California-based nonprofit Public.Resource.Org has recently put Tennessee’s official jury instructions online and made them available to the public at no cost. The project is part of a long-standing campaign to make the law and legal materials issued in the name of the state more accessible to the bar and to citizens. Representing Public Resource on this matter is the Harvard Law School cyberlaw legal clinic, which recently sent letters to officials in nine states, including Tennessee, informing them of the public availability of these materials. The Tennessee materials may be accessed here on the Internet Archive. The full collection presently contains jury instructions from 20 states.

TBA Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorney and TBA lobbyist Brad Lampley are back for a third season of the TBA’s Legislative Updates show. Each week of the Tennessee General Assembly’s session, Schwarz and Lampley will give viewers a breakdown of TBA-sponsored measures or bills the association is watching. Joining the show this season is Adams and Reese attorney, Ashley Harbin, who is assisting in the TBA’s lobbying efforts. Legislative Updates airs every Thursday on the TBA’s Facebook page. It is also released as a podcast on the same day and can be found on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts.  

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday appointed five individuals to two of its commissions. First, it appointed Court of Appeals Judge Carma McGee to the Advisory Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure effective today. She replaces Court of Appeals Judge Steven Stafford. The court also appointed four new members to the Access to Justice Commission. They are: Sara E. Barnett with Spragins, Barnett & Cobb in Jackson; Lindsay Frilling with the Obion County Joint Economic Development Corporation in Union City; Adolpho A. Birch III, chief legal officer for the Tennessee Titans in Nashville; and Kendra Mansur with the Tennessee Valley Authority in Chattanooga. They replace J. William “Bill” Coley, Mary Jo Middlebrooks and Beverly Watts, who are not eligible for reappointment, and Sean Hunt who died. The new members will take their seats April 1. Read more about the appointees.

Lonnie T. Brown Jr., a law professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, has been named dean of the University of Tennessee College of Law and the Elvin E. Overton Distinguished Professor of Law, the school announced today. He will begin July 1. Brown currently serves as the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor and A. Gus Cleveland Distinguished Chair of Legal Ethics and Professionalism at Georgia. He previously served as an associate dean for academic affairs at the law school and an administrative fellow in the office of the senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. He joined the Georgia School of Law in 2002 after serving as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois College of Law and a visiting assistant professor at Vanderbilt University Law School in 1998. He was with Alston & Bird in Atlanta from 1991 to 1999. Brown received a bachelor’s degree in English from Emory University in 1986 and a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1989. He will replace Doug Blaze who has been serving as interim dean since July 2020.

Davidson County Chancellor Anne C. Martin, who oversees cases before the Business Court Docket Pilot Project, has recently brought back a wealth of knowledge from conferences and interactions with the American College of Business Court Judges, the Administrative Office of the Courts reports. The college is a group of judges overseeing complex business cases who meet regularly to share experiences and case trends. Martin recently attended meetings of the group focused on some of the key legal issues facing business courts, including business insurance coverage, intellectual property matters filed in state courts, and entertainment related contract disputes. She also says she has learned from fellow judges about how other courts are docketing cases and moving them through the system. The Davidson County Business Court was created in 2015 by the Tennessee Supreme Court to streamline business law cases.

Former Davidson County presiding night court Magistrate John Manson has joined law firm Lewis Thomason as special counsel, the Nashville Post reports. He will handle criminal law, domestic relations, estate planning and probate matters at the firm. Manson previously served as an environmental court referee, judicial commissioner for the General Sessions Court and special master and law clerk to the 20th Judicial District Circuit. Last month, Manson launched a judicial campaign for that court. The seat is currently held by retiring Judge Randy Kennedy. Also running is Metro Councilmember Larry Hagar and Gullett Sanford Robinson & Martin probate and estate attorney Andra Hedrick.

New York-based employment law firm Jackson Lewis PC has opened a Nashville office, its second in the state behind an existing office in Memphis. The new office will be led by managing principal Stephen Price, a former managing partner at Burr & Forman. Also joining the office is litigation manager Jennifer Rusie, who previously worked at Ogletree Deakins, and Leslie Sanders and Daniel Crowell, who join the firm from Webb Sanders PLLC. The new office is located at 611 Commerce St., Ste. 3102, Nashville, TN 37203.

Rutherford County Juvenile Court Judge Donna Scott Davenport will retire at the end of her term in September, WPLN reports. Davenport, who has served in the position since it was created in 2000, said she would “always look back at my time as judge as one of the greatest honors of my life.” Davenport has been the subject of an ongoing investigation by WPLN News and ProPublica over the arresting and jailing of more than a thousand children, and legislation had been introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly to have her removed from office. That effort was dropped today after Davenport announced her retirement, WPLN reports. Last month, the county settled a class-action lawsuit over these practices. Several lawyers have plans to run for the post, including Andrae Crismon and Jacob Flatt.

President Joe Biden on Friday approved a Major Disaster Declaration for the state of Tennessee after parts of the state were damaged by straight-line winds and tornadoes on Dec. 10-11. The declaration makes federal funding available for Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Gibson, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Obion, Stewart, Sumner, Weakley and Wilson counties. Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster. Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide. The White House has more on how residents and business owners can apply for assistance.  

The TBA’s BarBuzz podcast is back with the first episode of 2022! Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law Professor Akram Faizer co-hosts the January episode, bringing listeners the biggest news from the Tennessee legal community and the latest updates on bar association events and programs. You can listen to BarBuzz on the TBA’s website or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Like what you hear? Be sure to like and subscribe to all shows from the TBA Podcast Network.