The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Chattanooga Chapter, will host a live public forum on Facebook this Thursday at 7 p.m. EST to hear from local candidates for Criminal Court judge, Circuit Court judge, and School Board Districts 1, 2,4,7, 10 and 11. Questions welcome.

The State Bar of California yesterday warned that its general fund will become insolvent in 2025 without an attorney licensing fee increase, reports Reuters. Next year, California's 250,000 attorneys will pay an additional $114 a year on top of the current $404 annual licensing fee to cover an expected $24 million deficit in the state bar’s core functions, bar staff told the organization's board of trustees. The fees will go towards technology and up to 77 new staff positions to investigate attorney complaints. Last April, the auditor of the State of California identified growing financial shortfalls at the largest mandatory state bar association in the U.S. and concluded the organization should do more long-range financial planning.

The TBA YLD's Rookie's Guide series continues on March 28 at noon CDT with Memphis attorney Danielle Woods. In this installment of the series focused on estate planning, attendees will be exposed to estate planning essentials from will drafting and trust creation to asset protection. Learn more about the program and register.

Carroll County lawyer Robert Taylor Keeton Jr., died Feb. 24 at age 87. Keeton earned his bachelor's degree from Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) and his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. He served as president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association from 1981-1982 and president of the Tennessee County Attorneys Association from 2001-2002. Keeton was also a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Carroll County Bar Association, American Bar Association, Tennessee Municipal Attorneys Association, American Association of Trial Attorneys and was awarded the Huntingdon Pinnacle of Excellence Award. A memorial service will be held March 2 at 11 a.m. CST at Bruceton First United Methodist Church, 148 Pine St. N, Bruceton 38317. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Shriners Hospital; Bruceton First United Methodist Church, 148 Pine St. N., Bruceton, TN 38317; or the donor's charity of choice.

The Tennessee Comptroller's Office is sending a team to Shelby County to "perform the necessary reconciliations and reporting the clerk's office has failed to accurately provide despite repeated requests," reports the Commercial Appeal. The move comes after County Trustee Regina Newman told commissioners she will be un-posting revenue reports from County Clerk Wanda Halbert's office because of incorrect reports. "The evidence of incompetence and willful neglect by management in the Shelby County Clerk's Office is overwhelming," said Comptroller of the Treasury Jason E. Mumpower. The inaccurate revenue reports have resulted in the county’s delinquency on payments to public schools and not knowing if wheel tax revenues are being met as forecasted.

The U.S. Judicial Conference's Committee on Codes of Conduct on Monday revised an earlier advisory opinion to strengthen requirements governing recusals by judges involving parent-subsidiary relationships between companies, reports Reuters. A federal judge who invests in a company or mutual fund that owns a 10% stake of a party in a lawsuit may still have to be recused from presiding over the case, according to a new judicial ethics opinion. The stricter standards come after a 2021 Wall Street Journal report documented over 130 federal judges who failed to recuse themselves from cases involving companies in which they owned stock. The report prompted Congress to pass bipartisan legislation imposing tougher disclosure requirements for U.S. Supreme Court justices and federal judges regarding their financial holdings.

Metro Nashville Finance Director Kevin Crumbo announced that $2 million earmarked for Nashville arts organizations is in jeopardy due to the mismanagement of the department budget. The Nashville Banner reports that Crumbo emphasized that monies paid to consultants and contractors are the greatest sources of concern: “One of the root causes of the internal audit review … are the reports of multiple [Metro Arts] employees who have alleged excess spending … and behaviors at the highest level of management that may violate Metro’s policies governing workplace conduct.” An internal report examining allegations of discrimination is due for release March 4.

A University of Memphis Law School Duberstein Bankruptcy Team of Alexandra Nabity, Carson Klepzig and Alton Smith won the Sixth Circuit's Shapero Cup Regional Duberstein Competition. Nabity also won the award for Best Oral Advocate. They will go on to compete in New York at the National Duberstein Competition. A second team consisting of Elizabeth Hunt, Tarik Terry and Olivia Cox made it to the semifinal round. See photos from the event. Additionally, the law school's Trial Law Team made it to the final round of regionals at the National Trial Competition in Birmingham. That team consists of Peyton Barrow, Annika Rush, Kelsey McClain, Cody Tolbert, Ciana Charity and Mary Cano. See photos from the event.

The Supreme Court of Tennessee today suspended Cleveland attorney Kent Thomas Jones from the practice of law for 90 days pursuant to Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 9, § 12.2. The court found that Jones sent threatening and/or derogatory emails to his client and opposing counsel in two separate matters, that he failed to properly maintain client funds in a trust account and failed to satisfy a lien obligation in a timely manner from which his client suffered actual harm. His actions were determined to violate Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.15, 4.4, 8.4(a) and 8.4(d).

Community Health Systems (CHS) revealed in its recently-published annual report that it is under investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for documents related to "practices and procedures related to utilization review, inpatient admissions and inpatient dialysis" at its hospitals, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The Nashville Business Journal reports that the DOJ has previously investigated CHS: in 2014, CHS paid $98.15 million to resolve a number of lawsuits related to billing issues and in 2018, the company paid $262 million to settle an investigation into Health Management Associates Inc., a company it purchased in 2014, for allegedly improperly billing the government for certain inpatient admissions following emergency room visits that occurred before the acquisition.