The American Bar Association has dropped a 2017 requirement that its continuing legal education programs with three or more presenters include at least one diverse speaker. The Florida Supreme Court in December ruled the ABA’s diversity requirement constituted a discriminatory quota system. An ABA spokeswoman said that its CLE programs were reinstated in Florida the day the new policy was approved. Reuters has more on the development.

Shelby County lawyer Darryl Wayne Humphrey was reinstated to the practice of law on Friday. He had been suspended for six months on Sept. 25, 2017. The Board of Professional Responsibility found that he had complied with the terms and conditions of his suspension and demonstrated the moral qualifications, competency and learning in the law required for the practice of law. As conditions of his reinstatement, Humphrey must engage a practice monitor for one year and complete a practice and professionalism enhancement program in the first 45 days of his reinstatement.

The Judicial Ethics Committee issued Advisory Opinion 22-01 on March 29 to address whether judicial candidates are permitted to solicit and accept campaign contributions now that Gov. Bill Lee has signed SB2010/HB1708 into law. The committee finds that the new law does allow judicial candidates to solicit and accept campaign contributions, but notes that other sections of the Code of Judicial Conduct may be implicated by the solicitation or receipt of campaign contributions and recommends that judicial candidates “be mindful of the Code as a whole when deciding whether or how he or she should personally solicit and accept contributions.”

Legal of Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) has announced the appointment of Debra House as the firm’s new executive director. House has served as interim director since January 2021. She joined LAET in 1988 as a staff attorney in the firm’s Cleveland office and then moved to the Knoxville office in 2007. She has held a number of roles over the past 33 years, most recently as director of development and compliance. In that capacity, House was responsible for LAET’s development department, pro bono program and marketing and branding efforts. House has been active in the Family Resource Agency in Cleveland, the Knoxville Family Justice Center and the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services. An active member of both the Knoxville and Tennessee Bar Associations, she currently co-chairs the KBA Access to Justice Committee. and serves in the TBA House of Delegates. LAET serves eligible residents of 26 counties from offices in Blountville, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Knoxville, Johnson City, Maryville and Morristown.

Tennesseans for Historical Justice, co-founded by Alamo lawyer Jim Emison, has launched a new podcast to advance the organization’s mission of uncovering the truth about racial violence and striving for transformation and healing. In the inaugural episode, board member David Johnson interviews Emison about what inspired him to found the group. Listen on Anchor or Spotify.

Disability Rights Tennessee (DRT) is seeking an attorney to work with its Children & Youth Program. This position will address discrimination and harm experienced by children and youth in Tennessee institutions, community living environments and schools. The ideal candidate will possess a diverse knowledge of children and youth with disabilities as well as litigation experience. A law license is required while five years of legal experience is preferred. To apply send a cover letter and resume to anna@disabilityrightstn.org. Read the full job posting.

The political rivalry between state Rep. Darren Jernigan, D-Old Hickory, and former state Rep. Jim Gotto will go another round this year after Gotto submitted paperwork to challenge Jernigan. It will be the third time Gotto, a Republican, has faced off against Jernigan, losing to him in 2012 and 2014. The district spans parts of Old Hickory, Hermitage and Donelson and is viewed as a seat that might flip this year, Axios Nashville reports.

A number of races have been set in Rhea County, Chattanoogan.com reports. Twelfth Judicial District Attorney General Mike Taylor qualified as an independent and will face Courtney Lynch from Winchester in the general election. Also in August, current public defender and independent Jeff Harmon will face Assistant Hamilton County Public Defender Ted Engel, who is running unopposed in the Republican primary. Incumbent state Rep. Ron Travis will be unopposed in the Republican primary and face fellow Dayton native David L. Brown who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. Finally, the county will be choosing a new state senator following redistricting. Patricia Waters, the lone Democratic contender, will face either Adam Lowe, Mark Hall or Dennis Beavers in the general election. Others may still join that race as the filing deadline has been extended to May 5 after a three-judge panel threw out the Senate redistricting map.

Fourteen Republicans and two Democrats have met the filing deadline to run for the newly redrawn 5th Congressional District, Tennessee Ledger reports. Republicans in the primary race are Geni Batchelor, Jeff Beierlein, Natisha Brooks, Sarah A. Grams, Beth Harwell, Baxter Lee, Richie Lee, Timothy Bruce Lee, Andy Ogles, Morgan Ortagus, Robby Starbuck, Stewart T. Parks, Kurt Winstead and Tres Wittum. A new state measure that would exclude Ortagus from running awaits the governor’s signature, but Ortagus supporters have already promised a lawsuit if the bill is enacted. The two Democratic filers are state Sen. Heidi Campbell and Justicia Rizzo.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday reinstated President Joe Biden's executive order mandating that federal civilian employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. By a 2-1 vote, a panel of the court lifted an injunction imposed by a district court judge in Texas in January, Reuters reports. Biden announced last fall that he would require about 3.5 million government workers to get vaccinated by Nov. 22 (barring a religious or medical accommodation) or face discipline or firing. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Biden's vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses but allowed a separate federal vaccine requirement for healthcare facilities to stand. Yahoo News has the story.