Some lawyers who challenged the 2020 election results in court are facing disciplinary actions, defamation lawsuits or financial judgements, while many have not faced any action. Law.com has a story from the National Law Journal that provides a rundown of where these actions stand.

Tennessee officials have picked 10 statewide mental health programs for youth to receive a combined $6.5 million for programs designed to increase school-based services and emergency psychiatric services, the Nashville Ledger reports. The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services says programs receiving funding in Middle Tennessee include Volunteer Behavioral Health, Prevention Coalition for Success, Youth Villages and TN Voices. Other grant recipients are Frontier Health in Northeast Tennessee, McNabb Center in East Tennessee, Volunteer Behavioral Health in Southeast Tennessee and the Cumberland Plateau, and Pathways and TN Voices in West Tennessee. 

Nashville will bid to host both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions for the upcoming 2024 election cycle, the Tennessean reports. Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. CEO Butch Spyridon said yesterday it will bid on both conventions at the "request of and support from the Governor's Office." The governor’s press secretary confirmed the move saying, “We’ve got a lot to show off in Tennessee and are always willing to play host. We’d be glad to welcome either party’s convention to Nashville.”

Beverly Moran, tax expert and professor emerita at Vanderbilt Law School, earlier this month testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on “The Pandora Papers and Hidden Wealth.” In her remarks to the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, Moran called for immediate government regulation of tax havens. The hearing was held to probe the rise of the United States as a global tax haven. Recently released documents — known as the “Pandora Papers — show “a complex web of tax havens, shell corporations and offshore accounts created for the purpose of hiding assets to avoid taxes,” the law school explains in a release about Moran’s testimony.

The nonprofit social-justice group Gideon’s Army should not automatically receive $1 million that was included in the Nashville Metro Council’s budget for violence interruption says an advisory panel of the council. Instead, the group should be required to go through an application process, along with any other groups interested in doing the same work, and meet standards being set by the Community Safety Partnership Advisory Board, News Break reports. In related news, NewsChannel 5 conducted an investigation this past fall, which found the group had exaggerated its success in reducing violence at a Nashville public housing development.

TBA Today last week reported that 22nd Judicial District Circuit Court Judge David Allen was honored for his role as a recovery court judge during a recent meeting of the Tennessee Association of Recovery Court Professionals. The story should also have stated that McNairy County General Sessions Judge Van D. McMahan also received the Making a Difference Award. Both judges said working with recovery courts is the “most rewarding” part of their jobs and McMahan said it was the “most important thing” he does. Also at the conference, the association recognized retired Seventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge Don Elledge with its first ever Recognition of Service Award for his long contribution to recovery courts. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on all three judges.

Texas lawyer Sarah Weddington, who at 26 successfully argued the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court, died Sunday, the Associated Press reports. She was 76. Just a few years after graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, Weddington brought a class-action suit on behalf of a pregnant woman challenging a state law that largely banned abortions. The case of “Jane Roe” first was brought against the Dallas County district attorney but eventually advanced to the Supreme Court. Weddington argued the case before the high court twice, in December 1971 and again in October 1972, resulting in the 7-2 ruling that legalized abortion. Weddington ran for the Texas House of Representatives in 1972 and served three terms before becoming general counsel at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and later working as an advisor on women's issues to President Jimmy Carter.

A new report from the Minority Corporate Counsel Association shows a “decade of slow progress” toward improved diversity at the nation’s largest law firms, Law.com reports. According to the study, the percentage of attorneys identifying as racial and ethnic minorities has increased just 6 percentage points in the past 10 years — rising from 14% in 2010 to 20% in 2020. Calling these results “disappointing,” the report suggests it is time to reassess traditional operating procedures and redefine the status quo of work cultures. Read the report.

Martha Pearl Cobb of Maryville died Dec. 22 at the age of age 91. Cobb taught economics, government, legal issues, world history and psychology in the Alcoa School System for 40 years. Among her many honors, she was president of the Alcoa Education Association, a liaison to the Tennessee State Board of Education and the Tennessee Department of Education’s Teacher of the Year finalist. She also received the Tennessee Bar Association’s previously-awarded honor recognizing a high school teacher for promoting understanding of the legal system. Donations may be made to the Blount Memorial Hospital Foundation, 907 E Lamar Alexander Pkwy., Maryville, TN 37801, or to the Blount County Retired Teachers Associations’ Scholarship Fund, 853 Summer Hill Dr., Friendsville, TN 37737.

In 2020, many firms transitioned from brick-and-mortar offices into fully remote law practices. Looking ahead to 2022, it’s worth asking: How should remote work shape the future of legal practice? Many firms are exploring new hybrid models, combining elements of working in-person at the office and remotely from home or elsewhere — and offering numerous benefits — including cost savings and flexibility for clients. Join Nefra MacDonald, affinity partnerships manager at Clio, to find out if the hybrid law firm model is right for you. The previously recorded webcast will air from noon to 1 p.m. CST tomorrow.