Law firms Jenner & Block and WilmerHale are suing the Trump administration over executive orders that sanctioned the firms for their pro bono work and ties to Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation into Russian interference into the 2016 election. The lawsuits, filed today in a federal court in Washington, seek to block an order issued by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, which directed federal agencies to terminate contracts with companies that are clients of the firm and suspend the security clearances of its lawyers, Bloomberg Law reports. The executive orders target the firms due to their connections with attorneys who were part of Mueller's team. Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said late today that he is inclined to grant WilmerHale a restraining order in the matter. In related news, Skadden reached an agreement with the Trump administration to avoid an executive order targeting the law firm. The firm commits to providing at least $100 million in pro bono work for causes the Trump administration supports, to funding five fellows and to merit-based hiring and retention, and it will not deny representation to disenfranchised groups.

Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate has remained steady at 3.7% for six consecutive months, continuing to track below the national average, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The national unemployment rate was 4.1% in February. Over the past year, total nonfarm employment in Tennessee increased by 19,200 jobs, with the largest gains in the government sector, followed by leisure and hospitality and education and health services.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, along with a bipartisan coalition, is urging consumers to check their eligibility for compensation related to certain generic drug purchases. The attorneys general are seeking preliminary approval for a $39.1 million settlement with drug manufacturer Apotex over a conspiracy to inflate prices and limit competition. Skrmetti and the coalition announced the settlement in principle with Apotex last year, along with a $10 million settlement with Heritage Pharmaceuticals. As part of the settlement agreements, both Apotex and Heritage have agreed to cooperate in ongoing multistate litigation and implement internal reforms to ensure fair competition and compliance with antitrust laws.

In this month's episode of BarBuzz, TBA Executive Director Sheree Wright speaks with Liz Todaro, TBA's director of access to justice and special projects, and John Farringer, a commercial litigator with Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison and TBA’s incoming president for the 2027-2028 bar year. The discussion focuses on the Administrative Office of the Courts’ plan for funding indigent representation. Get more information about indigent defense in Tennessee. Find past episodes of the podcast in the BarBuzz archive.

TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast is new this week, featuring TBA lobbyists Berkley Schwarz of Pier Strategies LLC, and Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin of Adams and Reese. This week, they discuss Gov. Bill Lee's budget amendment, funding for the indigent representation plan, a recap of TBA's Day on the Hill and a look ahead to upcoming bills this session. Tune in to the podcast on the TBA website or through this link.

The U.S. federal judiciary has launched the Judicial Security and Independence Task Force focused on ensuring the continued security and independence of the court. According to Reuters, Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Judge Robert Conrad stated in a memo that the task force would be chaired by Baltimore-based U.S. District Judge James Bredar and would "identify, analyze and propose responses to ensure the continued security and independence of courts and judges ... Through its efforts, it is hoped that the security of individual judges will be enhanced and that judicial independence will be assured," Conrad wrote. The announcement comes after U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts last week issued a rare statement rebuking calls for impeaching judges. In his 2024 year-end report, Roberts reiterated concerns about judges’ safety and condemned elected officials who intimidate judges or defy court rulings. 

Utah is scaling back a four-year-old program that loosened rules for delivering legal services in the state, leading to the exit or elimination of nearly 30 businesses and law firms, according to Reuters. The move comes as reforms to law firm ownership rules in Arizona have sparked an influx of legal businesses there.

A federal judge has approved a settlement between Tennessee and the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) over a lawsuit that sought to overturn name, image and likeness (NIL) recruiting rules, WBIR reports. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti had announced the deal on March 17. According to Skrmetti, student-athletes now will be able to negotiate NIL compensation before committing to a specific school. Skrmetti and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, along with the Florida, District of Columbia and New York attorneys general, filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA in January 2024, alleging that the NIL recruiting ban created anticompetitive restrictions that violate federal antitrust law and harm current and future student-athletes.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and 17 other state attorneys general announced today they have concluded their investigation into Wells Fargo & Company following the company's decision to abandon certain environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies. The coalition has been investigating whether Wells Fargo and five other American banks — Bank of America Corporation, Citigroup Inc., The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley — violated antitrust or consumer protection laws by implementing net-zero emissions policies and restricting financing. In a release, Skrmetti said, “I commend Wells Fargo’s pro-consumer decision to step away from utopian policymaking, and I look forward to the rest of America’s major financial institutions following its lead.”

Recent executive orders issued by President Donald Trump include three directing the federal government to review large law firms. An order issued on Feb. 25 calls on the government to review security clearances for “all members, partners and employees" of Covington & Burling as well as all government contracts with the firm. An order issued on March 14, directs the government to review security clearances, contracts and federal building access for attorneys with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. On March 21, the president revoked the order after saying the firm “agreed to a number of policy changes.” An order on March 25 directs the government to review security clearances, contracts and federal building access for attorneys with Jenner & Block. In addition to orders naming specific firms, the president signed an order on March 22 directing the attorney general to investigate any law firm that engages in “frivolous, unreasonable and vexatious litigation” against the federal government.