The TBA will remain closed on Jan. 27 due to inclement weather. The office will reopen Wednesday at 8 a.m. CST. Visit the TBA.org website for information on CLE or other TBA programs and for staff contact information.

The TBA will be closed Jan. 26 due to inclement weather. The office will reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m. CST. Visit the TBA.org website for information on CLE or other TBA programs and for staff contact information.

The Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA) held its 128th annual meeting Jan. 22 at The Westin Chattanooga, bringing together members of the legal community to recognize leadership, service and professional excellence, and to elect its 2026 board of directors. According to Chattanoogan.com, members elected Keith Grant as president, Katherine Higgason Lentz as president-elect, Everett L. “Bo” Hixson Jr. as secretary and Robin Miller as treasurer. Six additional board members also were elected. The association also presented a series of awards honoring outstanding contributions to the profession and the community, including the Jac Chambliss Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to William G. “Bill” Colvin, the Ralph H. Kelley Humanitarian Award, which was presented to Steve Jacoway, and the Harry Weill Zealous Practice of Law Award, which was presented to John Harrison.

A court-appointed mediator signed off on the first phase of an improvement plan for Tennessee's version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), WPLN reports. A lawsuit filed last year alleged that the state was wrongly denying or cancelling benefits. Last week, the mediator approved the first phase of a remediation plan aimed at addressing systemic problems in the program, which serves about 700,000 Tennesseans and is administered by the state Department of Human Services (DHS). Early steps include providing tracking information for replacement benefit cards and revising rejection notices to clearly explain why benefits are denied or terminated. DHS says making that change on the web portal is going to take several months of tech work.

Almost two years after a federal law effectively mandated a nationwide ban on TikTok, the company has announced the formation of a new U.S.-based entity to comply with the statute. TikTok has confirmed that a joint venture made up primarily of U.S.-based investors has been formed to take over the app’s operations for American users, CBS News reports. Three firms will serve as managing investors and collectively own 45% of the company, while eight additional investors will hold 35% and original owner ByteDance will retain a 19.9% stake, just below the 20% ownership cap allowed under the law. Both the United States and China approved the deal, under which U.S. operators will retrain, test and update the app's content recommendation algorithm using data from American users. The Trump administration delayed implementation of the law several times to give the parties more time to negotiate a resolution.

Gov. Bill Lee issued a state of emergency Thursday for all 95 Tennessee counties ahead of a major winter storm forecasted to bring snow, ice, freezing rain and freezing temperatures across the state beginning as early as this evening. The order allows state agencies to mobilize resources. A winter storm watch is in effect through Sunday and dangerously cold temperatures are expected into next week. State officials said the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency is coordinating preparedness efforts, the Department of Transportation is pretreating roads, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol and National Guard are preparing to assist motorists, support emergency response and open warming centers. Residents are urged to limit travel, monitor official updates and prepare for potential power outages and hazardous conditions.

Two former Soddy-Daisy police officers who claimed they were wrongfully terminated for speaking out about another officer's behavior will get $830,000, evenly split, in a settlement of their federal lawsuit against the city, the Times Free Press reports. According to the officers, they were fired after exposing another officer's alleged dishonesty by revealing the officer had lied in a previous internal affairs investigation. Their attorneys claimed the terminations were retaliation for their clients’ truthful actions, a violation of their freedom of speech.

A federal judge has rejected the U.S. government's request to limit public access to court records from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid and arrest in the Knox County community of Hardin Valley. The government had argued that release of the records would endanger ICE agents, Knox News reports. U.S. District Court Judge Clifton Corker said he saw no evidence that agents would be put at risk by making the records accessible online, but allowed the government to redact information as needed. The case involves Diego Hernandez Garcia, a 24-year-old Maryville man, who has been detained since his Dec. 11 arrest.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has announced three judicial appointments, including the selection of Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Kyle Hixson for the Tennessee Supreme Court. Hixson will replace Justice Holly Kirby, who will retire at the end of June. Lee also named 26th Judicial District Chancellor Steve Maroney to the Western Section of the Tennessee Court of Appeals. He fills a vacancy that will be created when Judge Kenny Armstrong retires in February. Finally, Lee appointed Knoxville lawyer Rachel Hurt to the Eastern Section of the Tennessee Court of Appeals. A partner at Arnett, Baker, Draper, and Hagood and current president of the Knoxville Bar Association, Hurt will fill a vacancy created by the Jan. 12 retirement of Chief Judge D. Michael Swiney. In announcing the three, Lee said, “I am proud to announce the appointment of these highly qualified individuals and value the significant experience they will bring to their respective roles. I appreciate their leadership and am confident they will serve Tennesseans with integrity.” Read more about the appointees from the governor's office or the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board will hear in-person oral arguments in four cases on Feb. 12 in Knoxville at 9 a.m. EST. Cases to be considered include Gandy v. Marten Transport Ltd., Russell v. Benchmark Contractors LLC, Forrest v. Concrete Structures Inc. and Hernandez v. Wal-Mart Associates. Read more about the cases in the court’s blog.