TBA's Immigration Law Section will present this introductory-level CLE program virtually on Nov. 16. This event is designed to provide law students, new attorneys and attorneys seeking a new practice area with the necessary knowledge to become familiar with the fundamentals of immigration law. Participants will receive the knowledge and skills needed for a wide range of immigration legal services. Learn more or register here.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated three lawyers this week who had been suspended for failing to complete annual continuing legal education requirements in 2023. View the reinstatement order or see the full list of those suspended and reinstated here.

Memphis Mayor-elect Paul Young has announced his transition team will include former Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong, former University of Memphis President David Rudd, Rhodes College President Jennifer Collins and Chris Winton, former chief people officer for FedEx, reports Local Memphis. According to a news release on Young’s website, the transition team represents "Young’s five pillars and other key focus areas." The release said more are expected to join the team in the coming weeks. "Diversity is a defining element of this team," said Young "It was important to pull together the best and brightest people from all neighborhoods and all facets of our community."

The Nashville Council accepted a $3.4 million state grant today that will partially reimburse Metro Police for the salaries of 62 existing school resource officers in Nashville's public middle and high schools, reports the Tennessean. The council approved the funding 23-12, with two abstentions. This year, 30 school resource officers have been assigned to Nashville's public middle schools while 16 — two per school — are assigned to Nashville's public high schools. The state grant will reimburse the Metro Nashville Police Department up to $75,000 per officer. Deputy Police Chief Chris Gilder said that the remaining $3 million will likely be used for officer overtime. Council members who voted against the bill cited contradictory language about the role officers would have in responding to discipline issues.

The Community Legal Center (CLC) in Memphis will hold a fundraiser on Nov. 3. The CLCerveza event will take place at Grind City Brewing from 6-8 p.m. CDT. General tickets are available for $30. Client tickets can be sponsored for $20 apiece. All proceeds will go towards the CLC's work in providing legal services. Contact Austin Brown, 901-402-0509 with any questions.

Two former Memphis police officers are joining the City of Memphis' motion to dismiss the $550 million civil lawsuit brought against the city and others in the wake of Tyre Nichols' death, reports the Commercial Appeal. Attorneys for the officers argue that the lawsuit cites an incorrect constitutional amendment violation, that they are protected from the suit by the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act and that Nichols' mother does not have standing to sue on Nichols' behalf. Nichols was pulled over by Memphis police officers for reckless driving on Jan. 7 and was subsequently tased and beaten. He died three days later due to blunt-force trauma. The lawsuit was filed in late April and cites negligence and accuses MPD of having policies in place that would violate the civil rights of Memphians.

The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) announced in an email to U.S. law schools that it will delete the “logic games” section of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) exam in 2024, reports Reuters. The analytical reasoning section known as logic games will be replaced with an additional logical reasoning section in August 2024, the LSAC said. Logic games are viewed by many as the most difficult section of the LSAT to master. The elimination comes after the LSAC entered into a 2019 settlement with two blind LSAT takers who claimed the section violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because they could not draw the diagrams used to complete that portion of the test. The council had four years to replace the logic games with a new analytical reasoning section under the settlement.

U.S. law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell rescinded job offers today to law students who signed on to public statements condemning Israel in the wake of Hamas’ deadly attacks, Reuters reports. The announcement follows a similar move by law firm Winston & Strawn last week. Davis Polk's managing partner, Neil Barr, told firm members today that it had revoked job offers to three law students in leadership positions in Harvard and Columbia university groups that issued statements regarding to the latest wave of violence in the Middle East, according to an internal email obtained by Reuters. “These statements are simply contrary to our firm’s values,” wrote Barr, “and we thus concluded that rescinding these offers was appropriate in upholding our responsibility to provide a safe and inclusive work environment for all Davis Polk employees.” Barr’s email said the firm is remaining “in dialogue” with two of the students to consider any additional information they may offer.

A federal judicial rules-making panel agreed today to examine whether to curtail "judge shopping" by state attorneys general and activists who file lawsuits challenging government policies in courthouses where a single, sympathetic judge hears most cases, reports Reuters. At a meeting in Washington, D.C., members of the U.S. Judicial Conference's Advisory Committee on Civil Rules grappled with whether it could or should craft nationwide rules to ensure such cases are randomly assigned a judge. U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg, the panel's chair, said it was a "highly important" issue that the committee needed to at least study given that "people outside the judiciary are watching to see what, if anything, we do."

S. Brad Dozier, an attorney licensed to practice law in Tennessee, received a public censure today from the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Dozier represented a client in probating an estate, and in the reopening of a recently concluded probate proceeding. Dozier delayed in taking proper action in both matters and failed to respond to his client’s communications. In the probate proceeding where Dozier filed a petition to reopen the estate, he additionally failed to seek leave of court to withdraw after being discharged by his client. By these acts, Dozier has violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3 (diligence), 1.4 (communication) and 1.16(a) (duties following discharge).