A news summary in Thursday’s issue of TBA Today mischaracterized the argument Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, The Daily Wire and The Federalist are making in opposing two projects funded by the State Department’s Global Engagement Center. The group argues that the technology being used by the center could "render disfavored press outlets unprofitable" and specifically cite funding that went to GDI and NewsGuard. Read the full story from Reuters.

Six individuals have applied to be considered by the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments to fill a vacancy that will be created when Justice Roger A. Page retires from the court on Aug. 31, 2024. They are: 29th Judicial District Chancellor Tony Childress, Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge J. Ross Dyer, McNairy County General Sessions & Juvenile Judge Van Douglas McMahan, Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Camille R. McMullen, Memphis lawyer Jeffrey C. Smith and 30th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Mary L. Wagner. The Administrative Office of the Courts has links to each candidate’s application. The council will hold a public meeting to consider the candidates on Jan. 4, 2024, at the Belmont College of Law Randall and Sadie Baskin Center, 1901 15th Ave. S., Nashville 37212 at 9 a.m. CST. Interested individuals may attend the hearing and may express, orally or in writing, any objections concerning the applicants. The council is expected to vote immediately following the interviews and forward three names to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration.

TBA’s Year End CLE event offers a range of hour-based and topical packages. Want to learn more about operating your law practice? Check out the Law Practice Management Package, which offers 9.5 hours of dual credit and one hour of general credit. Courses bundled in the package include sessions on document management and retention, digital signatures, client data, understanding financial documents and tax returns, incorporating KPIs into a law practice, the latest in legal tech, and improving presentation skills. Looking for something else? Check out all packages here.

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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) reports that a new database is giving victims of sexual assault real-time updates on the evidence in their cases. According to the Tennessee Lookout, the SAMS-Track system is fully operational through a web portal after TBI logged 3,036 kits into it. The system requires police, hospitals and laboratories to log the dates they handle evidence to mark the path of a rape kit throughout the chain of command. TBI also recently told state lawmakers that the backlog of kits has improved. The average turnaround time for is now about 18 weeks, compared to 45 weeks a year ago.

Are you still looking for ethics credits before Dec. 31? Look no further! We’ve got our 12 Days of Ethics coming in hot with innovative programming you won’t want to miss. Be sure to check our social media channels over the next 12 days to see which programs you can choose from. Visit Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn to get more information using the hashtag #TBA12Days. Or go to the TBA CLE Course Catalog to get a full preview of more than 200 CLE programs by Tennessee lawyers for Tennessee lawyers.

Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. is seeking a court order of protection against fellow commissioner Mickell Lowery in what appears to be a dispute from August about the timing of a recess during commission meetings. The Daily Memphian reports that Ford filed for the protection order, citing an argument during a Aug. 14 meeting over whether the group’s break was at 5 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. Two weeks later, Ford claimed in an open-commission session that there was almost “an alleged assault” but provided no details or names. The General Sessions Court Clerk’s office is not releasing the affidavit seeking the protection order on the advice of the county attorney’s office.

Today, the Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily blocked a lower court’s decision that lawmakers must redraw the state’s Senate maps. The ruling means that the current legislative districts will likely remain in place for the 2024 elections. In November, a three-judge panel ruled that new Republican-drawn maps were incorrectly numbered and violated the state constitution. The Associated Press reports the state argued that the plaintiffs in the case had no standing to sue and that the state wanted to exhaust all of its appeals options before having to reconfigure district lines. The Supreme Court’s ruling today sides with the state. The redrawn maps will stay in place as the appeals process runs its course.

“Big Law” firms are moving into Nashville at a steady pace. Several have merged with local firms or have started a new office from the ground up, staffing it with attorneys from established Nashville firms. As part of a series on Big Law’s movement to, and influence on, developing markets, The American Lawyer reports that with Nashville’s huge population growth, thriving health care sector and booming economic growth, national law firms have “an extra incentive to plunge into the market.” Local firms like Bass Berry & Sims and Baker Donelson continue to grow their practices and regional presence, which managing partners say gives them a competitive advantage with clients. Observers of Nashville’s legal market say that “clients don’t generally choose a law firm as much as they choose a lawyer and often remain with that lawyer, even if they move to another firm.”

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti yesterday joined six other states in filing a federal antitrust lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), challenging the group's transfer eligibility rule. The rule requires college athletes who transfer between Division I schools to wait one year before competing in games, unless the NCAA waives the rule for a particular athlete. The NCAA began automatically exempting first-time transfers from the regulation in 2021, but has continued to enforce the rule for subsequent transfers and to deny waivers. The lawsuit alleges the rule restrains college athletes’ ability to market their labor and control their education. Read the full press release.