The Tennessee Alliance for Black Lawyers (TABL) and the TBA Young Lawyers Division's (YLD) Diversity Committee will hold a networking mixer next week on April 30. The free event will run from 5:30-7:30 p.m. CDT at Burch Porter & Johnson, 130 N. Court Ave., Memphis 38103. Special thanks to the law firm for sponsoring this event. All are welcome but an RSVP is required by April 23. See a flyer for more information.

The city of Red Bank has called a special election on Aug. 6 to replace longtime Judge Johnny Houston, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. After 25 years on the bench, Houston stepped down from judicial duties due to a medical issue, according to a city spokesperson. The city has appointed attorney Bryan Hoss to serve as the active judge on a monthly basis. The special election will coincide with the federal, state and county elections on Aug. 6. Petitions to run for the seat must be filed by June 12 at noon EDT. Candidates must be at least 30 years old, a Tennessee licensed attorney in good standing and a resident of the city for at least a year.

The Tennessee Bar Association is accepting nominations through next week for its Fourth Estate Award, which honors courageous reporting on justice and the law. Nominees must be Tennessee-based journalists who have shown exemplary courage in exercising First Amendment rights in the promotion of public understanding of how the law and our legal system works, or how it should work, as demonstrated by a story or series of related stories published in 2025. Read more about the award in TBA's press release. Submit nominations for the Fourth Estate Award online by April 30. Access the submission form at the link above.

The law license of Shelby County attorney Michael Fearnley was transferred to disability inactive status on April 20. Fearnley may not practice law while on disability inactive status. He may return to the practice of law after reinstatement by the Tennessee Supreme Court by showing that his disability has been removed.

The federal government has purchased a 22,000-square-foot property on Georgia Avenue in downtown Chattanooga for $4.1 million. It was the last parcel needed to build a new federal courthouse on Vine Street, Local 3 News reports. Planners say that location offers the best schedule, cost, security, constructability and compliance. In February, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced it had settled on the Vine Street location.

The Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill last week to make confidential the addresses of candidates on nominating petitions for the offices of judge, chancellor, district attorney and public defender. The legislation, HB1659/SB1720, was sponsored by Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, and Rep. Jerome Moon, R-Maryville, who said its intent is to protect the candidates from potential harm or threats. The bill passed unanimously in the House on April 14 and received a near-unanimous vote in the Senate on April 6. The bill was transmitted to Gov. Bill Lee for his signature on April 17.

The U.S. Judicial Conference's Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules voted last Thursday to abandon a key part of a proposed rule governing the disclosure of who finances friend-of-the-court briefs. Reuters reports that committee members took the action after key judges expressed concern the measure could interfere with the privacy of advocacy groups. The panel previously had endorsed a rule requiring organizations that file amicus briefs to name donors who provide more than $100 for preparation of a brief if those individuals had joined the organization less than 12 months ⁠earlier. Opponents argued that requiring advocacy groups to disclose members’ names would violate their First Amendment rights. Current rules already require organizations to disclose ⁠support from nonmembers. The judiciary had been considering the rule change since 2019.

Five former Memphis police officers who faced criminal charges connected to Tyré Nichols' beating after a traffic stop in January 2023 have been dismissed from a civil lawsuit, according to the Commercial Appeal. An order filed Friday allows attorneys representing Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, to dismiss Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith Jr. from the case. Wells' attorneys say they requested the dismissal in an attempt to keep the case on track for trial. Three of the five are seeking a new federal criminal trial and Chief Judge Sheryl Lipman paused discovery related to them until those criminal matters are resolved. Wells' attorneys also are seeking to dismiss the police chief from the suit.

The Defendant, Patrick Gardner Ford, petitioned the trial court to enter a guilty plea to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a felony crime of violence, a Class B felony. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1307(b)(1) (Supp. 2022). Pursuant to the plea agreement, the Defendant was to be sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to eight years in confinement. However, the State conditioned this agreement on the Defendant’s appearance at a later court date and his good behavior up to this court date; the State also informed the Defendant that his failure to fulfill these conditions would subject him to a sentencing hearing and the imposition of a sentence in his required sentencing range. When the Defendant failed to appear at this later hearing, the trial court conducted a full sentencing hearing, ultimately sentencing the Defendant as a Range II, multiple offender to twelve years in confinement for his conviction offense. On appeal, the Defendant argues the trial court abused its discretion in denying his request for an alternative sentence, specifically a sentence through the community corrections program. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

This appeal concerns an unsuccessful business relationship between two companies. Signal Pump, LLC (“Signal”), a company that builds LED light towers, contracted with Arrow Electronics, Inc. (“Arrow”), a major supplier of electronics components, for Arrow to become Signal’s exclusive supplier. The relationship broke down as Arrow failed to timely supply Signal with parts and Signal failed to pay Arrow. Signal sued Arrow in the Chancery Court for Hamilton County (“the Trial Court”) alleging, among other things, breach of contract and fraud. New York substantive law governed this lawsuit as provided for by the parties’ agreement. Arrow filed a counterclaim against Signal for breach of contract based on Signal’s alleged failure to fully compensate Arrow for its products and services. According to Signal, Arrow’s failure to timely supply parts per the agreement cost Signal massive losses in profits it otherwise would have earned. Arrow, in turn, has asserted throughout that Signal continually changed its requests for parts. After a bench trial, the Trial Court found that both parties breached the agreement. The Trial Court awarded Arrow damages for Signal’s failure to pay. However, the Trial Court declined to award Signal any damages for lost profits, citing a liability limitation clause in the parties’ agreement. Signal appeals. We hold that the liability limitation clause is an exculpatory clause. We modify the Trial Court’s judgment in that respect. Otherwise, we affirm.