In this interlocutory appeal, the employee questions the trial court’s order denying his request for additional medical and temporary disability benefits. The employee suffered compensable injuries in a fall and received authorized medical benefits. The authorized physicians assigned work restrictions, which the employer’s representative testified could have been accommodated had the employee returned to work. After an expedited hearing, the trial court found the employee had not provided sufficient evidence to establish that he will likely prevail at trial and denied the employee’s request for additional benefits. The employee has appealed. Having carefully reviewed the record, we affirm the trial court’s decision and remand the case.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant announced that he joined with Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division to file a brief on behalf of the United States as amicus curiae in support of the state’s appeal in the case challenging Gov. Bill Lee’s deployment of the National Guard in support of the Memphis Safe Task Force. The challenge to the deployment was filed by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and several lawmakers, who raised constitutional and statutory objections to the mobilization. A Davidson County chancellor granted a temporary injunction that is now on appeal. According to a press release, Dunavant and Shumate argued that the federal government has a substantial interest in the case because the injunction interferes with President Donald Trump’s request for the National Guard to support public safety operations in Memphis. The Tennessee Court of Appeals has expedited the case and scheduled oral arguments for March 5 in Nashville. Read the motion to file, the amicus brief and the defendants' opening brief.

DeVante Hill, an activist during the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, announced on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that he will challenge U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, for the 9th Congressional District seat. According to the Daily Memphian, Hill announced his entry into the race at an MLK Day event at Canaan Baptist Church in Covington but it not clear if he will run in the August primaries or as an independent candidate. According to the paper, Hill was an intern in Cohen's congressional office and said he spoke with the congressman before entering the race.

A Tennessee man pleaded guilty to hacking the U.S. Supreme Court’s electronic case filing system and other federal platforms, according to The Tennessean. Nicholas Moore of Springfield pleaded guilty to one count of fraud activity in connection with computers, a Class A misdemeanor, after stealing login credentials from three individuals. According to the paper, he accessed the court’s filing system, AmeriCorps’ internal member portal and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical platform. Prosecutors said Moore accessed the systems repeatedly between August and October 2023 and posted screenshots of the compromised information to an Instagram account under the handle “ihackedthegovernment.” Moore faces up to one year in federal prison and a fine of up to $100,000. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 17.

Downtown surveillance cameras will not be purchased with state grant funds following a Tuesday vote from the Nashville Metro Council. According to the Nashville Post, the council voted 20-15, with three abstentions, to not use a portion of a $15 million state public safety grant awarded to the Nashville Downtown Partnership to buy 15 replacement cameras, citing concerns about state overreach, surveillance and potential impacts on marginalized communities. The council did approve using the grant funds for an armored rescue vehicle, a mobile command post and a tactical support post for the Metro Nashville Police Department. The vote followed extensive public comment opposing the cameras and ongoing debate over surveillance technology in the city.

Metro Council Member Joy Styles announced that she intends to run for mayor of Nashville, being the first candidate to declare for the August, 2027 election, Axios Nashville reports. Styles is in her second term representing the Antioch area on the council. Her voting record is pro-business, and she's also supported public safety measures, such as the police department's plan to create a network of security cameras owned by private businesses, Axios reports. “I'm running because Nashville needs a fighter, someone who's going to fight for you and your neighborhood. Over the last six years, I've shown what inclusive leadership looks like.” Styles said at her press announcement. According to the news source, incumbent Mayor Mayor Freddie O'Connell is likely to run, but has not entered the race officially.

Former state Rep. Dr. Tommie F. Brown, D-Chattanooga died Tuesday at age 91, The Chattanoogan reports. Brown served in the Tennessee legislature for 20 years and was the first African American to lead a department at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). She represented her district in the state House of Representatives from 1992 to 2012. Brown also was the lead plaintiff in the landmark 1987 Brown v. Board of Commissioners of Chattanooga lawsuit, which resulted in a federal court ruling that the city’s at-large voting system violated the Voting Rights Act and significant changes in Chattanooga’s form of government. An elementary school on the UTC campus is named in her honor, and her personal and professional papers are housed in the UTC Library’s Special Collections.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Jan. 15 rejected the Board of Professional Responsibility’s recommendation to impose a 10-year suspension on Hamilton County lawyer Arthur C. Grisham Jr. Instead, the court proposed to increase the punishment to permanent disbarment. Under the rules, the board now has 30 days to file the record of the disciplinary hearing, after which Grisham will have 20 days to file his brief and then the board will have 20 days after that to respond. Grisham already is serving a five-year suspension, which was imposed on May 13, 2025.

The American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has issued Formal Opinion 520 to address the disclosure of information after representation is withdrawn. The opinion provides guidance for the limited situations when a lawyer is required to respond to requests for information from former clients or successor counsel. Lawyers should respond when the information being requested was acquired during the course of representation, is unavailable from other sources and is important to the client’s interests in the matter in which the lawyer formerly provided representation. Compliance with the request also must be “reasonably practicable.” Rule 1.16(d) does not require a lawyer to take steps to acquire information, research and generate written responses, or provide further legal services to the client in response to a request for information. Read more in a news release from the ABA or from Bloomberg News.

The TBA Mentoring Committee, in collaboration with the TBA Young Lawyers Division, will hold a special event — "Developing Lawyers, Developing Leaders: A CLE on Mentorship and Professional Excellence" — on Jan. 30 at Belmont University College of Law's Baskin Center. Make plans now to join TBA President Heidi Barcus; Marshall County General Sessions Court Judge Lee Bussart; University of Tennessee Winston College of Law professor Joan Heminway; Amy Schmisseur, chair of Belmont University's Department of Communication Studies; Joseph Hubbard of Polsinelli; and Toyin Edogun of Bass Berry & Sims as they explore topics of mentorship, leadership and communication across one's legal career. The day of "Mocktails and Mentorship" will include lunch and three hours of CLE credit, followed by a networking event and the opportunity to mix mocktails together. Because good conversations are meant to be shared, lawyers who register for this course are invited to bring a colleague with them at no additional cost.