TBA member benefit partner Clio has released its 2025 Legal Trends Report. Building on a decade of research, Clio has developed the industry’s most comprehensive dataset on legal practice and emerging trends, providing key insights into how law firms can succeed and grow in an evolving profession. This year’s report also features a first-of-its-kind cognitive study that looks at how technology affects the way lawyers think and work. The report also found that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) drives firm growth while technology adoption continues to predict long-term success. Learn more in a press release from the company or read the full report. Learn more about AI tools for lawyers and the benefits available to TBA members.

Amazon.com has agreed to settle a nationwide consumer lawsuit accusing the ecommerce giant of unfair and deceptive practices for failing to issue refunds or for recharging customers who returned purchases on time. Reuters reports that no details of the settlement have been released yet. The lawsuit, filed in 2023, focused on the company’s “advance refund” policy, by which a customer could receive a refund before the returned product was processed. The plaintiffs said Amazon caused “substantial unjustified monetary losses” for consumers who in some instances properly returned an item but still got charged for it. Amazon denies any wrongdoing, asserting that customers accepted the terms of the return policies, including the possibility they would be recharged for failing to send the product back within the specified window.

The Trump administration has agreed to a student loan forgiveness deal that will allow millions of borrowers to see relief, The Hill reports. The administration reached a deal with the American Federation of Teachers last week that resumes student debt relief, mostly for those who have been paying on their loans for the past 20 to 25 years. Under the deal, the U.S. Education Department will continue to process relief for borrowers in the Income-Contingent Repayment plan and Pay as You Earn plan, until those programs are eliminated in 2028. The deal also reportedly will benefit those on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

A federal court has struck down the Biden administration's attempt to impose gender-identity requirements on health care providers and state Medicaid programs through regulations implementing the Affordable Care Act. According to Tennessee Attorney General (AG) Jonathan Skrmetti, the rules would have forced doctors to perform gender-transition procedures and Tennessee taxpayers to fund them. The court’s judgment, according to Skrmetti, not only eliminates the provisions, but makes it more difficult for future administrations to revive them. The ruling came from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Tennessee and Mississippi were part of a coalition of 15 states to bring suit against the rules. Read more in a press release from the AG’s office.

While the federal judiciary has run out of funding, operations at Nashville’s federal court are not being immediately impacted, The Tennessean reports. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee will continue as scheduled and will accept new cases, though certain proceedings, like immigration ceremonies, will be limited. By contrast, the staffers, clerks and government lawyers, including federal public defenders and prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will not be getting paid for the foreseeable future. The last paycheck for public defenders and court staff came Oct. 17, according to Dumaka Shabazz, federal public defender for the Middle District of Tennessee. Shabazz said that working without pay will have a “devastating” impact on his office’s morale.

A three-judge panel has ruled against the state’s effort to end a longstanding lawsuit challenging the vagueness and inadequacy of exceptions to the state’s the near-total abortion ban, Tennessee Lookout reports. Attorneys for the state had asked for a ruling in their favor, without a trial, in a lawsuit brought in 2023 by a group of doctors and women who had suffered serious medical problems during their pregnancies. The American Medical Association subsequently joined the lawsuit. The state had argued that a 2025 amendment adding “medical necessity exceptions” to the ban made the lawsuit moot. The judges concluded that the lawsuit contained sufficiently serious and credible allegations to move forward. In a separate decision last week, the panel also allowed the plaintiffs to access documents from the governor’s office, General Assembly and Department of Health that reveal the “state’s interest in enforcing the amended abortion ban and medical exceptions.” Attorneys for the state since have filed an emergency motion seeking permission to appeal the ruling regarding access to documents.

The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) recently installed Nashville-area attorney John A. Day as its 76th president. “It is an extraordinary privilege to serve as president of the American College of Trial Lawyers,” said Day. “The College stands at the forefront of supporting an independent judiciary, ensuring access to justice and advancing the rule of law — principles that are essential to our democracy. I look forward to building on the College’s proud legacy of leadership and service to the profession.” In addition to his role as president of ACTL, Day has served as president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association and president of the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a regular contributor to the Tennessee Bar Journal with the Day on Torts column. Read a press release from the ACTL and see photos from the event.

The City of Memphis was not asked to join a pending lawsuit against Gov. Bill Lee seeking to end the National Guard deployment to the city, The Daily Memphian reports. When asked why the city was not asked to join the lawsuit, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said, “That’s not a live issue. That’s not an issue that was discussed.” Activist Tikeila Rucker said the decision to exclude the city reflected Memphis Mayor Paul Young’s strategy of cooperating with state and federal law enforcement agencies participating in the Memphis Safe Task Force. Young has voiced opposition to the Guard’s deployment, and said the decision ultimately rests with the governor. Harris emphasized that the lawsuit focuses solely on the Guard’s presence, and not on the other law enforcement agencies. Harris, City Council member JB Smiley Jr. and several other activists and elected officials filed the suit in Davidson County Chancery Court last week. Chancellor Patricia Moskal denied an immediate restraining order. A hearing on a temporary injunction is scheduled for Nov. 3.

Tennessee school districts are urging lawmakers to include special education pre-kindergarten in the state’s school funding formula, arguing that current gaps force them to pull hundreds of thousands of dollars from K–12 budgets to meet federal requirements. According to Chalkbeat Tennessee, districts such as Germantown and Lakeland say they receive little to no recurring state funding for special education preschool programs, which serve children as young as three years old with disabilities requiring specialized instruction and therapies. Lawmakers, including Rep. Mark White, D-Memphis, have pushed to amend the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act to cover these programs, but legislation has stalled over cost concerns. The Commercial Appeal has a reprint of the article.

Major crime in Memphis is lower than it has been since at least 2019, The Commercial Appeal reports. The data compares the first nine months of 2025 with the same period in previous years and includes Tennessee Bureau of Investigation statistics tracking crime through individual victims. Memphis has seen crime decline year over year since reaching a near-record high in 2023. According to the crime commission’s data, violent crime fell 21.5% and property crime fell 23.4% between 2024 and 2025. Compared with the same period in 2023, violent crime is down 23.1% and property crime is down 38.6%.