Death row inmate Michael Rimmer was scheduled to die May 10 but the execution was stayed after he filed a new petition for post-conviction relief, the Commercial Appeal reports. Rimmer was found guilty and sentenced to death in the 1997 death of his former girlfriend Ricci Lynn Ellsworth. An appeals court upheld the conviction but awarded him a new sentencing trial. A jury again gave him the death penalty in 2004. In 2016, Rimmer’s case went to trial again after a judge concluded his defense counsel was ineffective and the prosecution did not turn over exculpatory evidence. Again, he was convicted and sentenced to death. That decision was upheld by the Court of Criminal Appeals and Tennessee Supreme Court. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the case. The new petition claims that Rimmer's previous legal teams were ineffective and the 2016 trial did not address those issues. It also claims that the 2016 trial violated his constitutional right against double jeopardy.

A new study from Georgetown Law and the Thomson Reuters Institute shows that law firm culture is among the top reasons lawyers stick with their firms. Despite a nationwide rise in salaries, lawyers put compensation behind growth opportunities, positive relationships with co-workers and quality work when asked what would keep them from leaving their firm. According to Reuters, researchers looked at a cross section of more than 160 mid-sized firms and the highest-grossing U.S. law firms. The analysis also included a survey of 900 law firm associates. Compensation barely made the top five reasons, according to the report.

In the most recent episode of the TBA Legislative Updates podcast, TBA Public Policy & Government Affairs Director Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorney and TBA lobbyist Brad Lampley cover the final word on the professional privilege tax. Unfortunately, the state budget, which has now passed the House and Senate, did not include language that would reduce or eliminate the professional privilege tax for attorneys. House and Senate leadership did eliminate the doctors from the list of professions that have to pay this tax as a thank you to the doctors for being on the front lines of the pandemic for the last two years. The TBA will continue the push to eliminate the professional privilege tax and to encourage members to bring up the need to eliminate the tax any time when in contact with members of the legislature. On a positive note, it appears that the extra $3 million the governor allocated to indigent representation stayed in the budget that passed the House and Senate.

The Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) has submitted comments to proposed amendments to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9 and Rule 25, regarding Tennessee’s current annual registration fee. In the comments, the BPR expresses support for an increase in annual attorney registration fees. It also supports raising the Tennessee Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection (TLFCP) attorney cap. Finally, it supports TLFCP’s petition to publicize payments of claims to state judges, the bar and the public. Read the full comment.

Attorneys for the Town of Mason are vowing to continue the legal battle against the Tennessee comptroller over its plans to take over financial control of the city, the Tennessee Lookout reports. Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Anne Martin last week denied the town’s request to issue a preliminary injunction that would put a temporary halt to the state’s financial takeover, noting the comptroller’s “broad authority” over local government operations. Martin also said she has not been presented with enough evidence to rule on Mason’s allegations of racial discrimination. “The Town of Mason plans continuing to litigate this matter until a satisfactory conclusion is reached which preserves the sovereignty of its elected leadership and complies with all laws and regulations regarding its finances,” said Van Turner, an attorney representing Mason. Comptroller Jason Mumpower formally took control of Mason’s finances on April 4.

Matt Wiltshire of the Metro Development and Housing Agency will leave his post on April 29 as he considers a bid for Nashville mayor, the Nashville Post reports. Wiltshire spent 15 years in investment banking before joining then-Mayor Karl Dean’s staff as head of economic and community development in 2011. He continued in the role under mayors Megan Barry and David Briley before joining MDHA as chief strategy and intergovernmental affairs officer in 2019. Wiltshire says he’ll make a final decision in six weeks to two months. Hal Cato, a former executive at nonprofit Thistle Farms, is also considering a run for mayor.

Gov. Bill Lee has issued a temporary reprieve in the execution of Oscar Franklin Smith roughly one hour before he was set to die by lethal injection, the Tennessean reports. “Due to an oversight in preparation for lethal injection, the scheduled execution of Oscar Smith will not move forward tonight. I am granting a temporary reprieve while we address Tennessee Department of Correction protocol," a statement from the governor's office indicated. Further details on what the oversight was were not immediately available. No word on when the reprieve would end. The Tennessee Supreme Court will select his next execution date.

Connie Reguli, a Brentwood attorney and candidate for Williamson County Juvenile Court judge, was yesterday convicted on charges stemming from her involvement in a 2018 case, the Williamson Home Page reports. A Williamson County jury concluded that, in 2018, Reguli transported a woman and the woman’s daughter to her home after learning of a court order to place the daughter in DCS custody and of a TBI endangered child alert that had been issued for the daughter. Reguli’s attorney argued she was trying to best advise the woman, who was her client, and protect the woman’s daughter. Reguli was convicted of facilitating custodial interference and two counts of accessory after the fact. She will be sentenced on June 24.

The Justice Department has appealed a federal judge’s ruling that recently ended mask mandates on public transit, CBS News reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the mandate “remains necessary for the public health,” and asked the Justice Department to appeal U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s ruling. Mizelle on Monday voided the CDC’s requirement of masks on airplanes and other public transit, ruling that the mandate exceeded the authority of U.S. health officials.

The Legal Aid Society this week announced that Nashville lawyers Frank Garrison and Leigh Walton will serve as co-chairs for its 2022 Campaign for Equal Justice. Garrison will oversee fundraising in the community, while Walton will lead efforts aimed at law firms and attorneys. Walton, a member at Bass, Berry & Sims, has more than 40 years of practice in the areas of corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions and securities offerings. Garrison has more than 40 years of management and legal experience in both private and public companies in the financial and business service sectors. He presently serves as a Director of M3-Brigade Acquisition Corp II. The goal for this year’s campaign is $1 million according to LAS Director DarKenya W. Waller.