Attorney Dwight E. Tarwater yesterday was officially confirmed by the General Assembly as the newest justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court. Justice-designate Tarwater was nominated by Gov. Bill Lee in January after a lengthy application process that included a public hearing. He will take the bench on Sept. 1, following the retirement of current Justice Sharon G. Lee. Justice-designate Tarwater served as general counsel to former Gov. Bill Haslam from 2014 to 2019, a position he accepted after decades of work as a trial and appellate attorney in Knoxville. Justice-designate Tarwater has served on the board of directors of Legal Aid of East Tennessee, the Volunteer Legal Assistance Program and the Pro Bono Project.

TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast is new with TBA Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorney and TBA lobbyist, Brad Lampley. This week they discuss HB1162/SB775, the Tennessee Revised Uniform Arbitration Act; TBA's two adoption law bills, HB854/SB919 and HB855/SB921; HB647/SB1313, TBA's medical records bill; HB40/SB122, legislation prohibiting foreign ownership of real property by nonresident aliens; HB795/SB283 the "Guns in the Courthouse" bill; and HB1177/SB710, the Tennessee Domestic Relations Arbitration Act. The program airs each week during the session on TBA’s Facebook page. It is also released as a podcast on the same day and can be found on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

The Tennessee Bar Association and Tennessee’s American Inns of Court are now accepting nominations for the 2023 Judge Pamela L. Reeves Tennessee Professionalism Award. The annual award is presented to a lawyer or judge whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the rule of law and the highest standards of the legal profession in Tennessee. The award will be presented to a lawyer or judge residing in the grand division of the state where the TBA's Annual Convention is held (this year, the East Grand Division). Nominees must be alive when their nomination is submitted but need not be an active member of an American Inn of Court or the TBA. The award will be presented at the TBA's Annual Convention, which will be held in Knoxville June 14-16. The deadline for submitting nominations is April 5.

Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp says a new state law on children at drag and stripper shows is "not that complicated." She issued the following statement today in response to questions about enforcement of the legislation. “This piece of legislation is not as complex as some are making it. First, the law specifically states that it is an offense for a ‘person’ to engage in the listed conduct. Therefore, inquiries as to whether businesses or venues can be prosecuted is not applicable per the legislation itself. The state of Tennessee through District Attorneys General pursues prosecution against persons, not entities. Further, the legislature specifically included the language ‘appeals to a prurient interest’ … in order to shield individuals who may be acting or playing a role in a performance that has no sexual connotation.” Read the full statement on Chattanoogan.com.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today denied a petition for reciprocal discipline from Knox County lawyer Elliott James Schuchardt, who was asking the court to suspend him for two years following a similar suspension by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The district court also imposed conditions on his reinstatement. The state Supreme Court rejected that approach, saying that the factual allegations that served “as an underlying basis” for the federal court order are now the subject of disciplinary proceedings in Tennessee involving a petition for discipline and two supplemental petitions for discipline. The Board of Professional Responsibility alleges that Schuchardt’s purpose in filing the petition was to “execute an ‘end-run’ around the pending disciplinary proceedings prior to a final disposition …”.

The Tennessee Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs announced the top 10 complaint categories for 2022. The division reports that it received a total of 8,088 formal consumer complaints last year. The greatest number of complaints centered around home improvements, repairs and warranties followed by issues related to landlord/tenant, health services and products, debtor/creditor, personal & professional services, Internet sales, motor vehicle sales, motor vehicle repairs, utilities, and imposter scams. Read more about each category and how the number of complaints in 2022 compared to those in 2021.

Knox County lawyer Bethany Taylor Greenoe was reinstated to the practice of law today. She had been placed on inactive status on May 21, 2011. The Board of Professional Responsibility indicated that the petition for reinstatement was satisfactory. The Tennessee Supreme Court made her reinstatement effective as of Feb. 28.

Memphis lawyer William Rowlett Scott died March 5 after a long illness. He was 86. Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Yale College and a law degree in 1961 from Yale Law School. He joined the Army Reserves after law school and was discharged seven years later as a captain in the Judge Advocate General Corps. He simultaneously served as law clerk to U.S. District Judge Bailey Brown Jr. and as an attorney at Armstrong Allen. He later made partner and was named a member of the firm’s management committee. In 2006, Scott joined Burch, Porter Johnson and worked there until his retirement in 2020. He focused his practice throughout the years on real estate and bankruptcy matters. A memorial service will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. CDT in the Sisters Chapel at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, 700 Poplar Ave., Memphis. A reception will follow in Martyrs' Hall. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral or the Tennessee Nature Conservancy.

The Senate voted 23-7 today to give final approval to a measure capping local metropolitan governing bodies at 20 members and Gov. Bill Lee promptly signed it. The bill, HB48/SB87, had cleared the House yesterday. Its effect will be to cut the Nashville Metro Council from 40 members to 20. The law calls for new districts to be drawn in time for elections in August. If that is not possible then current council members’ terms would be extended by a year. Legal challenges to the new law are widely expected, the Tennessee Journal reports.

Two longtime former deputies in the Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk’s office allege in a lawsuit filed this week that their dismissals in 2022 were politically motivated, the Nashville Post reports. Veronica Edmondson and Annecia Donigan name former Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk Richard Rooker, current Circuit Court Clerk Joseph Day and the Metro Government in their suit. Rooker announced in 2021 that he would not seek another term as clerk and supported his deputy, Joseph Day, for the post. According to the lawsuit, Rooker asked court staff to support Day and said “they were expected to work on the campaign.” He also is alleged to have said that those who did not support Day “would no longer have positions after the election.” Both Edmondson and Donigan say they did not support Day and were terminated because of that.