The Lawyers' Association for Women (LAW) Marion Griffin Chapter Foundation is now accepting applications for its 2026 grant program. Grants may be awarded in amounts up to $3,500 annually per applicant. Applications should be for programs that further the foundation’s mission. Applications are due by May 5 and should be submitted via email to lawmgcfoundation@gmail.com. Grant recipients will be acknowledged at the 2026 Annual LAW New Admittees’ Breakfast. Please note there are separate application forms for individual and organizational applicants. Learn more about the foundation’s mission and access the application forms online.

The American Bar Association (ABA) must face a conservative group’s lawsuit challenging the legality of its diversity scholarships for law students, Reuters reports. U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall denied the ABA's bid to dismiss a lawsuit filed in April by the American Alliance for Equal Rights. The alliance alleges that the 26-year-old Legal Opportunity Scholarship program discriminates against white applicants. The ABA argued that the group had no grounds to sue. The judge disagreed, finding that the group’s member — a white male who had applied to law school in 2025 and researched applying for the scholarship — had standing. Gottschall did not rule on the ABA’s claim that the program is protected by the First Amendment or that changes made to the program in October made it any more acceptable.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant announced that he joined with Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division to file a brief on behalf of the United States as amicus curiae in support of the state’s appeal in the case challenging Gov. Bill Lee’s deployment of the National Guard in support of the Memphis Safe Task Force. The challenge to the deployment was filed by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and several lawmakers, who raised constitutional and statutory objections to the mobilization. A Davidson County chancellor granted a temporary injunction that is now on appeal. According to a press release, Dunavant and Shumate argued that the federal government has a substantial interest in the case because the injunction interferes with President Donald Trump’s request for the National Guard to support public safety operations in Memphis. The Tennessee Court of Appeals has expedited the case and scheduled oral arguments for March 5 in Nashville. Read the motion to file, the amicus brief and the defendants' opening brief.

A Tennessee man pleaded guilty to hacking the U.S. Supreme Court’s electronic case filing system and other federal platforms, according to The Tennessean. Nicholas Moore of Springfield pleaded guilty to one count of fraud activity in connection with computers, a Class A misdemeanor, after stealing login credentials from three individuals. According to the paper, he accessed the court’s filing system, AmeriCorps’ internal member portal and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical platform. Prosecutors said Moore accessed the systems repeatedly between August and October 2023 and posted screenshots of the compromised information to an Instagram account under the handle “ihackedthegovernment.” Moore faces up to one year in federal prison and a fine of up to $100,000. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 17.

Downtown surveillance cameras will not be purchased with state grant funds following a Tuesday vote from the Nashville Metro Council. According to the Nashville Post, the council voted 20-15, with three abstentions, to not use a portion of a $15 million state public safety grant awarded to the Nashville Downtown Partnership to buy 15 replacement cameras, citing concerns about state overreach, surveillance and potential impacts on marginalized communities. The council did approve using the grant funds for an armored rescue vehicle, a mobile command post and a tactical support post for the Metro Nashville Police Department. The vote followed extensive public comment opposing the cameras and ongoing debate over surveillance technology in the city.

The American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has issued Formal Opinion 520 to address the disclosure of information after representation is withdrawn. The opinion provides guidance for the limited situations when a lawyer is required to respond to requests for information from former clients or successor counsel. Lawyers should respond when the information being requested was acquired during the course of representation, is unavailable from other sources and is important to the client’s interests in the matter in which the lawyer formerly provided representation. Compliance with the request also must be “reasonably practicable.” Rule 1.16(d) does not require a lawyer to take steps to acquire information, research and generate written responses, or provide further legal services to the client in response to a request for information. Read more in a news release from the ABA or from Bloomberg News.

Members of the 2026 TBA Leadership Law (TBALL) class gathered last weekend at Montgomery Bell State Park for an opening retreat. Programming included a TBALL Experiences panel with program alumni Cameron Hoffmeyer, Chris Ingram, Courtney Leyes and Martin Trimiew; a presentation on the history of TBALL and the Wilks Award with John Wilks and John Tarpley; and presentations by TBA President Heidi Barcus, Donna Yurdin with Credo Management Consulting, Nashville School of Law Dean Bill Koch, Deb Varallo with Varallo Public Relations, Brandon Gibson with Gov. Bill Lee's Office, Deputy Mayor & Director of HR for Madison County Terica Smith, and Nashville lawyer Randy Kinnard. The class also completed a leadership activity with Adventure Works and attended a session with PR expert Beth Wilson, which focused on building and maintaining an executive presence through confidence, communication, credibility, connection and composure. TBALL strives to equip participants with the vision, knowledge and skills necessary to serve as leaders. See photos from the event.

Davidson County Chancellor I'Ashea Myles on Friday granted a temporary injunction in a lawsuit seeking greater access and transparency to executions in Tennessee. The Nashville Banner, which is one of the plaintiffs in the suit, reports that Myles ordered the following two changes in the state's lethal injection protocol. First, one hour prior to the entry of witnesses, all members of the execution team will put on PPE suits covering their identification badges and hair. They will also be offered a mask to further conceal their identities if they want. Second, official witnesses shall be moved to the witness room no later than 9:45 a.m., and the curtains to the execution chamber will be opened no later than 10 a.m. and remain open until the pronouncement of death. Myles ordered similar changes to the electrocution protocol. The decision comes after the state executed Byron Black on Aug. 5, 2025, and his lawyers said he had been "tortured." Attorneys for Christa Pike, scheduled to be executed on Sept. 30, also have challenged the protocol. A hearing on the state’s motion to dismiss that suit is set for Feb. 13.

Shelby County District Attorney (DA) Steve Mulroy last week said that Andrew Hayes, who was found guilty of murder in 2010, was wrongfully convicted. The Daily Memphian reports that Hayes was convicted partly because he confessed to the killing, but Mulroy's office now believes that confession to be false. "If the wrong person is behind bars, then the right person is out there somewhere, and we need to hold them accountable," Mulroy said. "This case I believe is a good example of that third reason for having a unit like the Justice Review Unit. Thanks to their work, we are both assisting and righting a wrong against Mr. Hayes but also bringing the right person to justice." The review unit has closed 533 cases, five of which have led to overturned convictions. It has 110 open cases, two of which are awaiting judicial decisions.

President Donald Trump has renominated Nashville businessman Lee Beaman for a seat on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) board after his first nomination stalled in the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in December. Following a hearing in which Senate Democrats “grilled” Beaman over his personal, political and professional ties, the committee postponed a vote on his nomination and the year ended without further action. Beaman, if confirmed, would bring the TVA Board to eight members, leaving just one vacancy. The Senate did approve four other nominations to the board last month, giving the body its first quorum since April 2025. Knox News has more on the story.