The city of Memphis wants to use the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recent decision to retract its civil rights investigation into the Memphis Police Department to limit information it has to share with lawyers representing Tyre Nichols’ family and estate in a civil suit, the Daily Memphian reports. The city and Nichols’ attorneys have sparred for months over access to documents the city gave to DOJ as part of the investigation. The city, in court filings, is arguing that DOJ’s recent decision to drop the investigation should keep it from having to hand over the information. As part of its filing, the city provided a letter from Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet K. Dhillon that said, in part, “The current Justice Department does not have faith in the previously reported findings in this case. Accordingly, the findings report is withdrawn in its entirety.”

Bar exam officials have released details about the structure and scoring of the new national test set to debut in July 2026, Reuters reports. The NextGen UBE will be significantly shorter than the current Uniform Bar Exam, according to a new test blueprint issued by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. It also will place greater scoring weight on the performance task portion of the test than the existing exam in an effort to rely more on practical legal skills and less on the memorization of laws. The testing time will be shortened from 12 to nine hours comprised of three testing sessions: three hours for 120 multiple choice questions, three hours for integrated questions and three hours for performance tasks. So far, 41 states and territories across the country have announced plans to transition to the new exam. Tennessee will implement it in July 2027.

The U.S. Supreme Court has made it easier for people from majority backgrounds such as white or straight individuals to pursue claims alleging workplace "reverse" discrimination, The Hill reports. The unanimous decision revives an Ohio woman's lawsuit alleging she was illegally denied a promotion and demoted because she is heterosexual. In another recent opinion, the court rejected Mexico’s lawsuit against firearms maker Smith & Wesson. Bloomberg Law has more on that decision.

An inmate at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, run by CoreCivic, is suing prison officials, alleging they allowed gang members to repeatedly assault and extort him. The federal lawsuit alleges that Charles Anderson was beaten, sexually assaulted, and forced to have his mother and family friends send money to gang members, despite repeatedly asking prison staff for protection. The Tennessee Lookout reports that the complaint claims staff ignored warnings and failed to place him in protective custody, even after severe attacks and a hospital visit. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2024 opened an investigation into conditions at the facility; in April, a former Tennessee state trooper sued CoreCivic after he was allegedly beaten by a cellmate there.

Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw on Tuesday announced that Court Administrator Sam Mairs has retired. Mairs began his career at the court as a probation officer in November 1992 and worked in increasingly responsible positions for over 30 years. Former Juvenile Court Judge Suzanne Bailey had appointed him administrator in March 2011. Philyaw said that during Mairs' tenure, he was “instrumental in several initiatives that directly affect children and families, including Youth Court, Recovery Court, family law mediation and Safe Baby Court ... Under his leadership, we have improved facilities, invested in staff and implemented system changes to meet the needs of Hamilton County’s citizens." Read more from Chattanoogan.com.

After five decades operating as Larry R. Williams PLLC, the Nashville firm announced they have rebranded as The Williams Firm. Jonathan Williams, son of the firm's founder, now serves as owner and lead trial attorney, alongside a legal team including attorney Gregory Hazelwood. "This rebrand isn’t a departure from who we are — it’s a recommitment to our mission," Williams said. "The Williams Firm continues the legacy my father built by providing aggressive, compassionate representation to real people facing real challenges. We remain family-owned, deeply rooted in Nashville and focused on helping clients navigate some of the most difficult moments of their lives." The firm's offices are at 315 Deaderick St., Ste. 1510, Nashville 37238 and can be reached at 615-256-8880 or www.lrwlawfirm.com. Read more in a press release from the firm.

The Tennessee Supreme Court permanently disbarred Hamilton County lawyer Alan Christopher Norton from the practice of law on June 4. The court reports that Norton consented to disbarment because he could not successfully defend himself against the disciplinary charges. The court found that Norton forged a chancellor’s signature on three court orders, forged the name of a Tennessee attorney on a fake motion, and forged a deposition transcript he provided to his client. These actions violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.4, 8.4(b) and 8.4(c). The court had suspended him temporarily on Dec. 16, 2024, finding that he posed a threat of substantial harm to the public.

This appeal arises from a dispute between two municipalities and the district attorney general responsible for prosecuting cases in the jurisdiction in which the municipalities lie. The district attorney general threatened to cease the prosecution of cases in the courts of the municipalities and stated that he would only continue to do so if the municipalities provided an additional assistant attorney general position for his office or funding for such a position. The district attorney general justifies his threat by citing Tennessee Code Annotated section 8-7-103(1), which he asserts requires municipalities to fund additional prosecutorial personnel in order for his duty to prosecute cases in municipal court to be triggered. The municipalities filed a complaint for writ of mandamus and later amended their claims to include a request for declaratory judgment. The trial court ordered that the municipalities were entitled to a declaratory judgment “that they ha[d] provided ‘sufficient personnel’” to the district attorney general and that he could not avoid the responsibility of prosecuting cases “by invoking Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-7-103(6).” The trial court also determined that the district attorney general had a “clear statutory mandate” and issued a “peremptory writ of mandamus” compelling the district attorney general to comply with the statute. The district attorney general appeals. Finding that Tennessee Code Annotated section 8-7-103(1)’s “personnel requirement” does not refer to prosecutorial personnel, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

The defendant, Rex A. Martin, was convicted by a Rutherford County Circuit Court jury of two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated assault, assault, preventing another from making an emergency call, possession of a firearm while under a court order, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, for which he was sentenced to an effective term of fifteen years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence as to seven of his eight convictions - aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, assault, preventing another from making an emergency call, and possessing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. Following a thorough review of the record, the briefs, and oral arguments of the parties, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

This appeal involves statutory construction. Robert Bates and Laurel Diane Bates (“Mr. Bates” and “Ms. Bates,” “Plaintiffs” collectively) sued the City of Chattanooga, Individually and d/b/a the Brainerd Golf Course (“Defendant”) in the Circuit Court for Hamilton County (“the Trial Court”), alleging personal injuries, loss of services, and loss of consortium stemming from Mr. Bates’ fall on Defendant’s golf course. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment relying on the Tennessee Recreational Use Statute (“the TRUS”), Tenn. Code Ann. § 70-7-101, et seq., which provides immunity to landowners who open their property to recreational use. The Trial Court held that Defendant, the landowner, was immune under the TRUS because Mr. Bates was on Defendant’s property to play golf, and golf is comparable to the non-exclusive list of recreational activities found at Tenn. Code Ann. § 70-7-102. No exception to the TRUS was found to apply. Plaintiffs appeal, arguing that golf is not an activity like those listed at Section 102 of the TRUS. Plaintiffs argue further that the fact Mr. Bates paid to play on Defendant’s golf course means Defendant is not entitled to immunity. We hold, inter alia, that golf is sufficiently comparable to Section 102 enumerated activities, particularly hiking, sightseeing, and target shooting, such that Defendant is entitled to immunity under the TRUS. In addition, the fact that Mr. Bates paid to play on Defendant’s golf course is not dispositive because the TRUS has no applicable consideration exception. We affirm.