Memphis lawyer and former TBA President Lucian Pera joins with six other veteran legal ethics professionals from across the country to call on the American Bar Association to launch a once-in-a-generation study and renewal of the nation's attorney discipline system. They say the mechanics, structure, reach and infrastructure of lawyer regulation need revamping for the 21st century. The group outlines its recommendations in this Bloomberg Law article. Pera is a partner at Adams and Reese. He served for five years on the ABA Ethics 2000 Commission, which rewrote the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. He also led the TBA committee that successfully proposed new legal ethics for the state based on the model rules.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division recently rolled out a new benefit for its members. The "Welcome to Tennessee Basket" —  a project led by YLD President Brittany Faith — offers a range of standard forms, helpful links, suggested reading and practice guides. The resource is available to all TBA members, but be sure to be logged into your TBA account to check it out. If you have a form you would like to share please upload it here. To recommend other resources, send details to YLD Coordinator Laura Labenberg. Thanks to Hendersonville lawyer John Murphy and Chattanooga lawyer Charlotte Mattingly for their work on this project.

Computer servers belonging to the Florida Supreme Court and several universities in the U.S. and Central Europe have been scrambled in a global ransomware outbreak, Reuters reports. Those organizations are among more than 3,800 victims of a fast-spreading digital extortion campaign that locked up thousands of servers in Europe over the weekend. Although this particular extortion campaign was not sophisticated, it drew warnings from national cyber watchdogs in part because of the speed of its spread. The extent of the disruption to the affected organizations, if any, was unclear.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is joining 23 state attorneys general in sending a letter to Yelp opposing the company’s practice of “discriminating against crisis pregnancy centers in online consumer notices.” According to the AG’s office, Yelp announced last year it would begin issuing notices to the profiles of crisis pregnancy centers informing customers that the centers “typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals onsite.” The coalition also took issue with Yelp recategorizing the services of crisis pregnancy centers as they “are in high demand.” Read the letter.

Six more Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers will be charged with violating department policies in the killing of Tyre Nichols, the Daily Memphian reports. MPD Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis told city council members today that the total of officers facing internal police charges now stands at 13. During a three-hour committee session today, Davis said the charges against the additional officers should be made formal this week with appeal hearings to come next week. The charges of violating MPD policies do not rule out, or guarantee, criminal charges against the officers.

The parents of Tyre Nichols, the Memphis man killed by police last month, will be in attendance during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address tonight in Washington, the Commercial Appeal reports. RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, Nichols’ mother and stepfather, have vowed to fight for police reform in the wake of their son’s death. In addition to discussing police brutality, NPR reports that Biden is expected to address expanding veteran benefits, investing in resources to aid in a national mental health crisis and working with international leaders to crush the opioid epidemic. You can watch the State of the Union tonight at 8 p.m. CDT.

Gov. Bill Lee proposed a $55.6 billion budget Monday night during his fifth State of the State address at the Tennessee Capitol, WPLN reports. Highlights from the budget include funding to help the in-crisis Department of Children’s Services and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, teacher raises, a promise to increase TennCare eligibility for postpartum coverage and pregnant patients and millions for state parks and recreation areas. The big-ticket item was a $3 billion proposal for state road projects. “I say with great pride that Tennessee is leading the nation,” said Lee in a nod to his speech’s theme. “The state of our beloved state is prosperous, hopeful and unrivaled.” Read more highlights from the Nashville Post.  

The Chattanooga Bar Association elected three new members to its board of governors late last month. Keith Grant of Robinson, Smith & Wells; Logan Threadgill of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel; and Katherine Lentz of Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison were selected by members to join the board. They will replace outgoing board members Jeffrey Maddux, Mark Litchford and Melody Shekari who reached the end of their terms. The Hamilton County Herald has more on each new board member.

Tennessee lawyers representing the state at the ABA’s Midyear Meeting in New Orleans heard updates on the profession from a variety of ABA leaders at the TBA’s annual delegation breakfast on Sunday. Among those addressing the group were ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross, ABA House of Delegates Chair Gene Vance, ABA President-elect Mary Smith and ABA Executive Director Jack Rives. The delegation, under the leadership of former TBA President John Tarpley, also heard from TBA President Tasha Blakney and took part in a Saturday reception honoring former TBA Executive Director Joycelyn Stevenson. See photos from those events here.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission will consider six applicants for a chancery court vacancy in the 7th Judicial District, which covers Anderson County. They are: James W. “Jamie” Brooks Jr., Karen G. Crutchfield, H. Daniel Forrester, Evan E. Hauser, Roger A. Miller and Jimmy “Jim” Terry Jr. The commission will meet on Feb. 24 to interview candidates beginning at 9 a.m. EST at the Anderson County Courthouse, 100 N. Main Street, Clinton 37716. Any member of the public may attend the hearing to express, orally or in writing, objections to any applicant(s) for the post. The vacancy was created by the Jan. 31 resignation of Judge M. Nichole Cantrell.