The 2025 Equal Justice University (EJU) was held this week at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro with the theme "Moving Forward Together." The event included award and recognition events, CLE programs, committee and task force meetings and networking events. EJU, hosted by the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS), is the annual gathering of hundreds of lawyers, advocates, social worker professionals and pro bono attorneys involved in providing civil legal assistance and access to justice across Tennessee. Speakers during the conference included TBA President Heidi Barcus, Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Mary L. Wagner and Sharon Roberson, president & CEO of the YWCA of Nashville & Middle Tennessee. Past TBA President Jim Barry also shared brief updates from the Drowota Trust.

Barcus was the featured speaker at EJU's Leadership Luncheon, sponsored by the TBA, where she thanked those working in the access to justice field and said the TBA is proud to be part of a collaborative effort to provide quality and accessible legal services across the state. Barcus acknowledged that legal aid is currently navigating growing client needs amid threats to funding. She recognized legal service organizations in the state for working together to build long-term strategies to help support clients and their families. "Through these challenges, you — and your teams, staff and volunteers — are continuing to provide life-changing legal services to those in need, every day," she said.

Barcus closed by noting the importance of educating and engaging Tennessee lawyers around the many ways to support legal services. She said "there is no shortage of needs or opportunities for attorneys, mediators, paralegals, students, to actively engage in support for legal services. We want to promote and help lawyers engage with meaningful opportunities to support" legal aid organizations. See photos from the luncheon and look for a wrap up of awards presented at the conference in TBA Today next week.

Three of the five former Memphis police officers charged and convicted in connection with the 2023 death of Tyré Nichols are getting a new federal trial, The Daily Memphian reports. U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman ruled that Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith will get a new trial based on comments U.S. District Judge Mark Norris made just days after their 2024 federal trial ended. Norris, who had presided over the case since its inception, recused himself in June. Lipman also granted a motion from the newspaper to unseal records in the case, including the reason for the recusal. The paper reports those records show that Norris said he could not meet with anybody from the Memphis Police Department about an investigation into the attempted murder of one of his law clerks because it is “infiltrated to the top with gang members.” Attorneys for Bean, Haley and Smith argued that comment violated their due process rights and that Norris should have recused himself from the case before the trial.

The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) has appealed a judge's decision that struck down an executive order targeting law firm Susman Godfrey, Reuters reports. DOJ asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to reverse the decision from U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan. The executive order, issued on April 9, suspended security clearances and restricted access to government buildings, officials and federal contracting work for lawyers at the firm. Susman said it would "fight the administration's unwarranted appeal and continue to defend the rights of … clients and our colleagues."

The federal judiciary is taking “special measures” and “technical steps” to respond to a hack of the courts’ case management system, according to the Department of Justice. The remarks come after the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts announced the judiciary was strengthening protections “in response to recent escalated cyberattacks of a sophisticated and persistent nature on its case management system.” The ABA Journal has more on the developments. In related news, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, has asked U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to commission an independent review of the judiciary’s cybersecurity practices. Wyden noted that the recent breach marks the second time since 2020 the system had been hacked by foreign actors exploiting the same cyber vulnerabilities, Reuters reports.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee recently announced two judicial appointments and one district attorney appointment. Lee named Chris Frulla as the new circuit court judge and Raymond Lepone as the new criminal court judge in the 30th Judicial District, which covers Shelby County. Frulla currently serves as a partner at Rainey, Kizer, Reviere & Bell. He will take the bench immediately to fill a vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Valerie Smith to the Court of Appeals. Lepone currently serves as an assistant attorney general in the Criminal Appeals Division of the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office. He will take the bench immediately to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Paula Skahan. Finally, Lee named Thomas Dean as new district attorney general for the 18th Judicial District, which serves Sumner County. He currently works as an assistant district attorney in the office and will take over when Ray Whitley retires on Sept. 1.

A plan to require more hands-on training for law students was pulled just prior to consideration by the American Bar Association (ABA) Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. The proposal, which would double the number of required hands-on learning credits for American law students from six to 12 credits, had met with strong opposition, according to Reuters. Clinical legal professors and externship supervisors largely have backed the change, as have some attorneys and members of the public, saying it will help produce practice-ready attorneys. But many deans of ABA-accredited law schools said the change would be too costly.

A Nashville grand jury that declined to indict dozens of cases earlier this year has left some defendants facing higher bail and extended jail time, The Tennessean reports. The grand jury, led by foreperson and community organizer Theeda Murphy, issued “no true bills” in 47 cases from January to March, about 15 times more than the five other grand juries that have met since January 2024. While Murphy said prosecutors failed to present enough evidence, defense attorneys argue the move backfired, forcing defendants to pay bail twice or remain in custody. Judges and bonding companies are now untangling the fallout, which attorneys have called “insanely unfair.”

The Shelby County Board of Commissioners plans to set up an ad hoc committee next month to explore new jail options, the Daily Memphian reports. Incoming commission chair Shante Avant announced the move Monday as the commission delayed action on putting out a call for proposals to implement a master plan proposed for the new jail. Commissioners voted 8-1 to push consideration of a request for proposals to Sept. 17, after amending the resolution to broaden possible sites beyond county-owned land, allow rebuilding or relocation of the jail and consider private as well as public funding. Much of the debate centered on whether the former Firestone plant site in North Memphis should remain under consideration when exploring options for the jail.

In a memo sent to Congress on Friday, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) said it agrees with a lawsuit seeking to strike down grants reserved for colleges and universities where at least a quarter of undergraduates are Hispanic, the Associated Press reports. Tennessee and an anti-affirmative action group sued the U.S. Department of Education in June, asking a judge to halt the Hispanic-Serving Institution program (HSI). Tennessee argues that all of its public universities serve Hispanic students, but none meet the “arbitrary ethnic threshold” to qualify for the grants. Congress created the program in 1998 after finding Latino students were attending and graduating from college at far lower rates than white students. More than 500 schools are designated HSIs and received about $350 million in federal support last year. In the letter to Congress, Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the program provides an unconstitutional advantage based on race or ethnicity and cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision ending affirmative action as grounds for declining to defend the policy.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee and the state are taking time to “explore the possibility of settlement” in the ACLU’s lawsuit challenging a law that makes it a felony for public officials to vote in favor of sanctuary city policies, WPLN reports. Lawmakers passed an omnibus immigration bill this year, which among other provisions, made it a felony for local officials to support sanctuary city measures. The lawsuit, filed in June on behalf of seven Nashville Metro Council members, argues the law is unconstitutional because it fails to clearly define a sanctuary city policy and violates protections for legislators acting in their governing roles. A three-judge panel appointed earlier this month has approved a motion for an extension, giving the parties until Oct. 10 to pursue settlement discussions.