Two moot court teams from Belmont University College of Law recently competed in the regional competition of the National Appellate Advocacy Competition. It was the school’s seventh year to compete and its seventh straight year be named the regional champion. Student Alex Schramkowski was named Best Advocate in the region for the second year and Samantha McCaleb was named Eighth Best Advocate. The regional champion team will travel to Washington, D.C., for the national finals in April. Read more from the school and see a photo of the participants.

The 2024 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings will be out April 18 according to Above the Law. What the list will look like with more than 40 law schools withdrawing from participation and yet-to-be disclosed weights, though, is anyone’s guess. A revolt against the rankings started last November when Yale Law School became the first to opt out. Dozens of law schools have followed that lead and repeated their own harsh criticism of the rankings. The article has the full list of schools no longer participating.

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) is seeking session proposals for this year's Equal Justice University (EJU), set for Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro. Topics of interest include employment, family, health and benefits, housing, consumer, special education, juvenile justice and immigration law as well as professionalism. See all topics and submit proposals online by April 17.

The Tennessee Department of Revenue will hold a free webinar on April 5 at 8:30 a.m. CDT for people interested in learning more about state tax obligations for new businesses. The session also will offer other helpful resources for new businesses. The webinar is one in a series of educational sessions held by the department each month. Learn more or register.

A Maryland appellate court yesterday reinstated Adnan Syed’s murder conviction and ordered a new hearing, marking the latest development in a protracted case chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial.” The appellate court found that the lower court failed to give sufficient notice to the victim’s family when it scheduled a hearing to vacate the conviction, the Associated Press reports. It gave defense attorneys 60 days to appeal. Syed was released from prison last September after more than two decades. Baltimore prosecutors moved to vacate the conviction after finding alternative suspects and that unreliable evidence was used at trial. Read TBA’s past coverage of the case.

Nashville voters, Metro Council candidates and current Metro councilmembers are joining together in a lawsuit challenging a new state law that requires the Metro Council to be cut in half. The suit, filed yesterday in Davidson County Chancery Court, makes many of the same arguments in the Metro government suit, the Nashville Post reports. Plaintiffs in the new suit are Zulfat Suara, Delishia Porterfield and Sandra Sepulveda, all Metro councilmembers currently seeking reelection; religious leaders Davie Tucker and Judy Cummings; Dave Goetz, a former leader of the Tennessee Department of Finance and the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce; Alma Sanford, a community member; and Quin Segall, a candidate for Metro Council. They are represented by Scott Tift and David Garrison of Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison and John Spragens of Spragens Law.

The judiciary is tightening financial disclosure rules for U.S. Supreme Court justices and other judges covering certain trips, meals and other personal hospitality. In changes disclosed this week, the Judicial Conference clarified regulations around financial reporting exemptions. Under the new standard, justices must disclose travel to a resort or other commercial property paid for by a business or certain third parties. The new standard took effect March 14. Bloomberg Law has more on the change.

The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to go on a “hiring spree” for immigration judges next year, Knoxville Times reports. In its budget proposal for fiscal year 2024, which starts Oct. 1, the department is seeking $1.46 billion for the office tasked with adjudicating immigration claims. The request represents an increase of nearly 70% in funding and would enable the agency to hire 965 new judicial staff, including 150 new immigration judges. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in written testimony before a Senate appropriations subcommittee that the effort is designed to address the backlog of cases. There are currently about 600 immigration judges in the country (more than double from just a few years ago) handling more than two million cases.

Nashville Public Television has partnered with AgeWell Middle Tennessee this year for its Aging Matters Digital Scam Prevention Workshop series. Each workshop will include a screening of "Aging Matters: Exposing Cyber Threats" followed by a presentation on identifying and preventing cyber scams for older adults. Sessions will be held in Ashland City, Dover, Erwin, Franklin, Gallatin, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Smyrna and Springfield. Workshops are free but registration is required. Get details on events.

The state House has passed House Joint Resolution 5, which proposes a congressional term limits amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Chattanoogan.com reports. More than 60 Tennessee legislators have signed the term limits pledge, indicating their support for the change. If approved by the Senate, Tennessee would be one of several states applying for a states-only convention to propose term limits on Congress. To be adopted, constitutional amendments must be approved by 38 states after being proposed by 34 state legislatures.