The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office Division of Consumer Affairs is warning homeowners about a home warranty scam. Letters received by Tennessee homeowners urge them to purchase a home warranty, claiming the current home warranty “may be expiring or may have already expired.” Each letter contains the same claim, even if the homeowner has never purchased a home warranty. The letter also heavily implies an affiliation with the homeowner’s mortgage company and the “county deed records” office. The people responsible for these letters are in no way affiliated with the homeowner’s mortgage company or the Register of Deeds, the office says. Anyone who has received such a letter can file a complaint here.

Law firm Thompson Burton, with offices in Nashville and Franklin, has launched an estate and wills practice with the addition of Dave Mayer, who joins the firm as a partner. Mayer was an associate at Bass Berry & Sims since 2015 and, before law school, was an accountant at Ernst & Young. His focus is on estate planning, trust instruments and wealth transfers, the Nashville Post reports.

Community Corrections groups across the state are “reeling” after the Tennessee Department of Correction has changed the way it contracts for intensive felony supervision, Tennessee Lookout reports. Michael Walton, president of the Tennessee Community Corrections Association, says the move will force reductions in staff and services Community Corrections programs offer to the courts. Lawmakers last year rejected an attempt by Gov. Bill Lee to eliminate the program. This year, the state’s request for grant proposals changed the services sought to “virtually” eliminate the program, opponents of the change say. Given those changes, some groups, including Madison County Community Corrections and Knox County Community Corrections, opted not to bid on a new contract. Those kinds of decisions could lead to issues with probation services according to some judges, district attorneys and public defenders.

Registered voters in Davidson County may be entitled to a portion of a federal lawsuit settlement over unsolicited robocalls that went out in 2020, Axios Nashville reports. Voters were encouraged in the robocalls to support the recall of Mayor John Cooper and some members of the Metro Council. Unsolicited robocalls to cell phones are illegal in most instances under federal law. A federal judge certified the class of individuals entitled to a part of the $1 million settlement agreement against recall champions Michelle Foreman and Karen Moore. School board member Rachael Anne Elrod was among the citizens who raised the issue and filed the lawsuit. She is represented by Nashville lawyer John Spragens.

The Tennessee Bar Association offices will be closing at 2 p.m. CDT tomorrow and will remain closed on Friday and Monday for the July 4th holiday. The office will reopen at 8 a.m. CDT on Tuesday. Need to reach a staff member? All staff emails and direct lines are posted online.

Lewis Thomason’s Knoxville office has announced the addition of six attorneys to its statewide Health Care Practice Group. “This is exciting for our firm and for the city of Knoxville,” said Rodney Fields, managing shareholder of the Knoxville office and chairman of the firm's Board of Directors. “Health care law is a growing practice in the Knoxville area, so we are pleased for the possibilities in adding these six accomplished and capable attorneys to our team.” Attorneys joining the Knoxville office are Heidi Barcus, Jeff Thompson, Gina Vogel, Hillary Jones, Jason Long and Meagan Davis Collver. Read the press release.

Attorney David Price has been selected as the University of Tennessee College of Law’s new assistant dean for finance, administration and operations. Price will oversee the College of Law business office with overall responsibility for budgeting, human resources and facilities. He replaces Teresa Peterson who retired earlier this year. Price earned his law degree from the Nashville School of Law and has more than 18 years of experience in administration and finance operations with more than 14 of those years in higher education. He was previously the assistant director of the financial information office with the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business. He will assume his new role July 1. Read more from the College of Law.

Judges in Louisiana and Utah have temporarily blocked abortion bans triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, while a Texas judge has also temporarily blocked an abortion ban that was passed before the Roe decision. In Louisiana, two abortion rights groups argued it was unclear which of the state’s trigger laws are in effect and what conduct is banned. A district court judge granted them a temporary restraining order until July 8. In Utah, Planned Parenthood argued the state’s trigger laws violate the state constitution. They were granted a two-week temporary restraining order. Abortion providers in Texas filed suit to block an abortion ban passed before the Roe v. Wade decision. A judge temporarily blocked the law, allowing abortions up to six weeks into pregnancy to continue in the state. The ABA Journal has a breakdown of lawsuits that have been filed.  

Results from a Knoxville Bar Association member survey show strong support for retaining all five of the state's Supreme Court justices and six Eastern Section judges on the Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals. Two judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals for the Eastern Section have announced their retirement and were not included in the poll: Judge Norma McGee Ogle and Judge D. Kelly Thomas Jr. The survey, which was voluntary and not representative of a scientific sampling of KBA members, is available to voters to assist them at the polls. Read all results from the KBA.

Fifteenth Judicial District Public Defender Shelley T. Gardner has been elected president of the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference —a statewide system made up of 400 public defenders from Tennessee’s 31 districts. Gardner will lead an executive committee tasked with assisting public defenders across the state discharge their duties. Gardner was appointed to the 15th District, serving Jackson, Macon, Smith, Trousdale and Wilson counties, in 2018 by then Gov. Bill Haslam and was re-elected in 2020. She has been with the office since 2002, first as an assistant public defender, and has been a member of the district’s Drug Court Team for 20 years. Read more from the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference.