The sentencing hearing for former Rep. Robin Smith has been delayed until Jan. 30, the Tennessee Lookout reports. Originally set for Oct. 17, the hearing was postponed after attorneys for Smith filed a motion to delay “given the projected length of the Casada case with multiple defendants.” The state did not oppose the motion. Smith, who pleaded guilty to honest services wire fraud charges in March, is expected to testify in United States v. Casada before Judge Eli Richardson, set for Oct. 25. Casada and his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, were arrested at their homes last week on 20 federal counts of a variety of charges, including bribery, kickbacks, conspiracy to commit money laundering and more. The charges stem from a company called Phoenix Solutions, which allegedly funneled money from the state to Casada, Cothren and Smith.

Memphis attorney and Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner is expected to announce on Thursday that he is running for Memphis mayor in 2023, the Daily Memphian reports. The announcement will take place at Health Sciences Park, which was sold to Memphis Greenspace Inc., a nonprofit headed by Turner, in 2017. The organization then had a monument of Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest removed from the grounds. Turner was also instrumental in the removal of the remains of Forrest and his wife from beneath the monument last year. Turner’s second term as commissioner will conclude on Wednesday. He is the first to announce a campaign in what is expected to be a crowded field of contenders to succeed Mayor Jim Strickland, who is terming out.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today held that, unless the legislature says otherwise, a person who commits an offense that is later repealed must be prosecuted under the law in effect when the offense was committed. The high court reinstated the sentence of Marvin Maurice Deberry, who was convicted of driving after being declared a motor vehicle habitual offender (MVHO). While Deberry awaited his sentencing hearing, the legislature repealed the MVHO offense and replaced it with alternative procedures. After being sentenced, Deberry filed for a reduction of sentence, citing a state law known as the criminal savings statute. According to the statute, if a new law “provides for a lesser penalty,” then any punishment imposed must be in accordance with the new law. The Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with Deberry, but the Supreme Court today reversed that decision and reinstated Deberry’s sentence. The justices found that when a statute repeals a criminal offense altogether rather than reducing the punishment for the offense, the defendant must be convicted and sentenced under the law in effect at the time of offense. Read more from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Outgoing Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich will this week join the 25th Judicial District Attorney General’s Office as special counsel, the Daily Memphian reports. Weirich, a Republican, who lost to Democrat Steve Mulroy in August, will work in areas including litigation support and training, victim/witness services, legislative affairs, media relations, policy and procedure, community outreach and public awareness campaigns. She’ll be sworn in on Thursday at 10 a.m. CDT at the Fayette County Circuit Court Room in the Fayette County Justice Complex, 705 Justice Drive in Somerville. The 25th Judicial District includes Hardeman, Fayette, Lauderdale, McNairy and Tipton counties.

After serving nearly eight years as the state’s top lawyer, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery is set to retire. WBIR has an interview with Slatery from May in which he discusses his greatest accomplishments as AG, how his office has balanced federal mandates versus states’ rights and advice for his successor. Slatery said he decided to retire now because he felt “like this was a natural time to pass the baton.” Slatery intends to return to Knoxville after retirement.

A story in yesterday’s TBA Today mischaracterized newly installed Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Lynnae Myles. Chancellor Myles is the first Black female chancellor in the state, not just in Davidson County. Alert readers reminded us that Irvin H. Kilcrease Jr. was the first Black chancellor in the state. He was appointed by then Gov. Lamar Alexander in 1980 and died in 2012. See photos from Myles’s induction ceremony.

Cook Tillman Law Group is now accepting applications for an estate planning associate attorney in the firm’s Brentwood office. Cook Tillman is a boutique firm that exclusively handles estate planning, estate and trust administration, and business planning matters. The new attorney will join the firm’s Estate Planning practice group and will participate in consultation meetings, formulate and customize estate plans for clients, draft a wide range of estate planning documents and conduct document execution meetings. Read more on how to apply from the TBA’s JobLink site or browse all available jobs.  

The August episode of the TBA’s BarBuzz podcast is now streaming with co-host Isaac Kimes of Nashville’s Branstetter Stranch & Jennings! Kimes helps round up top legal news and bar association happenings, details Branstetter’s work on opioids and tells the story of how his mother escaped North Korea during the Korean War and later immigrated to the U.S. BarBuzz is part of the TBA Podcast Network and can be found on the TBA’s website or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Courtney Leyes, a partner in the Nashville office of Fisher Phillips, was voted this year’s recipient of the Larry Dean Wilks Leadership Award by fellow members of 2022 TBA Leadership Law (TBALL) class. All 34 members of the leadership training program met for their final session last week in Franklin. The class heard from a Diversity in Leadership panel before completing a service project with Tennessee Free Legal Answers where they answered 36 legal questions submitted by the public. Leyes was presented with the award during the group’s graduation ceremony on Friday. The award is named for former TBA president, Larry D. Wilks, and recognizes a TBALL class member who exhibits exceptional leadership qualities. Read more on all of this year’s TBALL graduates.

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) Equal Justice University gets underway this week in Murfreesboro. The event, which runs Wednesday through Friday, brings together about 300 lawyers, advocates, social workers and pro bono attorneys involved in providing civil legal assistance across Tennessee. The Tennessee Bar Association is a sponsor of the event and TBA President Tasha Blakney will be speaking to the conference on Wednesday during the Leadership Luncheon. The group also will present it 2022 Access to Justice Awards on Thursday at the Access to Justice Luncheon. See the full schedule.