Effective Jan. 1, 2023, there will be a new county court for Lafayette County, Mississippi. The county has created the court now that it has exceeded 50,000 in population in the most recent national census. The judge for the new court will be Tiffany Kilpatrick. Offices will be located on the third floor of the Lafayette County Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Drive, Ste. 101, Oxford, MS 38655. The court can be reached at 662-234-4954 or by fax at 662-232-2883. All filing fees are the same as the circuit court and filings will remain at the same location, the main floor of the courthouse. Read more about the court in the attached FAQ from the county.

The Nashville law firm of Tune Entrekin & White is honoring local artist Phil Ponder with a display of his artwork in the firm’s new Capitol View office. Ponder uses watercolors and his own mathematical technique to create detail-oriented work that often represents buildings down to the exact number of bricks. A Navy veteran and former Nashville Metro councilman, Ponder did not begin painting until "retirement" — yet still has more than 700 works to his name. Tom White, the firm's managing partner, said that “Phil Ponder is a Nashville Icon and we were pleased to recognize him with this event.” Ponder was on hand for the unveiling and to sign copies of his book “Phil Ponder.”

The very first arguments for the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board took place at Belmont University College of Law in Nashville in 2016. The court announced today that it will return there on Jan. 27, 2023, for another set of arguments. The proceedings will begin at 9 a.m. CST. The docket is available here. The court will hear four cases: Acevedo v. Crown Paving, Earheart v. Central Transport, Stone v. Lowe’s Home Centers and Mitchell v. AECOM, d/b/a Shimmick Construction. Read more about the cases in a blog post from the court.

This year’s crop of new law students is the most diverse on record by a significant margin, new data from the American Bar Association shows. Reuters reports on the finding that the percentage of first-year law students who are racial or ethnic minorities jumped nearly 2% this year.

The TBA will close at noon CST tomorrow and remain closed through Monday in observance of the Christmas holiday. The office will reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m. There will be no issues of TBA Today published on Friday or Monday. Online CLE programming will remain available throughout the holidays. Don't miss our many Year End CLE programs!

According to Gov. Bill Lee, federal officials are planning to send “multiple busloads” of ICE detainees from New Orleans to Tennessee, the Tennessean reports. In a release, Lee says he was informed yesterday of the plan to transport “single adult detainees from ICE facilities” to the state as early as this week. He and other state officials, including Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, denounced the plan today and called on the Biden Administration for its reversal. “The Attorney General’s Office joins Governor Lee and our federal delegation in demanding the administration abandon their plan to release detainees into our state,” Skrmetti said in a statement. 

Federal prosecutors have brought new charges against two Tennessee men, one of whom has already been charged in the Jan. 6 attach on the U.S. Capitol, WPLN reports. Edward Kelley of Maryville and Austin Carter of Knoxville face new charges that include conspiracy, retaliation against a federal official, and solicitation to commit violence. According to recently unsealed court documents, the men were recorded on phone calls discussing a list of 37 federal agents to target and how many guns they would have to attack the FBI field office in Knoxville. Kelley was previously charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection and had his home searched by the FBI. Records say at least one agent present during the search was later identified as a target. The men are due back in court in January.

The TBA today announced the selection of 33 attorneys from across the state for its 2023 Leadership Law (TBALL) program. Now in its 20th year, Leadership Law is designed to equip Tennessee lawyers with the vision, knowledge and skills necessary to serve as leaders in their profession and local communities. The class will meet for its first session in January at Montgomery Bell State Park and spend the next six months learning about leadership in the legal profession, issues in the courts, policymaking in state government and the importance of community service. Read more on the 2023 class.  

A Tennessee judge on Friday promised to rule quickly on a request for public access to records that detail the treatment of a death row prisoner who injured himself while on suicide watch last fall. In a lawsuit filed in Davidson County Chancery Court, inmate Henry Hodges accused the state of providing inadequate medical and mental health care and of cruel and unusual punishment once he returned to the prison from the hospital. The state has asked for a court order that would protect broad categories of documents from public disclosure, including all video recordings of Hodges’ treatment while in prison. The Associated Press and the Nashville Banner are asking for those records to be opened. Former TBA Communication Section Chair Paul McAdoo, an attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, is representing the AP.

The Memphis Bar Association (MBA) held its Annual Meeting last week at the Memphis Botanic Garden. During the meeting, outgoing president Tannera Gibson passed the gavel to incoming president Jennifer Sink, chief legal officer for the city of Memphis. Adam Johnson took over as vice president while Lauran Stimac took office as secretary and treasurer. In addition, the evening featured the presentation of three awards. Terrence Reed received the Judge Jerome Turner Lawyer’s Lawyer Award. Amber Floyd received the Sam A. Myar Jr. Memorial Award and the W.J. Michael Cody Access to Justice Award. Read more about the recipients in releases from the MBA.