A new study by the U.S. Sentencing Commission reveals that in federal court, Black and Hispanic defendants are less likely than white defendants to receive probation instead of prison. The report also highlights that the main factor affecting differences in sentencing outcomes based on demographics is whether a judge decides to impose a prison sentence. It stresses that the crucial aspect is the choice of incarceration rather than the specific length of the prison term. The findings include updated research on sentencing disparities across demographic groups, which continued over the five years subsequent to the commission's frequently referenced 2017 Demographic Differences in Sentencing Report. Read more from KnoxNews.

Staff attorney Traci Haynes of the Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims looks at the granting of summary judgment in the recent case of Timothy Burke v. Steve Towers Enterprises. In that case, the board overturned a trial court’s granting of summary judgment, concluding that the trial court didn’t fully explain why the factual issues in dispute were immaterial to the legal question at hand.

Memphis attorney Kristin Clay Dunavant, 40, died Nov. 17 at her childhood home after a three-year battle with cancer. She attended the University of Mississippi and earned her law degree at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and later worked as a corporate attorney at Bass, Berry and Sims. Services were held Monday, with a graveside service following on Wednesday.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has suspended 25 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee; 14 of them also failed to file proof that client funds are held in an IOLTA-compliant account. View the fee suspension order and IOLTA suspension order. See the list of all lawyers suspended and reinstated for fee and IOLTA violations in 2023 or access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.

The Construction Law Forum returns on Jan. 26 as an in-person program at the Tennessee Bankers Association Barrett Training Center. Don't miss out! This year's program will focus on the "gotchas" of construction law and will provide remedies to be utilized. Topics to be covered include contracts, dispute resolution, liens, the Prompt Pay Act and ethical considerations for each of these topics. The day will end with a 30 minute legislative/case law update. Earn up to five general and one dual CLE hours.

Ethical issues can become even more complicated when representing a group, especially one as unique as a band. Here’s your chance to learn first-hand from a former general counsel at a music company. Jim Jesse, founder of Rock n’ Roll Law in Nashville, will take you through the issues at this two-hour, in-person CLE program Dec. 14 at the Downtown Nashville Public Library, 615 Church St. The program kicks off at 2 p.m. CST and will explore the Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1.7 (conflict of interest— current client), 1.13 (organization as a client), 1.14 (client with diminished capacity) and 2.1 (role as advocate). Further, Jesse will review ethical issues in the “My Sweet Lord” copyright infringement case.

The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily suspended Connie Lynn Reguli from the practice of law after finding that she posed a threat of substantial harm to the public. Reguli is immediately precluded from accepting any new cases and is prohibited from holding herself out as an attorney, using any indicia of lawyer, legal assistant or law clerk, or maintaining a presence where the practice of law is conducted.

The council of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Legal Education and Admission to the Bar Section is considering extending accreditation to fully online law schools. This move would be a major shift from the ABA's longstanding prioritization of in-person teaching. Reuters reports that the council voted Friday to gather public comments on proposed changes to its standards that would enable new and existing law schools with no physical campus to apply for accreditation. Currently, only law schools with brick-and-mortar locations are eligible for ABA accreditation. The organization has allowed an increasing number of those schools to offer fully or mostly online degree programs alongside their in-person ones, but fully online schools are currently ineligible to apply.

TBA President Jim Barry announced during his installation at the June convention that the next installment of the TBA’s book club would be “Beale Street Dynasty: Sex, Song, and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis.” Those who have not started reading the book should do so over the holidays! More information will be coming soon about a discussion session in January. Written by Preston Lauterbach, “Beale Street Dynasty” is set between Reconstruction and Prohibition and focuses on the rise and fall of Beale Street. It is told through the life of the south’s first Black millionaire, an ex-slave who built an underworld dynasty in the booming river town and created a space for Black culture to flourish. Get started reading or check out this book review that Knoxville lawyer Nick McCall wrote for the Tennessee Bar Journal in October 2016.

The TBA Administrative Law Section will host its Annual Forum on Dec. 8 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. CST at the Nashville office of Burr & Forman. Sessions will include a discussion of cases before the Supreme Court that may affect the so-called Chevron doctrine, agency exactions authorized by legislation and administrative intervention, ethics, and new UAPA administrative rules.