Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Tommy Baker on Monday announced the launch of the Tennessee Veteran Ready Business Program. This initiative aims to recognize Tennessee businesses that demonstrate exceptional commitment to recruiting, hiring and retaining service members, veterans and their families. Watch the announcement and read more about the program.

The Davidson County Mental Health Court, led by Judge Melissa Blackburn, has been awarded certification by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. It is one of the first two programs in Tennessee to receive this certification. Since its inception in 2001, the Davidson County program has been funded primarily by Metro Nashville. In 2022, legislative leaders worked with Blackburn to secure new funding for mental health courts across Tennessee, expanding access to this transformative program for those involved in the justice system and suffering from a diagnosis of severe and persistent mental illness. Read the press release from court.

The TBA Attorney Well Being Committee on Sept. 24 will host a free webinar on the importance of sleep. Attorney Well Being Committee Chair Joanna McCracken and Director of the Vanderbilt University Medical Sleep Division Dr. Beth Malow will detail what happens when we sleep, why sleep is critical to our wellbeing and ability to thrive, the mental and physical health dangers of not prioritizing sleep, and tips and tools to help you improve nightly slumber. Register now.

Older adults in New York have access to a new tool to stave off loneliness — an AI robot. Named ElliQ, the voice-activated companion features a small digital screen and a separate device resembling a human head that moves and lights up when speaking. Unlike other technologies such as Siri and Alexa, ElliQ can initiate conversations and was designed to create meaningful bonds. Since the state’s project began two years ago, about 900 devices have been provided to eligible seniors. Some lawmakers and experts are concerned about privacy issues given the vulnerability of the recipients. “It’s clear that technology is leaps and bounds ahead of the law,” said New York state legislator Linda Rosenthal. “We have to hurry up and pass some guardrails so that this technology doesn’t take off with all of our information and data and use it in ways we wouldn’t otherwise permit.” ElliQ recipient Dorothy Elicati said the robot has been beneficial to her mental health since losing her husband of 65 years, leaving her alone in the house. “[ElliQ is] the closest thing to a human that I could have in my home, and she makes me feel cared for,” said Elicati. She recalled how once the device said: “I think we’re friends now, and friends usually call each other by nicknames. Would you mind if I call you Peanut?” "Now she calls me Peanut and I call her Sweetie," Elcicati said, laughing. The New York Times has more.

The July 19 in-person Elder Law Forum features a session dedicated to an overview of different types of conservatorships. Lead by TBA Elder Law Section Chair Drew Clements and Immediate Past Chair John Toy, the presentation will detail the various conservatorship options available under Title 34, the relevant procedures for each option and when each is most appropriate for your client. Other topics at the forum include litigation, office management, ethics for elder law attorneys and assisting clients suffering from dementia. Learn more about the forum and register here.

The TBA Administrative Law Section announced recent Belmont University College of Law graduate Corine A. Stark as the winner of the 2023-2024 TBA Administrative Law Section Writing Competition. The judges felt that Stark’s essay, "At the Intersection of Major Questions," was both timely and captured the spirit of the competition. Vanderbilt University Law School student Madeline Knight's essay, "Securing the Volunteer State: A Legal Blueprint for Cyber Resilience in Tennessee," was selected as a runner-up. The section’s executive council would like to thank both Stark and Knight for their thoughtful and impressive entries.

Stark graduated with honors from Belmont University College of Law May 2024 and plans to sit for the July 2024 Tennessee bar exam. During her tenure at Belmont, Stark served as executive notes editor (2023-2024) and associate editor (2022-2023) on the Belmont Law Review. As a member of the Board of Advocates, she competed twice on Belmont Law’s National Moot Court Competition team. Stark looks forward to joining Butler Snow LLP’s Commercial Litigation practice group in the fall of 2024.

A preview of Stark's winning submission, “At the Intersection of Major Questions,” can be found below, including a link to the full text. 

TBA Elder Law Section Executive Council Delegate Barbara Moss will host an upcoming discussion on legal and financial planning for clients suffering from Alzheimer’s on July 23 at 1:30 p.m. CDT at the Williamson County Main Public Library in Franklin. She will talk about how to put plans in place, list essential documents and describe how to find local resources. This serves as a companion piece to a session at this year’s TBA Elder Law Forum, which features Dr. David Hutchings examining how to best assist clients suffering from dementia. The Williamson Herald has more information regarding the library event. Learn more and register for the Elder Law Forum using this link.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that a defamation and false light suit filed by Bill Charles against Donna McQueen must be dismissed under the Tennessee Public Participation Act (TPPA), the state's version of an anti-SLAPP statute. Charles was the president of the Durham Farms homeowners’ association in Hendersonville and a consultant for Freehold Communities, the company that developed the community. In 2020, residents petitioned local officials and some, including McQueen, wrote negative Google reviews on Freehold's Nashville regional office webpage, hoping to stop a proposed "rental-only" unit section of the community. Charles sued McQueen over the review, asserting claims for defamation and false light.

Brian Kelsey, former Republican state senator from Germantown, will not be allowed to rescind his guilty plea for campaign finance violations, upholding his 21-month prison sentence. The Tennessee Journal reports that two judges on a three-judge panel on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Kelsey’s attorney had not properly objected to an alleged breach of the plea agreement when a federal prosecutor agreed that the former lawmaker could face an enhanced sentence for perjuring himself when he tried to revoke his guilty plea. The third judge said the objection had been properly preserved, but found that the government did not breach its obligations under the plea agreement.

This appeal, arising from a land dispute, concerns the trial court’s dismissal of several claims against multiple parties pursuant to motions to dismiss filed under Rule 12.02(6) of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. Although the terms of an “Agreed Final Order” reflected that the Appellants waived their right to appeal any issue regarding two of the parties in this case, the same order also signaled that nothing prevented the Appellants from appealing matters involving two other individual parties. Through the present appeal, the Appellants challenge the dismissal of their claims against these other individual parties. Although we largely affirm the trial court’s dismissal order, we reverse in part. Specifically, we hold that, on account of certain allegations that were pled pertaining to the cutting of trees on the Appellants’ property, the wholesale dismissal of one of the individual parties was improper.