Nashville-based law firm Bass, Berry & Sims has reorganized its leadership structure, creating four C-suite positions and expanding roles for several executives, the Nashville Post reports. Craig Bingham will serve as chief administrative and operations officer while Kerry Price will serve as chief strategy and operations officer. Both will have expanded responsibilities. The firm also named Melisa Wimsatt as its chief administrative services officer, Arthur Cook as chief risk management officer, and Angela Dunn as senior director of human resources. Firm leaders said the restructuring is part of long-term succession planning and a broader strategic initiative for the firm, which has offices in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Washington, D.C. Read more in a release from the firm.

The pass rate for first-time takers of the bar exam rose more than a percentage point in 2025 compared with 2024, according to a news release from the Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. First-time takers in 2025 achieved an aggregate 84.10% pass rate (84.19% including alternative pathways), up from 83.02% in 2024. Officials said the annual data release is designed to give prospective law students and the public transparent information on legal education outcomes, including licensure and career pathways. See all law school data collected here.

Chancellor Kimberly Lund has announced her candidacy for reelection to the 19th Judicial District Chancery Court in the May 5 Republican primary, according to Main Street Clarksville. Lund is a former field agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and has more than two decades of legal experience. She earned her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law and began her career in private practice with the Kennedy Law Firm before serving as assistant general counsel for the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and as a field agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. She also served in the Office of the District Attorney for 18 years. She was appointed the chancery court in 2024.

President Donald Trump and his attorney general were sued earlier this month by retail investors in two social media rivals of TikTok. They are seeking to reverse approval of a deal by the app’s owner, ByteDance, to form a majority American-owned joint venture. According to Reuters, the lawsuit argues that Trump’s approval last year violated requirements outlined in a 2024 divestiture law. Two California residents who hold shares in Alphabet and Meta Platforms filed the suit with backing from a group called the Public Integrity Project. The lawsuit seeks to require a renegotiation of the deal “that doesn't put administration allies in a position to censor political content on one of the world’s most popular media platforms” and does not aim to force a U.S. ban on TikTok, the litigants argue.

A New York federal judge has ordered a group of states to engage in settlement talks with Live Nation Entertainment Inc. to try to resolve claims the company illegally monopolized the live event industry. The move came after the U.S. Department of Justice settled with the company and withdrew from the litigation. The states who had joined the suit said they planned to continue with the case. If no settlement is reached, a jury trial in the case may continue next week, the judge said, according to Bloomberg Law. The states — including Tennessee — have said the DOJ settlement does not go far enough because it does not require Live Nation to divest its Ticketmaster subsidiary. In a statement published by Axios Nashville, Tennessee Attorney General (AG) Jonathan Skrmetti said, "Our resolve has not wavered. We are proud to stand with a powerful core of conservative AGs and bipartisan partners from across the country committed to continuing the fight against Ticketmaster/Live Nation."

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has found that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) under the Biden administration overstepped its powers by relying on a previous ruling to require Brown-Forman, the maker of Jack Daniel's and other whiskeys, to bargain with a union representing workers at a Lexington distillery. The board directed the company — based on its earlier Cemex ruling — to negotiate with the union after finding it illegally interfered with a union campaign at the Woodford Reserve Distillery. According to Reuters, the case is among the first in which an appeals court has considered a challenge to the Cemex ruling, which found that employers can be ordered to bargain with unions if they engage in illegal labor practices, even when a union loses an election or one has not been held. The appeals court found that the Cemex decision went beyond the board’s authority and thus could not be used to order bargaining in the Brown-Forman case. Read the opinion.

Organizations in Knoxville are marking Women’s History Month with events that celebrate, educate and inspire. These include a March 12 lecture on “Knoxville Women: Education and Hope,” which explores how women shaped Knoxville’s education system; a March 15 screening of the documentary “Fly With Me,” which looks at the trailblazing women who became flight attendants at a time when single women couldn’t order a drink or dine alone; and a March 29 Women’s History Tea Party, where attendees are encouraged to read a poem or passage written by a favorite author or educator.

Thank you for your support of the Communications Law Section this bar year! It has been a busy year, led by section Chair Todd Hambidge. The section is gearing up for the 2026 Reporters Workshop coming up next month. We are excited to host the selected journalists in sessions that will help them develop a deeper understanding of media law issues that affect their everyday work. Firms interested in supporting this important educational event should contact Communications Law Section Coordinator Brooke Leeton.

Thank you for being part of the Communications Law Section. If you have thoughts or ideas for future section initiatives, don’t hesitate to reach out.

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) will hold its 2026 Equal Justice University (EJU) conference Aug. 26-28 at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro. The annual event,  co-sponsored by the TBA, features educational sessions, keynote addresses and presentation of the TALS Access to Justice Awards. Learn more online or contact TALS at 615-775-9684 with questions.

Comments on proposed bylaws changes are due next week before the TBA Board of Governors meets for its spring meeting on March 19. Comments should be submitted via email to barED@tnbar.org. The board approved the publication of two proposed bylaws amendments to the membership at its winter meeting in January. The first would acknowledge that judicial districts in Tennessee are changed from time to time and delete the current list of judicial districts and the counties associated with each. It then sets up a process for addressing changes in the membership of the House of Delegates whenever there is a change to a judicial district. The second amendment addresses the terms of TBA delegates to the ABA House of Delegates and acknowledges the addition of Position 6. Rather than setting out specific years for elections, it would provide that Positions 1 and 3 be elected in odd-numbered years while Positions 2, 4, 5 and 6 be elected in even-numbered years. Review a redline version of the proposed changes.