Members of the TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) Board and YLD Fellows gathered at the Hard Rock Hotel in Cancun, Mexico, this past weekend for the Fall Board Meeting. YLD President Quinton Thompson gave special recognition to Nashville lawyer Alix Rogers, Murfreesboro lawyer Morgan Hanna and Cookeville lawyer Amber Vargas for their work holding pro bono wills clinics this summer for essential workers. Rogers also was recognized for her work training YLD district coordinators across the state and for leading a panel of lawyers at a recent law school visit. Finally, Memphis lawyer Jeffrey Moore was awarded the “disco gavel” for his enthusiasm and efforts to bring people together. During the meeting, members planned for upcoming events, including additional pro bono clinics, the Diversity Leadership Institute, the Tennessee State High School Mock Trial competition and Diversity Law Week. They also discussed long range planning and how best to engage young lawyers across the state. See photos from the meeting, which was held during Mexico's Independence Day celebration.

Kevin G. Ritz, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, has announced two federal grants will be awarded to area nonprofits. Lifeline to Success, which helps men and women with serious felony convictions transition back to society, will receive $500,000. The funding will be used to support the organization’s new rehabilitation center, Welch Home for Success, and a 12-month demonstration program offering peer support, therapeutic and mental health services, job training and life coaching to reduce recidivism and support long-term success. In addition, West Tennessee Legal Services in Jackson will receive $600,000 to provide legal services and improve coordination of justice systems impacting survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.

Kansas City-based Spencer Fane LLP has assembled a team of lawyers — including two in Nashville — to launch a sports law practice. The new practice will be led by Denver-based Peter Goplerud and Nashville lawyers Loren Mulraine and James Crumlin. The practice will build on work already being done by the firm in areas such as name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, the Nashville Business Journal reports. The team will focus on corporate, entertainment, higher education, intellectual property and labor and employment law; contract negotiations; internal investigations; and National Collegiate Athletic Association compliance and eligibility issues. Spencer Fane entered the Nashville market in 2021 when it merged with Bone McAllester Norton PLLC.

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) is embarking on more than $400 million worth of construction projects to handle children entering state custody and to improve detention centers, Tennessee Lookout reports. The projects include a new assessment center, two intake facilities and six other facilities across the state at a total cost of $88.3 million. Another $333 million will be spent for a new Woodland Hills Youth Detention Center in Nashville and improvements at John S. Wilder Youth Detention Center in Fayette County, where reports of abuse by guards, riots and poor living conditions have been frequent. A new Wilder center also is to be built to house another 24 to 48 minors, potentially bringing its population up to nearly 170.

U.S. District Judge Mark Norris is considering how to proceed with the civil lawsuit over Tyre Nichols' death and which parties should be involved. The civil suit involves five officers accused of killing Nichols, and they, along with other former MPD personnel, have sought a stay of the proceedings, citing fear of federal criminal charges. According to the Daily Memphian, attorneys for Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, and the city of Memphis agree that the case should proceed in a manner that would allow the defendants to avoid self-incrimination. They also agree the civil case will largely focus on the city's practices and its role in Nichols' death.

Chattanooga attorney and Immediate Past TBA YLD President Brittany Faith has been appointed to the advisory committee of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration by ABA President Mary Smith. The Advisory Committee provides counsel to the Commission in its efforts to ensure fair treatment and full due process rights for immigrants and refugees within the United States, develop and implement immigration-related policy for the ABA and advocate for changes in the law when necessary.

Sullivan County commissioners want to give a raise to uniformed officers in the sheriff's office, but are still working out what the budget impact would be and how big a raise they can fund, The Kingsport Times News report. The commission's Budget Committee has given its OK to a $1,045,000 budget for the department, but Michael Kennedy, finance director for the sheriff’s office, says the amount approved would not fund the $3 per hour raise that Sheriff Jeff Cassidy has proposed. Kennedy calculates the department would need $1.68 million to fund raises for 270 officers over an entire year. Commissioners will continue work on the budget next week.

A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) judge has rejected the agency's effort to strip the license of "Jammin" 99.7 FM/1040 WJBE, Knoxville's only Black-owned radio station. According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, the FCC initiated a license revocation hearing due to the owner's 2016 conviction for filing a false income tax return and failure to disclose the conviction in license renewal applications. Joe Armstrong, the owner, successfully defended the station with the help of the Institute for Justice, arguing that the conviction shouldn't disqualify him from operating the station. Armstrong says he plans to continue growing and serving the community through WJBE.

Joseph Padilla, a Cleveland, Tennessee, man who posted on social media about wanting to "take over the Capitol building" before the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, has been sentenced to more than six years in prison. He was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon, obstruction of Congress and other charges after a bench trial. The Associated Press reports that Padilla had thrown a flagpole at a police officer's head during the riot and later lied about it under oath. More than 1,100 people have been charged in connection with the riot, with over 600 sentenced, many pleading guilty.

The Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP) has filed a lawsuit against the Memphis in May International Festival for the $675,000 it owes in damages to Tom Lee Park. The lawsuit was filed after the festival missed a Sept. 4 payment deadline, despite MRPP extending the deadline once before. The Daily Memphian reports that the festival is exploring other locations for its 2024 events and has submitted an insurance claim to cover the bill, which it describes as "punitive."