Civil rights attorney Ben Crump was in Knoxville recently to discuss lawsuits against Knox County and the University of Tennessee Medical Center over the deaths of two Black men following encounters with law enforcement. Crump is representing the families of Daevon Saint-Germain and David Batts, both of whom died after altercations with Knox County law enforcement. Tennessee Lookout has specifics on each case. Over the years, Crump has represented a number of families following the deaths of individuals who interacted with law enforcement, including high profile clients such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Tyre Nichols.

Within 10 months of leaving campus, more than 82% of 2024 law school graduates had landed jobs that require bar admission. That percentage, representing the highest rate ever recorded by the ABA for bar admission jobs, was up from 80% in 2023, Reuters reports. The figure is especially notable, because the class of 2024 had nearly 11% more graduates than its predecessor, meaning there were 3,722 more new lawyers competing for jobs. The new data defies predictions that a double-digit enrollment surge would weaken job prospects, the news source reports.

Philadelphia-based law firm Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld has opened an office in Nashville. Law firm partner Hope Hammer will lead the office and chair the real estate practice group. Hammer has been with the firm since its inception in 2012 and is a member of its executive committee. Prior to joining the firm, Hammer served on the women's steering committee for the Urban Land Institute's Nashville chapter and co-chaired its professional development series. Hammer earned her law degree from Temple University School of Law. Joining her in the Nashville office is Frank Toub, a graduate of Belmont University College of Law, who handles construction, transportation and health care matters. Toub made news as a law student when he won the 2022 ABA Journal Ross Writing Contest. Finally, firm partner Jennifer Tintenfass will have some involvement in the office. The firm has 71 attorneys with offices in New York and in suburban Philadelphia. The Nashville Post has more.

The Second Annual TBA Young Lawyers Division Trial College will take place on May 9, at Belmont University College of Law in Nashville. The event, running from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. CDT, will cover essential litigation topics, including trial preparation, crafting opening and closing statements, conducting direct and cross-examinations and working with expert witnesses. A panel of distinguished judges will provide judicial insights for trial success. For more details and to register, visit the TBA’s website.

Save the date to attend the TBA’s 2025 Health Law Primer and Health Law Forum this fall. The primer will take place Nov. 12 in the Nashville office of Barnes & Thornburg. Designed for those new to health law practice, the primer provides a general health law overview and practical tips to identify and avoid the pitfalls of real-life situations in the heavily regulated health care industry. Then on Nov. 13-14, the forum will take place in Nashville’s Music City Center. This two-day event will dig deeper into topics relevant to seasoned practitioners, providing 12 general and three dual hours of CLE credit. More information coming soon.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) selected Amy Dorman as the 2025 CASA Volunteer of the Year. A retired engineer, Dorman has served CASA Works Inc. in Tullahoma for the past 10 years. She has worked tirelessly with 55 families and advocated for over 113 children. During the nomination process, retired Judge Walter Kurtz wrote that Dorman is "simply the best," "the epitome of what a CASA should be," and "deserves recognition for her total commitment and what she does and has done for the betterment of the children caught up in the neglect and dependent court systems." The CASA Volunteer of the Year Award was presented by TBA YLD President Sean Aiello at the TBA's Public Service Breakfast on June 12 in Franklin as part of the TBA's Annual Convention. 

The TBA Young Lawyers Division met last week at the TBA's 2025 Annual Convention in Franklin. On Friday, the traditional gavel pass was held as Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge Alex McVeagh took office as president. Others taking office were President-elect Jennifer Sneed of Memphis, Vice President Darius Walker Jr. of Nashville, Secretary Judge Zachary Walden of Jacksboro and Treasurer Ashley Tipton of Nashville. The group also held its Annual Meeting and a CLE program on the State of DEI in the Legal Profession. The 2025-2026 Board met on Saturday for a wellness walk, committee planning sessions and its first board meeting.

On Friday evening, both the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 boards met for dinner at Sperry's. They were joined by the YLD Fellows for the induction of new fellows and members of the DLI Class of 2025 for their graduation.

During the evening, outgoing president Sean Aiello presented a number of awards. The President's Award was given to Nashville attorney Patrick Morrison for his work on developing the YLD CLE Exploration Series and his tremendous efforts as the health and wellness coordinator. The Public Service awards were presented to Nashville attorney Ashley Tipton for her dedication to and expansion of the mock trial program; and Nashville attorney Alix Rogers and Judge Zack Walden for implementation of the YLD's first Rural Judicial Fellows (RJF) Program. Six board members also were recognized with Star of the Quarter Awards. They were Grace Burnett for service as District 8 representative, Billy Leslie for service as past president, Judge Alex McVeagh for service as president-elect, Jen Sneed for service as vice president, Amber Vargas for service as District 6 representative, and Kristen Walker for service as the Middle Tennessee CLE chair. See photos from the convention.

RITZ, Circuit Judge. The Board of Immigration Appeals denied Jin Yin Zhou discretionary relief from removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(H) and ordered her removed. Zhou filed an untimely motion to reopen her removal proceedings. In her motion, Zhou requested equitable tolling of the 90-day deadline and argued that her counsel provided ineffective assistance. The Board denied the motion, holding that Zhou failed to demonstrate the requisite prejudice and due diligence. Zhou seeks our review of those determinations. But because we lack jurisdiction over the Board’s lack-of-prejudice determination, and because that determination is dispositive of this appeal, we dismiss Zhou’s petition for review.

SUTTON, Chief Judge. Several hair stylists filed this lawsuit on the ground that their employer underpaid them by misclassifying them as independent contractors instead of employees. But an arbitration agreement stands in the way. The district court dismissed the claim in favor of arbitration. We affirm.

BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judge. Enbridge Energy owns and operates a pipeline that runs from Wisconsin, through Michigan, and into Canada. Between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas, the pipeline crosses through the bottomlands of the Straits of Mackinac, land that belongs to the State of Michigan. Enbridge’s pipeline crosses the Straits pursuant to a 1953 easement between Enbridge and the State. In recent years, the pipeline has generated multiple lawsuits and media attention. This appeal stems from a case that began in 2020, when Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer informed Enbridge that the State was revoking the easement. Governor Whitmer alleged that Enbridge had violated the easement by allowing its pipeline to create an unreasonable risk of a catastrophic oil spill. In response, Enbridge filed suit in federal court against Governor Whitmer and Daniel Eichinger, the Director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, alleging that the Michigan officials’ actions violated federal law and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief prohibiting the defendants from interfering with the operation of the pipeline. This appeal concerns a narrow, threshold issue in this case: the defendants’ argument that Enbridge’s claims are barred by Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity. Below, the district court rejected that argument. We do as well. We hold that Enbridge’s lawsuit falls within the Ex parte Young exception to Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity and accordingly affirm the district court.