The Tennessee Department of Revenue will host a free webinar on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. CDT focused on tax issues for new businesses. Participants will learn about state tax obligations and other resources that may help their businesses. Register here or see other upcoming webinars.

Lynn Paula Talley of Knoxville died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. Talley, a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, spent most of her career as an attorney with the Social Security Administration in Knoxville. She loved spending time with family and friends, traveling and volunteering in the community. She will be remembered for her involvement with the YWCA of Knoxville and her Cancer Support group. A viewing will be held on July 8 from 4-6 p.m. and a family viewing on July 9 from 10-11 a.m. at Lewis & Wright Funeral Directors, 2500 Clarksville Highway, Nashville TN 37208. A celebration of life will take place on July 9 at 11 a.m. All times central.

Tennessee’s longest serving judge, Montgomery County General Sessions & Juvenile Court Judge Wayne Chavis Shelton, will retire tomorrow, the Administrative Office of the Courts has announced. Shelton has served on the court since being appointed by Gov. Lamar Alexander in 1979. He earned his law degree in 1973 from Memphis State School of Law (now University of Memphis). He first worked with a law firm in Memphis and then moved to Montgomery County where he practiced with the late Thomas E. Stamper. Among his accomplishments, Shelton has served as president of the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, received the Judge Elizabeth McCain Memorial Award for service to the state juvenile courts, and received the council’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more about his career and tributes from colleagues.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission is accepting applications for a criminal court judge in the 11th Judicial District, which covers Hamilton County. The vacancy was created by the appointment of Judge Tom Greenholtz to the Court of Criminal Appeals, Eastern Section. Applicants must be licensed attorneys, at least 30 years of age, residents of the state for five years and residents of the judicial district. The deadline to apply for consideration is July 12. Complete application instructions are on the Administrative Office of the Courts website. The commission will hold a public hearing on Aug. 5 at 9 a.m. EDT to interview candidates.

Civil rights attorney Fred Gray will receive the nation’s highest honor — the Presidential Medal of Freedom — on July 7, the National Bar Association announced today. The Alabama native became a global icon for Black American jurists, lawyers and law students during his long career, driving some of the country's most significant court decisions impacting the lives of Black Americans and other underserved communities. His accomplishments include representing Rosa Parks, and serving as the attorney for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., legal counsel for the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study victims, and president of the Alabama State Bar and National Bar Association. In 2006, Gray spoke at the Tennessee Bar Association’s Diversity Summit. In 2016, Lipscomb University renamed its Institute for Law, Justice & Society for Gray. Randall Spivey, academic director for the institute, wrote about Gray’s legacy in the October 2016 issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal.

Stacey Shrader Joslin, the TBA’s advertising, sponsorship and media content coordinator, is responsible for recruiting advertisers for the Tennessee Bar Journal and TBJ Select e-newsletter, section Connect e-newsletters and TBA.org; recruiting sponsors for CLE programs and events such as convention and mock trial; helping produce the TBA Today newsletter three days a week; writing several standing features for the Tennessee Bar Journal; and regularly contributing content for TBA.org. Stacey is chief of the TBA’s Grammar Police – she can spot an error in a news story from a mile away! She also loves reading, watching crime shows of all varieties and traveling!

The #TeamTBA series offers members a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the TBA and how each staff members makes the association run. Check back every Wednesday for a new staff profile in TBA Today and on the TBA's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office Division of Consumer Affairs is warning homeowners about a home warranty scam. Letters received by Tennessee homeowners urge them to purchase a home warranty, claiming the current home warranty “may be expiring or may have already expired.” Each letter contains the same claim, even if the homeowner has never purchased a home warranty. The letter also heavily implies an affiliation with the homeowner’s mortgage company and the “county deed records” office. The people responsible for these letters are in no way affiliated with the homeowner’s mortgage company or the Register of Deeds, the office says. Anyone who has received such a letter can file a complaint here.

The TBA is now accepting applications for the award-winning Public Service Academy (PSA), back after a two-year break due to the pandemic. The PSA is a bipartisan, statewide effort to encourage attorneys to take on public service leadership roles in their communities and run for office. Those accepted for the program will take part in a two-day program Sept. 8-9, and a two-day program Nov. 18-19. Both sessions will be in Nashville featuring top political and campaign experts. Applications are due by July 22, so apply now or encourage your friends and colleagues who have aspirations for public service to apply.

An attorney who passed the Uniform Bar Exam and is licensed to practice in New York is asking the Tennessee Supreme Court to step in after the Tennessee Board of Law Examiner denied her request to transfer her bar score to Tennessee, the Nashville Post reports. Violaine Panasci moved to Nashville in 2021 after being hired by Chattanooga-based Rockridge Venture Law. She previously earned a master of laws degree at Pace University in New York, where she passed the bar and was licensed to practice. Panasci attended college and law school in Canada. The board determined that her Canadian education was not “substantially equivalent” to an American legal education. In legal filings, Panasci notes that more than 100 similarly situated attorneys have been admitted to practice in Tennessee. She is represented by former U.S. Attorney Bill Killian. The Goldwater Institute, the Beacon Center of Tennessee and the Southeastern Legal Foundation have filed a brief arguing Panasci has a constitutional right to earn a living. Read the group’s arguments in this article from Attorney at Law magazine. Read Panasci's petition and brief, the state's response, petition to file an amicus brief and docket information.

Law firm Thompson Burton, with offices in Nashville and Franklin, has launched an estate and wills practice with the addition of Dave Mayer, who joins the firm as a partner. Mayer was an associate at Bass Berry & Sims since 2015 and, before law school, was an accountant at Ernst & Young. His focus is on estate planning, trust instruments and wealth transfers, the Nashville Post reports.