A medical cannabis bill introduced by Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, failed on a nearly party-line vote yesterday in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Williamson Source reports. The bill, SB1104, would have established a framework for authorizing access to medical cannabis on a regulated basis for patients with qualifying medical conditions. It also would have established a licensing and regulatory process for those cultivating, producing, distributing, transporting, selling, and acquiring cannabis for medical use and research.

Nearly five years after agents from multiple federal agencies detained Latino workers during a Grainger County slaughterhouse raid, a judge has finalized a class action settlement for the workers, Tennessee Lookout reports. First approved in September 2022, the settlement awards more than $1 million to the 104 members of the class, with $475,000 going to the seven workers who originally filed. Agents with the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had planned the raid for more than a year before entering the Southeastern Provision plant in Bean Station on April 5, 2018. Court records showed the agencies misled a federal judge about the purpose of the raid, telling a federal judge they were seeking to gather records for a tax evasion case against the owner James Brantley.

As of today, Nashville's oldest law firm has a new identity. The firm formerly known as Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP is now officially part of Holland & Knight LLP, the Nashville Business Journal reports. Matt Burnstein, who was chair of Waller, now has the title of executive partner of Holland & Knight's Nashville office. He is one of three Waller lawyers to gain seats on Holland & Knight's policy-making body. Holland & Knight’s managing partner Steven Sonberg says the acquisition enhances the firm’s position in the health care sector and will accelerate future growth.

A story in yesterday's TBA Today contained incorrect information about the death of Lisa Edwards of Knoxville. According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Edwards became unresponsive in the back of a police cruiser and was taken back to Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, where she died of a stroke the next day.

The Arts & Business Council's Volunteer Lawyers and Professionals for the Arts is joining the law firm of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings to provide free legal services for nonprofits and Black-owned small businesses in Nashville on March 16. Advice will cover business formation, corporate governance, contracts and navigating local ordinances and state regulations. Eligible entities may receive up to one hour of assistance. Clients should sign up online by March 13. Email vlpa@abcnashville.org to volunteer.

For Women’s History Month, the Chattanooga Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority will host a Women’s Commemorative Suffrage March at noon EST on March. 3. The march will begin at the Hamilton County Courthouse and end at Miller Park with a formal program. Get more information here.

Join the TBA for a new webcast on April 20 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT. Trial Tactics and Techniques will offer a view from both sides of the bench on how to effectively present a case to any audience. Produced by Knoxville lawyer Samantha Ellis with Ritchie, Dillard, Davies & Johnson, this program will offer one hour of general CLE credit. Watch for more details coming soon.

The March/April issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal is available online! This issue celebrates women in the legal profession with a cover story by Jackie B. Dixon and Psonya C. Hackett on mothers and daughters who practice law, a look at the work of and survey results from the Women in the Profession Committee by Sherie L. Edwards, and the tale of the first Native American woman lawyer by Russell Fowler. Lisa Gill makes the case for why the state legislature should adopt the Tennessee Domestic Relations Arbitration Act (TDRAA), and Buddy Stockwell shares TLAP's exciting news! Also enjoy three book reviews and stories of judges who "adopt, don't shop" their furry family members.

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a pair of cases challenging President Joe Biden's appeal of rulings that struck down his administration’s effort to cancel billions of dollars in student debt. So far, Republican-appointed judges have kept the plan from going into effect. A Texas federal judge deemed the program unlawful, and the 8th Circuit upheld an injunction in a separate case brought by a group of Republican states. 

The family of Lisa Edwards, a Knoxville woman who died following arrest in early February, plans to sue, possibly against the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) and the hospitals that treated Edwards. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that the family is working to gather as much information as possible about what happened during her medical emergency and eventual death. Edwards was arrested Feb. 5 outside Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, where she had been treated. Hospital security staff called police when Edwards declined to move off the property after she was discharged. The family maintains that Edwards was physically disabled and unable to use her left side due to a 2019 stroke. Officers struggled to get Edwards into a police van and then into the backseat of a cruiser, where she later became unresponsive. She was taken back to the medical center where the Knox County District Attorney's office said Edwards died of a stroke the next day. The DA's office says none of the officers who handled her arrest will face criminal charges.