When Tennessee lawmakers gather at the capitol for the start of session next week, Senate Speaker Randy McNally will not be among them, State Affairs reports. Following doctor’s orders, the 79-year-old Republican will miss the first few weeks while he recovers from ankle surgery. Second-in-line Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, will preside over floor sessions. McNally says he will monitor session remotely from his home in Oak Ridge. The General Assembly is schedule to return on Jan. 9.

Those interested in running for an elected office with the Tennessee Bar Association or as a TBA delegate to the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates have until Feb. 15 to qualify for the 2024 ballot. Positions open this year on the TBA Board of Governors include a new vice president from the state's West Grand Division, four district governors and six grand division governors. For the ABA House of Delegates, four positions are available. To qualify for any of these roles, candidates must file a nominating petition, including the signatures of 25 TBA members in good standing, with the TBA executive director by emailing barED@tnbar.org, or by mail to 3310 West End Ave., Ste. 590, Nashville, TN 37203. The TBA’s website has more information on the election process and the list of available positions.

The TBA Law Tech Lunch & Learn Series will make its next stop in Memphis on March 15. The two-hour program will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) issues, including an introduction to AI and a discussion of how AI can be incorporated into law practice. A second session will feature Memphis attorney Greg Siskind discussing ethical considerations with AI. Registration and lunch will begin at 11:30 a.m. CST. The program will begin at noon. Can't make this one? The series travels to Nashville on Feb. 7.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his year-end report on the federal judiciary that "any use of AI requires caution and humility," reports USCourts.gov. "[L]egal determinations often involve gray areas that still require application of human judgment," Roberts said. "AI is based largely on existing information, which can inform but not make such decisions ... I predict that human judges will be around for a while." Read the report.

Elmore Nickelberry, a civil rights activist who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., died Saturday, Local Memphis reports. Nickelberry was one of the last surviving Memphis Sanitation Workers who went on strike for better working conditions in 1968 after two fellow workers were accidently killed. The strike drew King to Memphis where he marched in solidarity with the workers before being assassinated in April 1968. After the strike was settled, Nickleberry remained a sanitation worker for the city, retiring in 2018.

Davidson County lawyer Samuel Calvin Blink received a public censure today from the Tennessee Supreme Court. Blink represented a corporate client in filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition and filed the petition for bankruptcy but did not timely file the required schedules. Neither Blink nor the client appeared at the initial meeting of creditors despite notice. The court entered an order directing the required schedules to be filed but the schedules were not timely filed. Blink then filed a motion for his law partner’s pro hac vice admission, but the motion did not comply with the requirements of the court. After a show cause hearing, Blink was sanctioned by the bankruptcy court for this conduct.

The January/February issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal is now available online and arriving in mailboxes soon! This issue's cover story is on the "Big 3" of intellectual property law: Wesley Barbee, Samuel Raque and John Willis Stevens explore recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings in trademark, copyright and patent decisions. A feature story by Nashville School of Law 3L Emily Crawford focuses on the much-anticipated Blue Oval City outside Jackson and what Tennessee's eminent domain law might mean for local landowners. Eddy Smith brings us a second installment on death and taxes, covering more trusts and estates developments; Edward G. Phillips and Brandon L. Morrow ponder Tennessee's employment-at-will doctrine in light of the state Supreme Court's ruling in Smith v. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee; President Jim Barry turns his column's focus toward retirement and shares suggestions on how lawyers may choose to spend their time post-career; and we shine the spotlight on the Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition and how you can get involved!

An American Bar Association (ABA) proposal to strengthen job protections for untenured law faculty is garnering widespread support, reports Reuters. The change under consideration by the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar would require law schools to hire full-time legal writing instructors and other untenured full-time faculty on five-year “presumptively renewable long-term contracts.” The ABA developed the proposal at the urging of the Association of Legal Writing Directors and the Legal Writing Institute, and has received more than 30 public comments in support of the change. The public comment period ends Jan. 8.

Several members of the University of Tennessee's College of Law faculty made publishing news in 2023. Eric Amarante published "The Absurdity of Criminalizing Encouraging Words" in the Cato Supreme Court Review in September. Professor Wendy Bach spent much of last year giving talks to audiences across the country on her book, "Prosecuting Poverty, Criminalizing Care." And Ben Barton’s "Deborah Rhode In Memoriam: Three Stories and Ten Life Lessons" celebrates the life and legacy of the Stanford law professor and legal ethicist. Read more faculty publishing highlights.

The University of Tennessee College of Law's newly launched Transactional Law Clinic located in Jefferson City provides free legal representation to the East Tennessee community while equipping law students with practical experience in business and nonprofit law. It is one of seven clinics offered through the school's nationally ranked legal clinic, and the only one focused on business law. For upper-level law students, the six-credit-hour Transactional Law Clinic provides hands-on experience representing small business and nonprofit clients in business matters. Read more about the story behind the clinic.