This is an appeal of the termination of a mother’s parental rights to her children. The Juvenile Court for Sullivan County (“the Juvenile Court”) terminated the parental rights of Angela B. (“Mother”) to her two children, Meadow L. and Greyson L. (“the Children”).1 Mother appeals, contesting the Juvenile Court’s finding that termination was in the Children’s best interest. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm.

This appeal concerns service of process. Vernon Lowe (“Plaintiff”) sued Elisha Harvey (“Defendant”) in the Circuit Court for Cumberland County (“the Trial Court”) for personal injuries sustained in a car accident. Defendant lives out of state. Plaintiff attempted to serve Defendant via the Tennessee Secretary of State. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss asserting insufficient service of process. The attempted service on Defendant occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the signature requirement for return receipt mail was suspended by the postal service. The signature space on the proof of delivery shows “E Harvey” handwritten with “MRC1C19” underneath. Plaintiff does not argue that this represents Defendant’s signature. Instead, Plaintiff argues that his service upon the Secretary of State was sufficient in itself. The Trial Court granted Defendant’s motion to dismiss. Plaintiff appeals. We affirm.

In this interlocutory appeal, the employer alleges the trial court erred in declining to dismiss the employee’s petition for benefit determination, which the employer asserted was filed for the “sole purpose” of tolling the statute of limitations. The trial court determined that the employee’s petition, on its face, identified disputed issues beyond merely tolling the statute of limitations and, in presuming the truth of the allegations and averments in the petition, it concluded her petition stated a claim upon which relief could be granted. Because we agree with the trial court’s rationale and conclusions, we affirm the trial court’s order and remand the case.

U.S. District Judge Mark Norris has removed himself from the pending civil rights lawsuit over Tyré Nichols’ death. U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman has been assigned to the yearslong case, the Daily Memphian reports. Norris’ recusal follows his earlier withdrawal from the federal criminal case against the five former Memphis Police Department officers charged in connection with Nichols’ 2023 death, which led to the cancellation of their federal sentencing hearings. His order to recuse himself was filed Thursday, but the reason for his decision remains unclear.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission has received eight applications for a criminal court judge vacancy in the 20th Judicial District following the retirement of Judge Cheryl A. Blackburn. The applicants are Mark Cole, Ronald Dowdy, Dustin Faeder, Keeda J. Haynes, Dominic J. Leonardo, Kyle D. Parks, Stephen Douglas Thurman and James Harwell Todd. Public hearings for the position will be held July 31 and Aug. 1 at 9 a.m. CDT at the Cordell Hull Building, Senate Hearing Room 1, 425 Rep. John Lewis Way N., Nashville 37243. Any member of the public may attend the hearing and express, orally or in writing, objections concerning applicants for the judicial vacancy. The commission is expected to vote immediately following the interviews and will forward nominees to Gov. Bill Lee for consideration. For information on the applicants, visit the court’s website.

Puerto Rico has enacted new lawyer ethics rules that allow nonlawyers to have an ownership interest in law firms, the American Bar Association (ABA) Journal reports. Although Puerto Rico’s new ethics rules are modeled on the ABA Model Rules, the provision allowing nonlawyer ownership is a key change. Nonlawyers may not own more than 49% of the shares in law offices, which must be operated by lawyers licensed in Puerto Rico. The rules also state that nonlawyers cannot interfere with lawyers’ independent professional judgment or provide services to the law offices. The Puerto Rico Supreme Court plans to assess the rule’s effectiveness after three years. Other jurisdictions that allow nonlawyer ownership of law firms include Arizona and the District of Columbia, while Utah permits it under the restrictions of its regulatory sandbox program. The ABA released Formal Opinion 499 in 2021, which ruled that a lawyer generally may invest passively in a law firm that includes nonlawyer owners in jurisdictions that permit such alternative business structures.

Chattanoogan.com will begin offering legal notice publication services on July 1 under an amended Tennessee law that now requires public notices to appear in both print and qualifying online news outlets. According to the Chattanoogan, publisher John Wilson said the online news site, which has maintained a legal notice section in anticipation of such legislation, meets all requirements under the new law. While foreclosure and election notices are exempt, other legal notices must now run in established online sources if available in the county. Legal notices placed with Chattanoogan.com will cost $1.50 per word, capped at $75, and include up to four weeks of publication.

Metro Nashville Council members are reviving the legislative body's Black Caucus, which has been inactive since 2011. According to Axios Nashville, the Black Caucus traces its roots to 1951, when the city's first Black council members, Z. Alexander Looby and Robert Lillard, were elected. Metro Council member Jennifer Gamble will now chair the caucus, which includes 11 members. According to a news release, the Black Caucus “recognizes that there are issues unique to Black Nashvillians that require a more targeted focus.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled along ideological lines Friday to curtail judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions, The Hill reports. The ruling allows the Trump administration to partially enforce the president’s executive order limiting the U.S. Constitution’s “birthright citizenship” provision to children with at least one parent with permanent legal status. “These injunctions — known as ‘universal injunctions’ — likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority. The decision narrows the lower court rulings blocking enforcement of the order to the 22 states, expectant mothers and immigration organizations that challenged the order. It does not resolve the underlying issue of whether restrictions on birthright citizenship are constitutional. Three justices — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — dissented, arguing that “No right is safe in the new legal regime the Court creates.” According to The Hill, the administration may resume developing guidance to implement the order, though it must wait 30 days before attempting to deny citizenship to anyone.

Attorneys for Byron Black, a man on Tennessee’s death row, are asking the Tennessee Supreme Court to order a lower court to consider whether he is mentally competent to be executed. Black was sentenced to death in Nashville in 1989 for the murders of his girlfriend and her daughters. He is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 5. In court filings, Black’s attorneys have said he has an intellectual disability, progressive dementia and brain damage, which leave him incapable of grasping why he is being put to death. They argue that the trial court and Court of Criminal Appeals erred when they declined to consider competency. Nashville Public Radio has more on the story. In 2022, Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk agreed that Black should be removed from death row.