Workers’ Compensation Judge Deana Seymour will retire effective Sept. 1, the Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims announced yesterday. The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is seeking interested attorneys to apply for the position in Memphis. The successful candidate will complete Seymour’s term, which expires June 30, 2026, and then will be eligible for two additional full terms. Interested applicants should complete this questionnaire and email it to Marie Halpin by Aug. 1. For more information, contact bureau administrator Abbie Hudgens.

Kristi W. Arth, assistant professor of law and the director of field placements at Belmont University College of Law, has been named a “Top 40 Young Lawyer” by the American Bar Association. The “On The Rise” program recognizes ABA young lawyer members who exemplify a broad range of high achievement, innovation, vision, leadership, and legal and community service. Arth runs a Legal Fiction Workshop for Belmont Law students that produced the 2021 winner of the ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest. She also serves on an ABA group that vets nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court. Before joining Belmont, she was a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings. Read more about her background or see the full list of honorees.

The New York Times recently ran an article on the 50th anniversary of Title IX – legislation signed by former President Richard Nixon in 1972 that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools or education programs that receive federal funding. Featured in the article is Cookeville attorney Sam Schiller of the Schiller Law Firm, whose practice is dedicated to cases involving sex discrimination of high school or middle school athletes. According to the article, Schiller has filed Title IX lawsuits against school districts in more than 30 states and has never lost a case. “We’re now at the point where women who were high school athletes are raising families, and they definitely know their daughters are supposed to have what the men have had all along. It’s Title IX 2.0,” Schiller told the Times. Read the full article.

The Nashville Business Journal has announced Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle as its Lifetime Achievement honoree for 2022. According to NBJ, Lyle was a partner at local law firm Trabue, Sturdivant & Dewitt from 1984 until 1995 and has served Davidson County as a judge for more than 20 years. The publication also announced its 2022 Best of the Bar list. Read more on Lyle’s award and the full Best of the Bar list from the Nashville Business Journal.  

The Tennessee Supreme Court will begin accepting applications for the position of State Attorney General and Reporter on Friday. Interested candidates must submit an application by noon CDT on July 29. The Supreme Court will interview all candidates at public hearings on Aug. 8 and 9 at the Nashville Supreme Court Building. The hearings will be livestreamed on the TN Courts YouTube page. Per Tennessee’s constitution, the attorney general is appointed by the Supreme Court and serves an eight-year term. The new attorney general will begin their term on Sept. 1. Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced in May he would not seek a second term.

Three attorneys have applied for a vacancy on the 11th Judicial District Criminal Court, which covers Hamilton County. Robert Davis, Amanda B. Dunn and Alexander K. McVeagh will be interviewed by the Trial Court Vacancy Commission during a public hearing on Aug. 5 at 9 a.m. EDT. The commission will vote immediately after the interviews and forward the names of qualified candidates to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on each candidate. 

Eighth Judicial District Judge E. Shayne Sexton has left the bench after more than two decades of service. Speaking with the Administrative Office of the Courts, Sexton says he feels good about his years of service to Campbell, Claiborne, Fentress, Scott and Union counties. “We made a difference,” Sexton said, noting his work on the creation of the district’s recovery court. He spent nine years as assistant district attorney general in the 8th district and one year in private practice before being elected to the bench in 1998. Although his official retirement date was June 30, Sexton will continue his judicial duties through the end of August.

The Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association recently elected Nashville attorney Mark Chalos as president for the 2022-2023 term. He replaces Tony Seaton of Johnson City, who now assumes the role of immediate past president. Carey Acerra of Memphis has advanced to the office of president-elect. Chalos is managing partner of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein’s Nashville office and handles complex civil litigation, including representing communities across America in the national opioids litigation. Other executive officers taking office are Vice President (East) Danny Ellis of Chattanooga, Vice President (West) Angela Polk of Memphis, Vice President (Middle) Brandon Bass of Brentwood, Secretary Troy Jones of Knoxville, Treasurer Caroline Taylor of Nashville and Parliamentarian George Spanos of Nashville. See a release from the group for all leaders including at-large executive appointees, young lawyers and district governors on the board.

The White House held a ceremony today to celebrate the passage of new gun safety legislation, which makes it harder for young people and domestic abusers to possess firearms, encourages states to pass so called “red-flag laws” and provides billions of dollars in mental health funding. Though he lauded the rare bipartisan agreement, President Joe Biden said more needs to be done, Bloomberg News reports. Specifically, the president called on Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, expand background checks, and enact laws making gun owners liable for not securing their firearms.

The legal services sector added 3,000 jobs in June, according to seasonally adjusted, preliminary figures released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The ABA Journal reports that the increase brings the total legal employment in June to 1.2 million jobs — up 92,300 over the pandemic’s lowest mark of 1.1 million jobs in April 2020. The June 2022 gain follows gains of 3,300 in May and 4,400 in April.