President Donald Trump’s administration said Friday it is formally withdrawing a plan proposed by his predecessor that would have required airlines to pay passengers cash compensation when U.S. flight disruptions are caused by carriers. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) under then-President Joe Biden sought public comment on rules requiring airlines to compensate travelers for domestic delays of at least three hours. DOT signaled in September that it planned to abandon the proposal and said Friday the rules would create “unnecessary regulatory burdens,” Reuters reports. Last month, 18 senators urged the Trump administration to keep the plan, calling it a “common-sense proposal.” DOT said dropping the effort would “allow airlines to compete on the services and compensation they provide to passengers rather than imposing new minimum requirements.”

The 2025 class of the TBA Public Service Academy met last week at the Nashville office of Adams & Reese. Participants heard from a range of speakers on topics such as building a campaign team, fundraising, identifying a message, and what it‘s like to run, win and serve. The program was moderated by Berkley Schwarz, principal with Pier Strategies and a TBA lobbyist. Speakers included Franklin lawyer Sean Aiello, who serves on the Williamson County Commission; Brenda Gadd, who serves on the Metro Nashville Council; John Rowley, founder of Counterpoint Messaging; Ward Baker, founder and president of Baker Group Strategies; Kim Kaegi, founder and principal with Kaegi Resources; and Nadira Freeman with Axis Strategies. The academy is a nonpartisan training program that provides attorneys with the tools to run for local public offices, such as school board, city council and county commission. See photos from the program.

The TBA will hold its second annual Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the Law (TCAIL2) on Dec. 12 in Nashville, offering a full day of programming focused on the rapidly evolving intersection of AI and legal practice. The conference will run from 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. CST and provide up to six dual hours of CLE credit. Sessions will feature live demonstrations of leading AI tools, guidance on navigating ethical and regulatory risks, and strategies for handling AI-generated evidence in court. Speakers include A.J. Bahou, Maura Grossman, Lucian Pera, Neal Pinkston, William Ramsey and Oliver Roberts. For more information and to register visit the TBA website.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has announced that the state joined a multistate settlement with Greystar Management Services, the nation’s largest property management company, over allegations that it participated in an algorithmic pricing scheme that artificially increased rents. According to a release, a bipartisan coalition of states investigated Greystar for sharing sensitive rental supply and pricing data with competitors through RealPage revenue management software, which officials say inflated prices and reduced competition in the multi-family housing market. Greystar, which manages nearly 950,000 units nationwide and more than 6,000 in Tennessee, reached a non-monetary settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in August. Under a proposed consent decree, the company would stop using anticompetitive pricing algorithms, stop sharing competitively sensitive information, avoid RealPage-hosted meetings of competing landlords, accept a court-appointed monitor under certain conditions, and cooperate with states’ ongoing claims against RealPage.

Large and midsized U.S. law firms enjoyed a “sharp spike” in client demand during the third quarter, setting the stage for a profitable 2025, according to a new analysis of firm financial data from the Thomson Reuters Institute. The institute also found that overall demand was up 3.9% from the third quarter of 2024 — the fourth-highest quarterly increase of the past 20 years and the highest outside of 2021’s rapid post-pandemic rebound. Read more about the latest finding in the institute’s Law Firm Financial Index from Reuters.

The Tennessee Supreme Court recently referred the cases of two Wilson County lawyers to the Board of Professional Responsibility for “whatever action” it may deem warranted. The first referral involves Christopher William Beauchamp, who was convicted of one count of driving under the influence and sentenced to seven days of incarceration and 11 months and 29 days of probation. The second referral involves Lawrence Alan Poindexter, who was convicted of one count of driving under the influence and was sentenced to 48 hours of incarceration and 11 months and 29 days of supervised probation.

The Memphis Bar Association (MBA) has announced two of the 2025 recipients of its awards. Natalie Bursi with Lewis Thomason will receive the Sam A. Myar Jr. Memorial Award, which honors an attorney under 40 years old who has shown dedication and commitment to their practice and the legal community. In addition, Shea Wellford with Martin, Tate, Morrow & Marston will receive the Judge Jerome Turner Lawyer’s Lawyer Award, which recognizes a Memphis attorney who has practiced law for more than 15 years and embodies professionalism, civility and courtesy. The awards will be presented at the association’s annual meeting on Dec. 4 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. CST. Tickets for the event are available online.

Davidson County lawyer Sarah Jean Orellana was reinstated to the practice of law on Nov. 13 after being on inactive status for more than five years. She had been placed on inactive status on March 2, 2009. The Tennessee Supreme Court found that her petition for reinstatement was satisfactory.

The Tennessee Supreme Court suspended Jeremy Ryan Durham from the practice of law on Nov. 14 after he was convicted of felony reckless endangerment, a serious crime as defined by Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, Section 2. Durham also was convicted of four non-serious crimes: one count of driving under the influence, one count of driving under the influence per se, one count of resisting arrest, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. The court referred the case to the Board of Professional Responsibility for a determination of final discipline to be imposed.

The Nashville Bar Association (NBA) will hold its Fall Memorial Service this Thursday at 11 a.m. CST. The event will take place at The Downtown Presbyterian Church, 154 Rep. John Lewis Way N., Nashville 37219. A complimentary lunch will be held after the service, provided by an anonymous donor. More information about the service and those being honored can be found on the association’s website.