Livestreaming of federal appellate court arguments could outlast the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal judiciary told U.S. lawmakers, with all but one circuit court indicating plans to at least consider keeping the practice going. Reuters reports that U.S. District Judge Roslynn Mauskopf, the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, said the judiciary is working to determine to what extent remote access to oral arguments should continue post-pandemic. Before March 2020, only the 9th and D.C. Circuits had regularly streamed oral arguments online.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP recently received the 2022 Pro Bono Leadership Award from the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands. The award was presented at the Nashville Bar Association’s Law Day Luncheon on May 6. The award recognizes firm leadership in pro bono service during the previous year. In 2021, the Nashville office volunteered 4,245 hours and launched a new clinic to provide accessible and affordable business-oriented services to Black-owned businesses and nonprofits. Bradley Pro Bono Counsel Tiffany M. Graves said the firm is proud of the recognition and congratulates the Nashville attorneys who contributed their time to pro bono service.

The TBA is hosting its Spring CLE Blast during the whole month of May! Whether you are catching up on CLE or starting to meet your 2022 requirements, our packages are designed with your convenience in mind. Choose from two CLE packages that you can watch on-demand from the comfort of your own home or office. Package 1 offers eight dual hours of credit while Package 2 offers seven hours. Earn 15 hours of CLE when you purchase both! Need to customize your learning? Visit cle.tba.org to access more than 250 on-demand programs. Whether you need one hour of CLE or 15, we have a curated list of options by hour, topic and practice area. And don't forget that all of your 2022 CLE can be taken through approved distance learning courses.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw has denied Robbie Starbuck’s request for an injunction that would stop his official removal from the Republican primary ballot for the 5th Congressional District, Tennessee Journal reports. The Tennessee Republican Party removed Starbucks and fellow candidates Morgan Ortagus and Baxter Lee after finding the three did not meet Republican “bona fides.” In his order, Crenshaw wrote that the “Court may never know” why exactly Starbuck was removed from the ballot, but that he was not entitled to a preliminary injunction.

Baker Donelson has promoted Meagan Nebel as its first director of lateral recruiting and integration, the Nashville Post reports. Based in the Nashville office, Nebel will look outside of the firm to recruit new employees, working directly with external recruiting firms and others. She joins a team that includes the firm’s first chief growth officer, Mark Carlson, who works with firm leaders to identify potential law firm mergers and small groups of partners from other firms to bring on. "Growth is imperative to our strategy and the continued success of Baker Donelson," Carlson said in the release.

The Tennessee Supreme Court in December amended Rule 8, RPC 7.6 and deleted Rule 44 regarding intermediary organizations. In April, the Knoxville Bar Association requested the court clarify that neither the amendment nor the deletion alters Rule 8, RPC 5.4(a)(6), which allows an attorney to pay a non-profit intermediary organization “a referral fee calculated by reference to a reasonable percentage of the fee paid to the lawyer by the client referred to the lawyer by the intermediary organization.” The court granted the KBA’s request and today issued another amendment to the rules. Read the order.

Nashville firefighter Joshua Lipscomb has been suspended from his job without pay one month after he sued the department for violating his freedom of speech, WPLN reports.  Lipscomb, a comedian, is better known for his stage name and Twitter handle Josh Black. He was suspended last month for tweeting that Metro’s use of new license plate readers would lead to over-policing of Black and brown communities and referring to members of Metro Council as “white supremacists.” Lipscomb’s lawsuit says the department’s internal policies are “vague and overbroad” and that the three-person disciplinary panel receives no training or supervision. He was again suspended last week for taking sick leave without a doctor’s note and filed an amended complaint calling the latest suspension retaliation for his lawsuit. He is seeking compensation for nearly a month of lost pay and a declaration that these policies are unconstitutional.

The first of six forums from the USA TODAY Network Tennessee, the University of Tennessee and Lipscomb University begins tonight at 6 p.m. EDT on UT’s campus in Knoxville. Each forum will focus on gubernatorial and congressional candidates and will be held in-person as well as live-streamed on the Tennessean’s website. Tonight’s guests will feature a one-on-one conversation between Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessean editor Michael Anastasi, a discussion between Democratic gubernatorial candidates Carnita Atwater, Jason Martin and JB Smiley, moderated by UT President Randy Boyd, and a conversation with Democratic candidates Cameron Parsons and Mark Harmon, running for congressional seats in Districts 1 and 2, respectively. The live events are free but require tickets. The next forum will be held at Lipscomb on May 19 at 7 p.m. CDT. Read the full forum schedule.  

Melydia Clewell, wife of Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston, has resigned her position as chief of staff in the DA’s office, Chattanooga’s News Channel 9 reports. Clewell had recently been placed on administrative leave from the office following a report from the Tennessee Comptroller that Pinkston had violated the state’s nepotism policy by employing Clewell and her brother, Kerry Clewell. According to the Chattanoogan, Clewell has accepted a research position with a Hollywood production company. An email between two county officials late last month reveals Kerry Clewell is set to be terminated on May 17. Pinkston lost his bid for reelection to Coty Wamp during the county’s Republican primary.

The TBA’s BarBuzz podcast recently released its May episode, featuring special co-host Tasha Blakney of the Knoxville law firm Eldridge & Blakney. Currently serving as TBA president-elect, Blakney details plans for her upcoming year as president and what she hopes to accomplish. Tune in for that discussion and stick around to hear Blakney deliver the latest legal news and bar association events and updates. BarBuzz is part of the TBA Podcast Network and can be found on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts.