The Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL) is recommending that the American Bar Association replace Model Rule 5.5 with a new rule "to better reflect the way lawyers practice in the 21st Century.” The group’s proposal would allow a lawyer admitted in any U.S. jurisdiction to practice law and represent willing clients without regard to the geographic location of the lawyer or the client, the forum where the services are to be provided, or the rules that would apply at a given moment in time. Lawyers would still be subject to judicial authority in each state and the disciplinary jurisdiction of their state of licensure and any other state where they practice. The proposal was developed by the APRL’s Future of Lawyering Committee and approved by its board in March. Read the committee report and a letter from APRL President and Memphis lawyer Brian Faughnan to the ABA explaining the proposal.

The Administrative Office of the Courts yesterday announced that Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Norma McGee Ogle will retire at the end of June. Ogle was appointed to the court by then Gov. Don Sundquist in 1998. It was a career move that wasn’t on her radar even though her husband Rex Henry Ogle was serving as a circuit court judge, the AOC relates. Prior to joining the court, Ogle was in private practice in Sevierville. She earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1977. Reflecting on her time on the bench, Ogle says she has loved the work, has had wonderful colleagues and has never stopped learning. Looking to the future, she hopes to see more women on the bench. “We’ve come so far, but we’re still ... a very small minority on the intermediate courts. My hope is that in the future we’ll see more women apply.”

During a recent debate, challenger Sara Beth Myers accused incumbent Davidson County District Attorney General Glenn Funk of violating the state’s “Little Hatch Act” when he recruited several prosecutors from his office to speak during a campaign forum about domestic violence. The state law prevents public officials from using taxpayer resources for elections or pressuring employees to help them get elected. In a statement, Funk said that his employees were talking about their accomplishments prosecuting domestic violence cases and used personal time off to participate. WPLN has more on the story.

Politics within the Republican party have intensified as three high-profile candidates face permanent removal from the 5th Congressional District primary ballot. Morgan Ortagus, Robby Starbuck and Baxter Lee all face formal challenges that have been filed with the Tennessee Republican Party. The challenges trigger a technical removal from the ballot per party bylaws, the Tennessean reports. The state party’s executive committee will vote by Thursday whether to add the candidates back on the ballot.

For those who would like to learn more about conservatorship work, the TBA is offering a free one-hour Zoom discussion on best practices, with a focus on general practice and small and solo firms. Nashville lawyer Amy Willoughby Bryant and Lebanon lawyer Travenia Holden will present the session on April 25 from 2-3 p.m. CDT. An optional hour of CLE credit is available for $50. For more information or questions contact TBA’s Director of Education and Professional Development Jennifer Vossler.

Nashville lawyer Gerard Stranch IV with Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings and University of Tennessee College of Law Professor Paula Schaefer recently joined a panel discussion hosted by the Jacob Burns Center for Ethics at Cardozo Law School in New York City. The session “Big Law, Big Discovery, Big Trouble,” looked at misconduct by the law firm of Arnold & Porter in its representation of Endo Pharmaceuticals, which resulted in two default judgments against the company in Tennessee. The virtual program also included Georgetown University Law Center Professor of Law Maria Glover and Cardozo Law School Professor Anthony Sebok, co-director of the Burns Center. Endo was the subject of a number of opioid-related law suits in Tennessee. Read past TBA Today coverage of those cases.

The Tennessee Innocence Project and its client Joyce Watkins, along with the Davidson County District Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit, were featured on CBS Sunday Morning over the weekend and on CBS News yesterday. The piece looks at a partnership between the two organizations, which led to exoneration of the 74-year-old Watkins and her boyfriend (who died in prison) three decades after being convicted for killing her four-year-old great-niece. Once the district attorney’s office began reviewing the case, it found “so much information” that the fatal injuries to the child happened before she was in Joyce’s custody, said Sunny Eaton with the review unit, who also appeared on the program. Read more about the case or watch the interview.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruled last week that Oscar Smith, 71, had “not presented new scientific evidence establishing that he is actually innocent of the murders of the victims,” the Tennessean reports. Smith’s legal team has asked the court to reopen the case after DNA from an unknown person was detected on one of the murder weapons. The trial court previously rejected the request. Smith’s public defender had filed a motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court earlier in the day Thursday seeking a stay of execution so the appellate court could have time to consider the motions. In the opinion, Judge Timothy Easter said that given the other evidence in the case there was not a “reasonable probability that the recently discovered DNA evidence would have prevented ... prosecution or conviction.” Smith is scheduled to die by lethal injection on April 21. He was convicted in 1990 of fatally stabbing and shooting his estranged wife and her two teenage sons.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will hold two clinics this week. On Wednesday, a clinic for veterans will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT in Nashville at Operation Stand Down, 1125 12th Ave. S., 37203. Then on Saturday, the Belmont Clinic will take place from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at 2005 12th Ave. South, Nashville 37204. All times are central. Those attending must wear a mask. To volunteer for a clinic, contact Kendra Cheek, 615-780-7131. See all April clinics.

New York lawyer Timothy Charles Cox and Mississippi lawyer Kate Mauldin Embry recently were reinstated to the practice of law after having been on inactive status for more than five years. Cox was reinstated effective March 24 while Embry was reinstated effective March 23. The court issued the orders on April 8.