipartisan, nationwide investigation by state attorneys general into whether TikTok engaged in unfair and deceptive conduct that harmed the mental health of Tennessee kids. In related news, Reuters reports that 13 states and the District of Columbia today filed new lawsuits accusing the popular social media platform of harming and failing to protect young people.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday reversed a May 2023 ruling by Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan, declaring that a law removing all postconviction death penalty proceedings from local district attorneys is constitutional. The Commercial Appeal reports that the court's ruling focused on who initiates an action during a case. For example, it found that locally elected district attorneys have broad discretion in cases they initiate, but because these collateral review proceedings are initiated by a defendant on death row, that discretion is narrowed. The paper also noted that prosecutorial discretion is vastly limited after a defendant has been indicted by a grand jury.