The University School of Nashville was named the 2024 Tennessee State High School Mock Trial champion Saturday night after two days of preliminary rounds. The school prevailed over Montgomery Bell Academy, also from Nashville. Tennessee State Supreme Court Justice Dwight Tarwater presided over the round, while members of the TBA Young Lawyers Division's (YLD) Executive Committee, TBA President Jim Barry and TBA Vice President Heidi Barcus served as jurors. Earlier in the day, the top eight teams were announced, an MVP for each team was recognized, individual awards were presented to the best advocates and witnesses, and Sevier County High School was awarded the 2024 Sportsmanship Award.

Special thanks to YLD Mock Trial Committee Chair Ashley Tipton and Vice Chair Michael Holmes, and members of the committee for organizing this year's event, which involved 14 teams, close to 200 participants and more than 100 volunteers, including sitting Tennessee judges, lawyers and the YLD's Diversity Leadership Institute's law students. The University School of Nashville will now represent Tennessee at the National High School Mock Trial Competition in Wilmington, Delaware in May. The team is coached by Nashville attorneys Ned Hildebrand with Dunham Hildebrand, Maureen Timoney Joyce and Ben Raybin with Raybin & Weissman. See more competition results and photos from the event.

A nearly $2 billion tax and refund for businesses passed the Senate on Thursday on a vote of 25-6, the Associated Press reports. “This bill will put this issue behind us and address it in a responsible way,” said Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, adding that doing so could make the state more competitive in attracting businesses to move to Tennessee. At issue are concerns that the state’s franchise tax violates a U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause provision, which bans states from passing laws that burden interstate commerce. Further adding to the legal woes is a 2015 case involving the U.S. Supreme Court striking down down Maryland’s tax that the justices ruled had the effect of double-taxing income residents earn in other states. The proposal is designed to prevent threats of a potential lawsuit. Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, told reporters that the House version will be different.

On Monday, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led 24 states in sending a letter to the Department of Labor stating that its proposed rule to embed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into the National Apprenticeship System "exceeds congressional authority, illegally promotes racial-discrimination and is antithetical to the American ideal of equality." On Thursday, the AG's office joined a coalition of 22 states in filing an amicus brief at the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Texas’s state law SB4, which would allow state officers to arrest people suspected of entering the country without documentation, and state magistrates and judges to order them back to the country from which they entered. Also on Thursday, Skrmetti, alongside 15 state and district attorneys general, joined the U.S. Department of Justice in filing a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple for monopolization or attempted monopolization of smartphone markets in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. Today, Skrmetti praised Tennessee’s Opioid Abatement Council for releasing its first ever round of community grants totaling $80,936,057. Programs funded through the grants will support work in response to opioid addiction throughout Tennessee for up to three years.

The TBA Access to Justice Committee is accepting nominations for the 2024 Public Service Awards. The annual awards recognize outstanding commitment to access to justice in three categories: work performed by an attorney employed by an organization primarily involved in providing legal representation to the indigent, pro bono work performed by a private or corporate attorney, and a strong commitment to pro bono service by a Tennessee law student or recent graduate. Nominations are due by March 29 and awards will be presented during the TBA Annual Convention in Memphis in June. For more information, contact TBA Director of Access to Justice Liz Todaro.

The Senate on Thursday passed a bill to vacate Tennessee State University's (TSU) board of directors in a 25-6 vote. All six senators who voted against the bill were Democrats. The Tennessean reports that the bill has stirred intense controversy over $2.1 billion in historic underfunding of TSU by the state and disparities in how TSU has been treated by lawmakers. University leaders have pleaded with lawmakers to extend the current board and allow it to build upon the progress it has made in the last year. The House version of the bill is at odds with the newly passed Senate version, instead moving to keep three of the board's 10 members, along with its student and faculty trustees, and is set for a full House vote on March 28.

The Vanderbilt Social Justice Reporter will hold a two-part event focused on the legacy of voting rights in the South, the current state of affairs and strategies for ensuring a full right to a fair vote for Black and Brown residents. The first event is a Community Conversation on April 1 from 7-8:30 p.m. CDT at the National Museum of African American Music, 510 Broadway in downtown Nashville. The next day, on April 2, the group will hold a Roundtable Panel Series from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. CDT at Vanderbilt Law School, 131 21st Ave. S in Nashville. Get more information about the programs or register.

Renea Jones has announced that she will run to represent Tennessee's Fourth District, which covers Unicoi County and much of Carter County, to replace outgoing Rep. John Holsclaw, an Elizabethton Republican in his fifth term who has said he does not plan to seek reelection. WJHL reports that Jones served on the Unicoi County School Board for 12 years and was elected president of the state school boards association. She has a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech and a master’s in crop science and integrated pest management from North Carolina State University and serves as chair of Unicoi County’s Farm Bureau. Jones will face Elizabethton Mayor Curt Alexander in the Aug. 4 Republican primary.

Nigel Lewis, an attorney supervisor in the Shelby County Public Defender’s Office, died March 17 at age 49 after a short cancer battle. He received his bachelor’s degree from Saint Leo University in Florida and later attended law school at Southern University and A&M in Louisiana. He also received a master's degree in tax law from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. began his legal career in a private firm where he worked for two years before moving to the public defender’s office. Lewis served there for 14 years until his death and worked in the direct representation unit, which handles clients charged with most serious felonies. Visitation and rosary will be held at Immaculate Conception, 1695 Central Ave., Memphis 38104 on Sunday. Visitation will begin at 5 p.m. CDT, and the rosary will start at 6:30 p.m. A funeral and celebration of life will be held Monday at Immaculate Conception at 1 p.m. The Daily Memphian has more.

Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday signed the ELVIS Act at iconic Nashville country music venue Robert's Western World. The Ensuring Likeness, Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act is designed to protect songwriters, performers and other music industry professionals against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI). The Associated Press reports that the new law, which takes effect July 1, makes Tennessee, long known as the birthplace of country music and the launchpad for musical legends, the first state in the U.S. to enact such measures. Supporters say the goal is to ensure that AI tools cannot replicate an artist’s voice without their consent.

A nine-page report from Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower’s Local Government Audit Unit, released Thursday, says the Shelby County Clerk’s office has been using different software to record parts of the same transactions and for years has not reconciled conflicting dollar amounts in financial statements. In a press release announcing the findings, the comptroller’s office says that the clerk's office "is not utilizing the software to its full capabilities." The Daily Memphian reports that the clerk’s office also "lacks an understanding of its software system." Auditors also noted issues with reconciliations not being performed, a signature stamp being used on checks, employees deleting their own transactions without authorization, and a failure to properly track how much money the county is owed after bad checks are written by customers. Shelby County Trustee Regina Newman told the news outlet that the county government may hire an auditor to further reconcile the money it gets from County Clerk Wanda Halbert’s office, stating "that’s obviously a longer-term issue." According to the Commercial Appeal, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp, who was appointed to lead the investigation, told reporters Friday she learned things that give her "great concern" regarding Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert. "It makes sense that there are unhappy citizens and unhappy commissioners and unhappy elected officials, that makes sense to us at this point. There certainly are failures that must be fixed at some point whether that's through removal of office or not, we will make those decisions," Wamp said.