Candidates who passed the July 2024 Tennessee Bar Exam were admitted to the practice of law at a ceremony in Knoxville today. Representatives from the Tennessee Bar Association and its Young Lawyers Division were on hand to congratulate the new admittees. See photos from today. Ceremonies continue this week with events in Nashville tomorrow, Jackson on Wednesday and Memphis on Thursday. Watch for coverage and photos from these events coming soon in TBA Today and on social media.

Rideshare drivers in Tennessee are advocating for legislation to ban out-of-state drivers from operating within the state. Drivers have formed an organization to advocate for change and say they are in the process of working with an attorney to create a proposal to share with lawmakers next month, aiming for its introduction during the next legislative session, Fox Chattanooga reports. Drivers argue that the influx of out-of-state drivers, and a ban on out-of-state drivers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky, has oversaturated the market, leading to decreased earnings. The group will also be holding a strike regarding this issue on Nov. 20.

Amazon asked a federal judge in Seattle to dismiss a multibillion-dollar consumer lawsuit case that claims the company’s cloud-based voice service Alexa illegally collected and recorded private conversations without consent. Amazon said in a federal court filing on Wednesday that after years of litigation, consumers had failed to show the company engaged in unfair or deceptive practices, Reuters reports. “Alexa recordings in fact contain none of the private, salacious or personal details they claimed in their complaint,” Amazon told the court. The plaintiff filings said the consumers “either knew or reasonably should have known how Alexa worked.” The lawsuit, filed in 2021, claimed Amazon violated state wiretap laws through its collection and storage of data from Alexa.

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Tuesday announced that three railroad projects in Tennessee will receive up to $25.7 million in federal infrastructure grants. Funded projects include upgrades to a railroad from Jackson to the northwest corner of the state, improvements to 13 miles of track between Manchester and Morrison, and a new rail yard in Watertown, east of Nashville, the Tennessee Lookout reports. The funds, distributed by the Federal Railroad Administration, are part funding dedicated by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to 122 rail improvement projects across the country.

A Muslim civil rights organization is calling on the Knox County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) to allow women to wear their hijab if they are forced to sit for a mug shot, Knox News reports. According to the paper, this is a policy followed by many police agencies nationwide out of respect for constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion. The statement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations comes less than a month after a Knoxville woman sued the KCSO in federal court because the agency published a mug shot of her taken without her hijab after she was arrested in May, and it still remains accessible on third-party mug shot databases. The woman is seeking damages and policy changes to accommodate Muslim women.

The Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) last week announced it has expanded its Judicial Outreach Liaison (JOL) program to include two new judges, Judge Beau Pemberton of Dresden and Judge James Ross of Waynesboro. According to a press release from the THSO, Tennessee is first in the nation to expand the JOL program model beyond one judge. JOLs support the criminal justice system by preventing impaired driving, assigning appropriate consequences for traffic offenses, and providing training and guidance to judges and traffic safety professionals. “I’m excited to build our JOL team to help more local communities and those often underserved or disconnected,” said Judge Donald Parish, who retired after 41 years practicing law and is Tennessee’s state JOL in Huntingdon. Pemberton and Ross will serve as regional JOLs in support of Parrish.

TBA staff and leadership are continuing to develop and update educational and advocacy resources on issues relevant to the practice of law in our state and we want your help! We know TBA members have incredible knowledge and insight about the policy issues we are focused on, including resources for indigent representation. Through our Grassroots Advocacy Initiative, we are building a network of lawyers who are informed and engaged. There are a few ways to connect with the TBA's Government Affairs team if you are interested in learning more and getting involved with our advocacy work, especially as related to indigent representation. Sign up for TBA Grassroots Advocacy Updates, which will highlight related policy content across all of TBA's communication platforms. For attorneys with experience working with clients who are indigent or vulnerable, there is a longer survey that includes questions about court appointed representation as well as options for getting involved with TBA’s efforts in this area. We want to hear directly from you on these issues. More information is available on our main Indigent Representation Resource Page.

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti on Thursday announced that two multi-settlement agreements with pharmaceutical companies Heritage Pharmaceuticals and Apotex have entered the final stages and just need signatures from the participating states. According to a release from Skrmetti's office, the two companies have agreed to pay a total of $49.1 million to settle allegations of long-running conspiracies to artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition and unreasonably restrain trade with regard to numerous generic prescription drugs. Tennesseans who purchased generic prescriptions from either company between 2010 and 2018 may be eligible for compensation.

Williamson County Circuit and Chancery Courts are seeking attorneys for appointment to represent indigent clients. Attorneys are not required to be in court at the time of appointment. To sign up for appointments, please send your name, address, cell phone, email and area of interest (criminal defense, termination of parental rights, criminal contempt, etc.) to Stacy Green at stacy.green@tncourts.gov.

Five Tennessee trial court judges recently completed an intensive two-week general jurisdiction course at the National Judicial College. Circuit court judges Brent Bradberry of Carroll County, Damita Dandridge of Shelby County and Mark Hayes of Dyer and Lake counties, and criminal court judges Cynthia Chappell of Davidson County and Ryan Spitzer of Anderson County took the immersive course, which aims to provide judges with a solid foundation on courtroom leadership, judicial ethics, evidence, case management, judicial security and decision-making. Graduates can earn credit hours toward a Master of Judicial Studies degree. According to a press release, the Tennessee judges all agreed that the experience was worthy and will benefit the administration of justice in their respective judicial districts. Read more in the release and see a picture of the group.