TBA’s Group Health Insurance, provided by BlueCross BlueShield, offers guaranteed issue coverage, with no health questions and no pre-existing condition exclusions. The Knoxville law firm Butler Vines & Babbs made the switch. Here is what firm administrator David T. Kristy says about the program: “When the TBA Member Insurance Solutions Plans first came out, the benefits and premiums offered were so close to what we currently had for our small firm (18 participants) that we elected to pass on the opportunity. However, we evaluated these plans each year and in 2023, the insurance carrier, benefit levels and especially premium costs were clearly way ahead of the competition! We went with the TBA plan in 2023 and over the past two years have saved over $62,000 for the same level of coverage for our employees. I would not hesitate to recommend that other law firms seriously evaluate the TBA plans.” Find out more or get your quote now.

Brentwood-based CoreCivic, the leading private prison company in the U.S., has spent more than $4.4 million to settle dozens of complaints alleging mistreatment at its Tennessee prisons and jails since 2016. The Associated Press reports that those complaints include at least 22 inmate deaths, and more than $1.1 million of the payouts involved Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, which is now under federal investigation. The Tennessee Department of Corrections has fined CoreCivic $37.7 million across four prisons since 2016, including $11.1 million for problems at Trousdale, according to the news outlet.

Memphis-based Community Legal Center has announced the appointment of Betsy Prendergast as its interim executive director. She replaces Diana Comes, who was with the center since 2021 and oversaw the organization’s move to Brinkley Plaza. Prendergast has been serving as a staff attorney and was a past member of the group's board of directors. The center also announced that Dawna E. Snipes is a new elder law staff attorney and Susie Espinoza is a new program coordinator. Finally, the center is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year with an event on Nov. 8 from 7-9 p.m. CDT at the Crosstown Theater. Buy tickets here or contact Austin Brown at 901-402-0509 with questions.

Judge Joshua Turnbow was sworn in to the 23rd Judicial District Circuit Court on Sept. 13. He received a degree in finance from the University of Tennessee and his law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. After his first year of law school, he participated in a program that paired him with then 23rd District Circuit Court Judge Robert Burch. "He would let me ride with him to every county," Turnbow said. “[H]e also helped start the drug court program here in the 23rd district ... I was so impressed by that program and the impact it can have on peoples’ lives and the impact Judge Birch had on peoples’ lives through his judgeship." The 23rd Judicial District covers five counties: Cheatham, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys and Stewart. Turnbow grew up in Charlotte, in Dickson County, a few miles from the courthouse where he will preside. Read more from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Layla Soliz, a Knoxville woman arrested in May during pro-Palestinian protests on the campus of the University of Tennessee College of Law, is suing the Knox County Sheriff's Office in federal court. The suit stems from a mug shot of Soliz taken without her hijab that was subsequently made public, despite assurances to the contrary. According to Knox News, Soliz is suing for at least $250,000 in damages and for her picture to be expunged from the sheriff's office database. She also wants to amend the sheriff's office policy so that hijabi women no longer have to remove their head coverings for future mug shots.

Members of the TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) and YLD Fellows gathered on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas this past weekend for the Fall Board Meeting. YLD President Sean Aiello recognized several board members for their work over the last quarter, including Donelson lawyer Patrick Morrison for his development of CLE programming and his role as health and wellness coordinator; Nashville attorney Ginny Blake for her creativity and outstanding work increasing engagement as the YLD's social media coordinator; and Nashville attorney and YLD Secretary Ross Smith for his contributions to numerous pro bono clinics and law school visits. Finally, Murfreesboro lawyer Alix Rogers was awarded the "disco gavel" by YLD Fellows Liaison and Marshall County General Sessions Court Judge Lee Bussart for her enthusiasm and efforts to bring people together. During the meeting, members planned for upcoming events, including pro bono clinics, the Diversity Leadership Institute, the Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition and new CLEs. They also discussed how best to engage young lawyers and law students across the state. See photos from the meeting.

Former Memphis police officers Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith Jr. each filed motions Friday requesting their convictions in the Tyre Nichols federal criminal case be reversed, reports the Commercial Appeal. Bean and Smith were convicted last week of witness tampering related to a cover-up of the beating of Nichols, but acquitted of civil rights charges. The motions allege a lack of evidence that adequately established that Bean and Smith were attempting to lie or mislead their MPD supervisors.

Shrinking hospital capacity in Tennessee leaves at-risk communities more vulnerable to extreme heat, a new study finds. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that government officials' tools for measuring heat vulnerability often don't consider access to health care. By including hospital bed capacity in calculations, the study found a "major increase" in vulnerability for many Tennessee counties, the Tennessee Lookout reports. The article notes that the study has limitations and mainly focuses on the population of people aged 65 and older. One of the study’s main researchers expressed hope the study will encourage elected officials and policy makers to consider health care accessibility and hospital capacity as one of the main factors of heat vulnerability and ask how their constituencies can be better prepared.

According to a data report released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department, the legal services industry added 1,600 jobs in September, reversing a decline that began in April. Lawyer Monthly reports there has been "robust" demand for legal professionals in the U.S. from both corporations and large law firms over the past four months. The department's statistics include lawyers, paralegals and assistants working for law firms, corporations and other organizations. In the first half of 2024, U.S. law firms reported strong financial performance, with average revenue up 11.4% compared to the same period a year earlier. Demand for transactional practices is increasing after nearly three years of lackluster performance, the article reports.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has consolidated its Memphis and Knoxville field offices into a single office in Nashville as of Oct. 1. This decision, made after more than eight years of evaluation, aims to better serve Tennessee by having one office covering the entire state, the Daily Memphian reports. The FBI has also increased the number of investigative agents across the state from 170 to 200, with 10 of the 30 new agents already in place. In a statement, Memphis Mayor Paul Young said he believed the change “wouldn’t impact the level of support” Memphis gets from the FBI. The FBI has had a field office in Memphis since before 1925.