Memphis schools have offered elective African American history and literature classes for nearly three decades, Chalkbeat reports. But next school year, White Station High School will offer a more comprehensive and collaborative curriculum shaped by professors from colleges and universities throughout the country. The program is part of a 60-school pilot project that will provide a more expansive view of African history, new AP course offerings, and opportunities for high school students to earn college credit. Educators have long been concerned that students, especially Black students, are not well educated about the history of Black Americans, including key court cases and constitutional amendments that addressed past wrongs.

The Belmont University College of Law's Health Law Journal will hold its Spring Symposium virtually on Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This year’s theme, “The Legal Role in Building Sustainable Public Health Systems," will focus on utilizing legal tools to help the medically underserved and needy. Speakers will address the importance of leveraging community-based integrated health teams and understanding how food insecurity impacts public health. Learn more and register here.

The Tennessee Bar Association has opened nominations for the Fourth Estate Award: Honoring Courageous Reporting on Justice and the Law. This year’s prize includes a $250 honorarium for the winner. The TBA strongly supports the freedom of expression under the First Amendment, as exercised by lawyers on behalf of their clients and by journalists on behalf of the public. It particularly wants to recognize and encourage journalists who promote public understanding of the rule of law and our system of justice through their vigorous exercise of First Amendment rights. Nominees may be individuals or teams of Tennessee-based journalists who worked on  published stories. The deadline for entry is March 31. For more information, contact TBA Assistant Executive Director Barry Kolar.

The 2022 TBA Estate Planning Forum is just days away, with in-person and live virtual attendance options for the day-long programming on Friday. This year’s program will feature timely topics such as key considerations in succession planning, discussion of proposed legislation for mandatory conservator training, Tennessee trust preeminence, recent developments with gift and estate taxes and more. The seminar also will provide a legislative update and an interactive clerk and masters’ panel, allowing for Q&A with clerks from across the state's three grand divisions. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from top experts in the field and network with colleagues who practice estate law!

The Tennessee Supreme Court last week adopted an amendment to Rule 11, Section V to remove the name “Cornelia A. Clark” and add the name “Sarah K. Campbell” as the justice assigned to Circuit No. 3. The circuit consists of the following six judicial districts: 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th and 20th.

The U.S. Senate yesterday approved a bill that would ban companies from forcing employees who allege sexual assault or harassment to settle their claims with an arbiter without the option of filing a lawsuit, sending a bill that passed the House of Representatives earlier in the week to President Joe Biden for his signature. The “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act” will provide federal protection for employees' right to sue their employers over allegations of sexual harassment or assault, nullifying clauses in employment contracts that force employees to enter arbitration with their employer instead. Reuters has more on the legislation.

State Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, has pulled a petition to run for reelection, CommunityImpact.com reports. Johnson has served in the Senate since 2007 and would be seeking a fifth term. He sits on the Commerce and Labor, Ethics and Finance, and Ways and Means committees.

A new survey from legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa shows that 75% of respondents want to be in the office at least one day per week while only 27% want to be in the office more than a day or two. The group conducted the "LawLife 2.0 How the Pandemic Redefined the Way We Work" survey as a follow up to its 2021 “Lawyers’ Perspectives on Returning to the Office” survey and found that the desire to be in the office declined significantly in less than a year. Just 10 months ago, the number of respondents who wanted to be in the office three or four days a week was 46%. Stephanie Biderman, a co-author of the survey, said firms need to make the office experience worth the commute. “Firms have to make time in the office more valuable. Training, mentorship, positive cultural events and team-building events. That is where the focus is going to have to be,” she says. Law.com has more on the story.

President Joe Biden said yesterday that he has narrowed his search for a Supreme Court nominee to replace the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer to four women, The Hill reports. "The short list are nominees who are incredibly well qualified and documented. They were the honor students, they come from the best universities, they have experience, some on the bench, some in the practice," Biden told NBC News' Lester Holt. "What I've done is I've taken about four people and done a deep dive on them ... to see if there’s anything in the background that would make them not qualified," Biden said. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that candidate interviews could start next week.

Judge David F. Hensley has announced his retirement from the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board effective March 31. He has served on the board for close to eight years. Hensley earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1979, and began his career in Chattanooga clerking for Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Herschel P. Franks. He then spent over 30 years in private practice before being appointed to the inaugural Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board by then Gov. Bill Haslam in August 2014. He was re-appointed by Haslam in 2018. Off the bench, Hensley has served the Chattanooga community as a board member and chair of the North River YMCA and a board member of the Ronald McDonald House Charities.