Registered voters in Davidson County may be entitled to a portion of a federal lawsuit settlement over unsolicited robocalls that went out in 2020, Axios Nashville reports. Voters were encouraged in the robocalls to support the recall of Mayor John Cooper and some members of the Metro Council. Unsolicited robocalls to cell phones are illegal in most instances under federal law. A federal judge certified the class of individuals entitled to a part of the $1 million settlement agreement against recall champions Michelle Foreman and Karen Moore. School board member Rachael Anne Elrod was among the citizens who raised the issue and filed the lawsuit. She is represented by Nashville lawyer John Spragens.

New data from the National Center for Health Statistics indicates that more than a quarter of adults do not meet the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society’s (SRS) recommendation of seven hours of sleep per day. The study also found that 14.5% percent had trouble falling asleep almost every night and 17.8% had trouble staying asleep. Among the group’s other findings: (1) with increasing age, adults are less likely to have trouble falling asleep but more likely to have trouble staying asleep; (2) women are more likely than men to have trouble falling and staying asleep; (3) non-Hispanic white adults had the most trouble staying asleep of all ethnicities studied; and (4) sleep difficulties decreased as income, education levels and urbanization increased. AASM has a number of tools to increase the duration and quality of sleep. Check out their bedtime calculator and sleep diary, among other resources.

The Tennessee Bar Association offices will be closing at 2 p.m. CDT tomorrow and will remain closed on Friday and Monday for the July 4th holiday. The office will reopen at 8 a.m. CDT on Tuesday. Need to reach a staff member? All staff emails and direct lines are posted online.

Lewis Thomason’s Knoxville office has announced the addition of six attorneys to its statewide Health Care Practice Group. “This is exciting for our firm and for the city of Knoxville,” said Rodney Fields, managing shareholder of the Knoxville office and chairman of the firm's Board of Directors. “Health care law is a growing practice in the Knoxville area, so we are pleased for the possibilities in adding these six accomplished and capable attorneys to our team.” Attorneys joining the Knoxville office are Heidi Barcus, Jeff Thompson, Gina Vogel, Hillary Jones, Jason Long and Meagan Davis Collver. Read the press release.

The TBA is hitting the road for its biggest Court Square Series yet! Between August and May 2023, be on the lookout for programming in a city near you that will provide networking opportunities, developments and updates in multiple areas of the law and much more. The next six stops in the series will kick off in Hendersonville on Aug. 24, followed by Greeneville on Sept. 7, Covington on Sept. 21, Jamestown on Oct. 26, Clarksville on Nov. 2 and Savannah on Nov. 16. Get more information on these events from TBA CLE.

Attorney David Price has been selected as the University of Tennessee College of Law’s new assistant dean for finance, administration and operations. Price will oversee the College of Law business office with overall responsibility for budgeting, human resources and facilities. He replaces Teresa Peterson who retired earlier this year. Price earned his law degree from the Nashville School of Law and has more than 18 years of experience in administration and finance operations with more than 14 of those years in higher education. He was previously the assistant director of the financial information office with the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business. He will assume his new role July 1. Read more from the College of Law.

Judges in Louisiana and Utah have temporarily blocked abortion bans triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, while a Texas judge has also temporarily blocked an abortion ban that was passed before the Roe decision. In Louisiana, two abortion rights groups argued it was unclear which of the state’s trigger laws are in effect and what conduct is banned. A district court judge granted them a temporary restraining order until July 8. In Utah, Planned Parenthood argued the state’s trigger laws violate the state constitution. They were granted a two-week temporary restraining order. Abortion providers in Texas filed suit to block an abortion ban passed before the Roe v. Wade decision. A judge temporarily blocked the law, allowing abortions up to six weeks into pregnancy to continue in the state. The ABA Journal has a breakdown of lawsuits that have been filed.  

Results from a Knoxville Bar Association member survey show strong support for retaining all five of the state's Supreme Court justices and six Eastern Section judges on the Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals. Two judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals for the Eastern Section have announced their retirement and were not included in the poll: Judge Norma McGee Ogle and Judge D. Kelly Thomas Jr. The survey, which was voluntary and not representative of a scientific sampling of KBA members, is available to voters to assist them at the polls. Read all results from the KBA.

A retirement celebration for Davidson County Seventh Circuit Probate Court Judge Randy Kennedy will be held on Aug. 23, 2- 4 p.m. CDT, on the sixth floor of the Historic Davidson County Courthouse. A committee is actively planning the event and more information will follow. Please contact Adam Hill with questions or ideas.

Fifteenth Judicial District Public Defender Shelley T. Gardner has been elected president of the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference —a statewide system made up of 400 public defenders from Tennessee’s 31 districts. Gardner will lead an executive committee tasked with assisting public defenders across the state discharge their duties. Gardner was appointed to the 15th District, serving Jackson, Macon, Smith, Trousdale and Wilson counties, in 2018 by then Gov. Bill Haslam and was re-elected in 2020. She has been with the office since 2002, first as an assistant public defender, and has been a member of the district’s Drug Court Team for 20 years. Read more from the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference.