The Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) and Tennessee’s American Inns of Court are now accepting nominations for the 2025 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. This year's award will be presented to a lawyer or judge residing in the Middle Grand Division. Nominees must be alive when nominations are submitted but they 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 Franklin June 11-14. The deadline for submitting nominations is April 7. See past recipients of the award.

Law firm Perkins Coie is suing the Trump administration over an executive order that sanctioned the firm, Bloomberg Law reports. The firm filed suit in the federal court in Washington, D.C., today after hiring Williams & Connolly to represent it in the matter. The order, signed on March 6, strips the firm’s lawyers of security credentials, terminates federal contracts with firm clients, and bars firm lawyers from entering government buildings or getting jobs at federal agencies. The president said the move was in response to the firm being involved in “weaponization against a political opponent’’ during the 2016 presidential campaign. The firm says the directives put its solvency and existence at risk.

The TBA Leadership Law (TBALL) was in Knoxville last week for an "Issues in Community Leadership" session. The class heard from several Tennessee leaders including Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon, Knox County Mayor Glen Jacobs, Supreme Court Justice Dwight E. Tarwater and former Attorney General Herbert Slatery. Other contributors at the event included Chloe Akers, Professor Akram Faizer, Josh Hedrick, Angelia Nystrom, Robbie Pryor, Professor Joy Radice and Cullen Wojcik. TBALL’s next session will take place April 10-11 in Memphis. Learn more about TBALL or see photos from the event.

In this month's episode of BarBuzz, TBA Executive Director Sheree Wright speaks with Liz Todaro, TBA 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, a key issue shaping legal access in Tennessee. The group also talks about the importance of TBA's Day on the Hill and Big Shrimp Legislative Reception, two events that connect legal professionals with lawmakers to advocate for issues such as indigent defense funding. TBA’s 2025 Day on the Hill and Big Shrimp Reception will take place next week in Nashville. Register for the day's events on the TBA website or get more information about indigent defense in Tennessee. Find past episodes of the podcast in the BarBuzz archive.

An Alabama couple has filed suit against the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) and Sevierville law enforcement alleging their two children were illegally taken for nine months after they were wrongly arrested during a traffic stop, Tennessee Lookout reports. The couple was charged with DUI, public intoxication, child abuse and neglect, and aggravated child abuse and neglect. The parents denied the charges, which were later dismissed by a local prosecutor and subsequently expunged. They also claim that law enforcement did not have probable cause to pull them over. The couple are seeking $15 million in damages for violation of their constitutional rights and $10 million in damages for state law violations. This lawsuit is similar to one filed last year after a Georgia family was stopped in Coffee County and five children were taken from the parents.

The Tennessee Bar Association is now accepting nominations for its 2025 Claudia Jack Award and Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award. The Claudia Jack Award honors an outstanding public defender or court-appointed private practitioner who has served the legal community and clients in an exemplary fashion. It is named after the late Claudia Jack, a public defender and long-time champion of the poor and underprivileged. The Drowota Award is given to a judge or judicial branch official of a federal, state or local court in Tennessee who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion and dedication to the improvement of the law, the legal system and the administration of justice, as exemplified by the career of former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Frank F. Drowota III. The deadline to submit nominees for both awards, which will be presented at the TBA Annual Convention in June, is April 4.

Knoxville-based U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan on Monday ruled that Edward Kelley's pardon regarding his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol does not cover his conviction for conspiring to kill law enforcement agents investigating him. The Tennessean reports that the Maryville man was separately charged, convicted and then pardoned for his actions related to the riot. Judge Varlan wrote that Trump's pardon does not apply to the conspiracy charge "because this case involved separate offense conduct that was physically, temporally and otherwise unrelated to defendant’s conduct in the D.C. case and/or events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021." Varlan also separately denied Kelley's motion for a new trial due to insufficient evidence.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission met in Chattanooga to select nominees for a circuit court judge in the 11th Judicial District in Hamilton County. After holding a public hearing and interviews, the commission forwarded the following individuals to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration: Christina R. Mincy, Jennifer K. Peck and William Matthew Wayne. The vacancy was created with the appointment of Judge Michael J. Dumitru to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Visit the Administrative Office of the Courts' website for more on the candidates.

The indigent representation proposal from the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) on behalf of the Tennessee Supreme Court is designed not only to ensure that the state meets its obligations under the law, but also provides for a phased implementation to strategically address the special needs of some communities and case types. During last year's effort to increase the compensation rate for appointed attorneys, the AOC was encouraged to consider alternatives, including ones that would better address the needs of smaller and rural communities. This proposal seeks to respond to those concerns by providing flexibility and stability to focus on building capacity in those areas, as well as for contracts that require tailored solutions such as those for complex cases. The proposed plan requires a recurring appropriation of $17 million, and over time, the dollars used to pay today’s claims would be used to expand contracting options. Learn more about the plan and indigent representation in Tennessee.

A coalition of 38 state attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday proposed a final package of remedies aimed at ending Google's monopoly over internet search engines. The proposal, which closely follows an initial filing made in November, comes after a decision in which a federal judge ruled Google is a monopolist in online search. Led by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, the coalition and DOJ say the plan will foster innovation and benefit consumers by dismantling barriers to entry in the market. "We proved Google violated antitrust law in an epic federal trial," Skrmetti said in a press release. "Now it's time to solve the problem." The proposed remedies include banning search-related payments to distribution partners like Apple and Android, requiring Google to divest Chrome and mandating the sharing of certain search, user and ad data with competitors for a limited time. In addition, the plaintiffs would be entitled to a preliminary review of Google's future financial interests in online search and generative AI competitors. A hearing on the proposal is set to begin April 21 and conclude May 9.