The Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation Claims announced today that it will return to in-person settlement approvals on April 4. The court also said that it is reviewing the procedures for settlement approvals, which differ among its eight offices, and will report soon on revised procedures.

Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III is urging all Tennessee residents who may have been affected by a data breach announced by T-Mobile in August 2021 to take appropriate steps to protect their information from identity theft. T-Mobile said at the time that the breach involved the sensitive personal information of 53 million current, former and prospective customers, including 757,354 in Tennessee. Slatery said today that a large subset of the compromised information has now emerged for sale on the dark web. A statement from his office outlines the action individuals can take to protect themselves.

Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III, along with a bipartisan group of attorneys general, is leading a nationwide investigation of the social media platform TikTok to determine whether the company violated state consumer protection laws that put the public, especially children and young adults, at risk. The investigation will look into physical and mental health harms associated with use of the platform and what TikTok knew about those harms, as well as the techniques it used to engaged young users.

A University of Tennessee College of Law team has won the 2022 national Phi Alpha Delta Mock Trial Competition. The team, including first-year student Kyle Mangrum, and second-year students Alex Allen, Grady McGinnity and Tommy Zoccola, excelled in three preliminary rounds before advancing to the finals and winning out over 21 teams.  The annual competition, held in the Washington, D.C. area, draws law students from 28 schools throughout the country and is judged by volunteer lawyers and judges. 

22nd Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Stella Hargrove today announced she will retire in August. A lawyer since 1977, she was the first female prosecuting attorney in the 22nd judicial district, first female circuit court judge in the 22nd judicial district, and first female president of the Maury County Bar Association. “She inspires people, all of us, men and women, in what she’s had to overcome to become a circuit court judge,” said Judge Christopher Sockwell of the 22nd Judicial District Circuit Court. “You have to remember, when she first started in law school and became a lawyer, it was more of a man’s club. There weren’t that many women practicing and in positions of authority, and she not only did well, she thrived and overcame any obstacles that were put in front of her and eventually was elected circuit judge.” Read more from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Tennessee Bar Association has named two attorneys and a law student as the 2022 Public Service Award winners. The annual awards recognize an exceptional commitment to increasing access to justice for underserved individuals and communities. Ann Pruitt is the Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year. Pruitt is being recognized for her tireless, innovative leadership in the ATJ community, including as executive director for the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS). The Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award recognizes a private attorney who has contributed significant amounts of pro bono work and who demonstrates dedication to the development and delivery of legal services to the poor. This year, that award goes to Ashley Goins Alderson, an attorney in the Nashville office of Stites & Harbison, in recognition of her extensive pro bono service in a complicated and extended international child abduction case. The Law Student Volunteer of the Year is Belmont University College of Law 3L Gabriella Cannone, recognized for her commitment to pro bono service including work with the Nashville Defenders and the Administrative Office of the Courts. The honorees are profiled in the March/April issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal.

University of Tennessee College of Law Professor Ben Barton is set to release a new book next week that will provide an in-depth look at the U.S. Supreme Court. “The Credentialed Court: Inside the Cloistered, Elite World of American Justice,” combines empirical studies of every justice’s background from John Jay to Amy Coney Barrett that demonstrate how today’s justices arrive on the court with much narrower experiences than their predecessors. “One thing I learned is that these justices lived very varied and sometimes pretty bizarre lives,” Barton said. “Historically the court has included a former President, a former running back who led the NFL in rushing, America’s greatest civil rights attorney, and a justice who practiced both law and medicine.” The book will be released on March 8. Read more from the College of Law’s website.

Five applicants will be considered by the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments for an upcoming vacancy on the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Middle Section that was created after Judge Richard H. Dinkins announced he would not run for reelection. Ashonti T. Davis, James A. Haltom, Alexander Stuart Rieger, Joycelyn A. Stevenson and Jeffrey Usman have applied for the role. The council will interview all candidates at a virtual hearing on March 18 at 10 a.m. CST. Those interested may watch a livestream of the hearing on the Administrative Office of the Courts' YouTube page or may watch the livestream in person at the office, located at 511 Union St., Nashville City Center, Ste. 600, Nashville 37219. Read more on each applicant from the AOC.

An agreement for Johnson & Johnson and pharmaceutical distributors Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen to pay $26 billion to 52 states and territories for their role in the opioid crises has been finalized. Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced final approval of the deal last week following successful state sign-on and subdivision sign-on periods. The agreement comes after three years of negotiations to resolve more than 4,000 claims from state and local governments across the country. Slatery and North Carolina’s attorney general spearheaded negotiations in the deal, which is the second largest multistate agreement in U.S. history. 150 local governments in Tennessee joined the settlement including every county and all cities with populations of 25,000 or more. The state will now receive $600 million over 18 years. Money will start flowing to state and local governments in the second quarter of 2022. Read more from the AG’s office.

Nashville-based law firms Lewis Thomason PC and Manson Johnson Conner PLLC today announced they have formed a “strategic collaboration,” the Nashville Post reports. According to a press release, the collaboration is “designed to further grow and enhance client services.” Manson Johnson Conner founder, Richard Manson, said the collaboration “would allow both firms exponential growth,” noting the positive impact that Lewis Thomason co-founder Clure Morton had on his life. “Together, our firms are redefining how we make a difference in the legal community,” Manson said. “The spotlight that 2020 placed on various aspects of American culture highlights the fact that equitable action — including diverse voices in business — will allow us to practice law in a new way.”