National law firm Polsinelli is adding a real estate element to its existing Nashville office, the Nashville Post reports. The firm recently announced the addition of two real estate attorneys from Maynard Cooper & Gale. Sarah Laird joins the firm as a shareholder and Brittany Macon joins as an associate. Real Estate Chair Amy Kiefer Hansen says the firm has been wanting to add a real estate team to the Nashville office calling it one of the firm’s “most vibrant offices in the Southeast region” and one that offers a “huge potential for further growth.” Both Laird and Macon earned their law degrees from Vanderbilt University Law School.

A group of legal and community advocates in Memphis is requesting a racial equity audit of Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich and her office, The Daily Memphis reports. They made the request today on the heels of the controversial case of Pamela Moses, a Memphis woman sentenced to six years and a day in prison after she was prosecuted by Weirich’s office for voter fraud. Moses has since been granted a new trial.

Ukraine pleaded with the United Nations’ top court Monday to order Russia to halt its devastating invasion, saying Moscow is already committing widespread war crimes and “resorting to tactics reminiscent of medieval siege warfare” in its military onslaught. Russia snubbed the International Court of Justice hearings and its seats in the Great Hall of Justice remained empty, the Associated Press reports.

Vanderbilt Law School will host a short program featuring Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights III of the Delaware Court of Chancery and Chancellor Anne C. Martin of the Chancery Court of Davidson County, Tennessee, on March 15. They will will discuss the national business court movement, best practices for attorneys with business disputes, and substantive issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic as they have impacted business disputes.

Robin Smith was set to appear in a Nashville courtroom this afternoon to plead guilty to a federal charge, The Chattanoogan reports. A criminal indictment against her was unveiled on Monday that charges her with one count of federal wire fraud in connection with a conspiracy involving former House Speaker Glen Casada. She resigned from the Tennessee House of Representatives yesterday. 

A three-judge panel has declined a request by the plaintiffs in a Democratic Party lawsuit to expedite proceedings, The Tennessee Journal reports. The judges said they were not convinced they had the authority to hurry up the case and that “expediting these proceedings as requested would not allow the important constitutional questions to be fully and meaningfully considered and adjudicated on the merits.” The lawsuit claims the state House maps could have been drawn with fewer than 30 split counties and that the Senate plan violated a constitutional requirement for districts to be consecutively numbered in Nashville.

Nashville lawyer David Anthony and his firm Anthony Legal PLLC will donate all revenue generated on March 10 to support Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees. He says he and his children discussed how best to help and decided to support World Central Kitchen, which has mobilized along the border in Poland to provide hot meals and basic necessities to refugees in Poland and, now, are set up at eight border crossings and also in large cities inside Ukraine. Anthony says he hopes other lawyers or law firms will accept the challenge and donate to a charity to help Ukraine. If you do, let him know!

The 20th Edition of the Alimony Bench Book is now available. Published by the TBA’s Family Law Section, the book provides a ready source for dealing with alimony cases in Tennessee. Current Family Law Section members can access their copy at no cost on the Family Law eCommunity page, but must be logged into their TBA account. Others may purchase an electronic copy for $25, a hard copy in loose-leaf format for $40, or a hard copy in a binder for $50 from the TBA Store.

A request from Knoxville group Unmask Knox County Kids to remove the county’s mask mandate has been denied by federal Judge J. Ronnie Greer, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Greer’s order said the families behind the suit had to show "irreparable injury, loss or damage" in a verified complaint or affidavit, which they did not do. The mask rule—which Greer had implemented in the original lawsuit brought by four families of children with disabilities who asked for help protecting their kids from COVID-19—was kept in place. The judge has not addressed the families' request to tie the mask rule to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which show masks are not required indoors in Knox County. He did, however, order the Knox County Board of Education and the four families in the lawsuit to enter mediation. The board and the families have 60 days to meet and file a mediation report.

The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) received 5,561 complaints in 2021, a 37% increase compared to 2020. The top three complaints categories include Home Improvements, Home Repairs and Home Warranties, which received 787 complaints; Landlord/Tenant with 466 complaints; and Health Services & Products with 372 complaints. Rounding out the top 10 were: Personal/Professional Services, Motor Vehicle–Used Sales & Advertising, Debtor/Creditor, Internet Sales, Motor Vehicle–Repairs & Warranties, Timeshare/Vacation Clubs and Imposter Scams. The AG’s Office has more on each category.