Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, with offices in Memphis and Nashville, will merge with Bricker Graydon in January, the firms have announced. The combined firm will be known as Bricker Graydon Wyatt LLP. Franklin Jelsma, managing partner of Wyatt, and Chris McCloskey, managing partner of Bricker, said that merger discussions have been in the works for over a year. The combined firm will unite more than 325 attorneys across 14 offices in four states. Bricker operates in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Wyatt has offices in Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee. The new firm will focus on litigation, mergers and acquisitions, estate planning, and complex public sector representation for the real estate, health care, energy, education, and construction industries. Read more in a news release.

The TBA filed a comment with the Tennessee Supreme Court today on the court’s proposed new rule 20B “Public Access to Appellate Court Filings and Privacy Protection.” The comment supports the court’s goal of making appellate filings more freely accessible to the public, but raises concerns that the rule as drafted would result in adverse consequences to litigants, attorneys and the courts. The court solicited comments on amendments to the Rules of Appellate Procedure and the Rules of Criminal Procedure in August. Read the full TBA comment.

Montgomery County lawyer Edward Kendall White was resintated to the practice of law on Nov. 20. The Tennessee Supreme Court suspended White on Nov. 12 for failing to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility about a complaint of misconduct. On Nov. 18, White filed a petition for dissolution of the suspension, arguing he had responded to the complaint and had complied with all conditions imposed. The board confirmed that it received a response that it deemed sufficient.

Former state Rep. Robin Smith is asking a Nashville federal judge to grant her probation and remove a $7,500 fine previously imposed on her in light of pardons for her two co-defendants. A motion filed with federal Judge Eli Richardson argues that Smith “should be resentenced to a term of probation and have the fine reduced to $0 in order to mitigate the manifest injustice that will result from Ms. Smith being the only one of the three conspirators to face criminal sanctions.” The other two individuals involved in the case, former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his former chief of staff Cade Cothren, received presidential pardons earlier this month. Smith is due to report to federal prison on Jan. 5, 2026, to begin serving an eight-month sentence. Chattanoogan.com has the story.

Knox County Commissioner Rhonda Lee is seeking to replace retiring General Sessions Court Judge Andrew Jackson VI, Knox News reports. Jackson announced his retirement in October, effective at the end of the year. The county commission will name a replacement for Jackson to serve through the end of his term. Lee says that if she is not selected for the temporary appointment, she will run in August 2026 for the seat. The commission is seeking applications and resumes from candidates interested in finishing out Jackson’s term. It will interview candidates on Dec. 8.

The state has requested permission to appeal a Nashville chancellor's ruling that temporarily blocked the National Guard's deployment in Memphis. According to The Tennessean, the state filed paperwork with the Davidson County Chancery Court seeking to raise three issues: whether the state is able to benefit from the sovereign immunity waiver law, whether the plaintiffs have standing to sue, and whether Gov. Bill Lee violated state law in deploying the Guard. The state also asked the court to clarify if the request to appeal will trigger a stay of the temporary injunction. In related news, the plaintiffs in the case this week indicated they would seek legal action against the broader Memphis Safe Task Force given the "win" in the National Guard case. The Daily Memphian has more on that story. And while some have suggested the legislature should hold a special session to address issues raised in the suit, Tennessee Senate Speaker Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, said he prefers the matter be resolved by the judicial system, according to the Tennessee Journal.

Nashville Metro Council members have appointed Jodie Bell to the Davidson County General Sessions Court, the Nashville Banner reports. Bell will fill a vacancy left by Judge Jim Todd, who was appointed to the Davidson County Criminal Court. Bell is a Nashville defense attorney who has advocated for increased indigent defense funding. Council member Clay Capp told colleagues that Bell is “widely known and universally respected” in the local legal community. She is married to former Nashville Mayor and current Davidson County Circuit Court Judge David Briley.

The former chief administrative officer (CAO) of the Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk's office has sued General Sessions Court Clerk Tami Sawyer, alleging Sawyer fired him as retribution for reporting an alleged misappropriation of nearly $6,000. According to the lawsuit, former CAO Jeffrey Walker was told to sign off on $5,801 in seemingly personal expenses made on a county government procurement card. According to the Commercial Appeal, he later reported the spending to the county ethics commission and Sawyer allegedly became hostile, pressured him to resign and later terminated him. Walker alleges he was locked out of his computer, excluded from meetings and ostracized before being fired following medical leave. He also is suing the county for failing to address his complaints about Sawyer. The suit seeks reinstatement, $1 million in damages and attorney’s fees. Sawyer’s office did not comment according to the paper.

After nearly a month in the hospital, an inmate at the Shelby County women’s jail, known as Jail East, has died, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed. Tiffany Dukes was taken to Regional One Hospital on Oct. 21 and died there Monday morning, the Commercial Appeal reports. The sheriff’s office said Dukes had spent five days in the hospital in early October but did not give a reason for her hospitalization. Dukes was booked Sept. 17 and charged with five counts of identity theft, theft of property and financial exploitation of an elderly or vulnerable person. The sheriff’s office is investigating her death, which is the latest in a series of in-custody deaths at county jails.

Members of the Sackler family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma must pay billions of dollars to settle a flood of lawsuits over the harms of opioids according to a new deal approved by a bankruptcy judge on Tuesday, Action News 5 reports. The Sacklers must contribute up to $7 billion over 15 years with most of the money going to government entities to fight the opioid crisis. Thousands of victims could be paid thousands of dollars each, with some distributions beginning next year for people who had OxyContin prescriptions or their survivors. The agreement replaces one the U.S. Supreme Court rejected last year because it would have shielded Sackler family members from future lawsuits. The new agreement allows entities that do not opt into the settlement to still sue. The deal is among the largest in a series of opioid settlements brought by state and local governments against drugmakers, wholesalers and pharmacies, the station reports.