Paul Young was sworn in as the new mayor of Memphis on Monday at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, reports the Commercial Appeal. Young earned nearly 28% of the vote in the mayoral election last Oct., defeating 16 other candidates. “We are Memphis,” said Young in his acceptance speech. “Together, we can make history, we can make America’s largest majority minority city ... America’s safest city.” The elected city council members were also sworn in Monday, with Chair JB Smiley Jr. noting for the first time that the council has a female majority. Young previously served as the city's director of housing and community development, and president and CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission.

Join us in person for the TBA's Construction Law Forum, The Gotchas & the Remedies, on Jan. 26 at the Tennessee Bankers Association Barrett Training Center, 211 Athens Way, Nashville 37228. This year's program will focus on contracts, dispute resolution, liens, the Prompt Pay Act and the "gotchas" of construction law. We will end the day with a 30 minute legislative/case law update. Earn up to five general and one dual CLE hours. Find out more and register.

The TBA will be closed Monday in observance of New Year’s Day. The office will reopen at 8 a.m. CST on Tuesday. Visit the TBA website to access CLE offerings for your year-end needs and contact information for individual staff members. Happy New Year!

A former town manager and a resident are the latest people to file complaints against Smyrna Town Manager Brian Hercules. The former manager alleges that Hercules has an "angry and domineering leadership style" and the resident's complaint states that Hercules was "unprofessional and condescending" in a phone call. Attorneys representing Town Court Judge Brittany Stevens in October sent a letter to the Town Council requesting an independent investigation of Hercules. The letter accuses Hercules of intimidation and retaliation against the judge for standing up to him about how she manages her court staff. In addition to the judge's complaints, elected Smyrna Town Court Clerk Lisa Brewer in November emailed a complaint to Mayor Mary Esther Reed accusing Hercules and Assistant Town Manager Todd Spearman of "bullying and belittling behaviors." Hercules has requested an independent review of the allegations. The Murfreesboro Daily News Journal has the full story.

During the 2023 legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly passed several bills aimed at reducing local control of three Nashville boards, including the Nashville Airport Authority, the Nashville Sports Authority and the Music City Center. A fourth bill was passed that reduced the Metro Council to 20 members. According to reporting by the Tennessean, the city challenged all of these bills in court, spending, as of Dec. 12, $682,949 in out-of-pocket costs. Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz says that amount includes costs for outside counsel and expert witnesses brought on to help with the cases, filing fees and court reporters. That number does not include the 1,645 hours the legal department’s attorneys say they have spent on the cases as of Dec. 27. The state attorney general's office defended the legislature in the suits. It says it spent $2,096.08 for court reporters, transcripts and filing fees for the four suits, but does not track the value of staff attorneys' time.

The University of Tennessee (UT) College of Law hosted the National Moot Court Region VII Competition in November. Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Dwight Tarwater, Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Kristi Davis and Judge Cindy Wyrick of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee presided over the final round of the competition, which was held at the Tennessee Supreme Court. UT Law’s National Moot Court team, comprised of Emma Fowler, Luke Norton and Tyler Raper, qualified for the single elimination rounds of the Region VII competition. After winning in the quarter-final round, the team lost in the semi-final round. On Friday evening following the first day of competition, the college hosted a banquet celebrating 70 years of National Moot Court excellence at UT Law. See photos from the event.

The University of Tennessee (UT) College of Law's Legal Clinic welcomed Tyler Dougherty as its first teaching fellow this fall. Fellowship programs not only prepare practicing attorneys to teach law, they also increase the clinic’s capacity to enroll student attorneys, take on more cases and provide legal services to the community. In August, Dougherty began teaching in the Advocacy Clinic, supervising students in juvenile, criminal and rights restoration cases. Through the UT Legal Clinic, law students gain real-world legal experience by working directly in the community representing clients in criminal, juvenile and civil cases; petitioning for orders of protection; creating businesses and nonprofit organizations; expunging charges and mediating disputes. Read more about the fellowship program.

The Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) Board of Trustees dedicated a bronze statue honoring Gen. Oliver Otis Howard in Alumni Park on the LMU Main Campus in Harrogate, Tennessee, during its annual Homecoming celebration in October. LMU Chairman Autry O.V. “Pete” DeBusk and the board commissioned the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt Amrany to create a tribute to Howard based on another statue honoring the Civil War general, which stands in Gettysburg National Military Park. In 1896, after retiring from the Army, Howard traveled to the Cumberland Gap area and met with Rev. A.A. Myers who had founded the Harrow Academy for underprivileged mountain families. Howard agreed to help raise money for the school if Myers would expand its scope to include higher education. A year later, LMU was founded as a living memorial to President Abraham Lincoln. Howard remained dedicated and involved with LMU through the end of his life in 1909. Read the press release from LMU.

Several new laws will take effect on Jan. 1, 2024, including harsher penalties for distracted drivers, the elimination of disabled license plate fees for parents or guardians of a person confined to a wheelchair, and the requirement of car ignition breathalyzers to include GPS technology that will track the car's location at the time of an alcohol test. Additionally, the Tennessee Department of Safety will create a voucher program to reimburse people for the cost of a handgun safety course and the Tennessee Paid Family Leave Insurance Act will amend current code to allow insurances companies to offer paid family leave, which employers could then purchase for their employees. Read the Tennessean's full summary of the new laws.

Retired Circuit Court Judge Michael W. Binkley, of Tennessee’s 21st Judicial District, is the initial recipient of the Vanessa Pettigrew Bryan Equal Justice Award, reports the Williamson Herald. The award is given in recognition of the recipient’s commitment to the relentless pursuit of justice by the 21st District public defenders and honors retired Public Defender Vanessa Pettigrew Bryan. Bryan's career spanned more than 30 years in the judicial system, starting as a magistrate and serving as public defender of the four-county district that includes Hickman, Lewis, Perry and Williamson counties.