U.S. law firms saw an 11.5% increase in profits in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared with the previous year, reaching near-record highs, according to Reuters. The report found that while law firm services grew more than 3% in the quarter, demand slowed, lawyer productivity declined by 0.4% and both direct and overhead expenses increased due to year-end bonuses and significant technology investments. The Thomson Reuters Institute, which tracks financial metrics from 195 large and mid-sized law firms, suggested firms may face more challenges in 2025 as transactional growth may not offset declining demand in counter-cyclical and other practices.

The most recent installment of TBA's Indigent Representation Primer is now available. The post provides an overview of national organizations and agencies that provide support and advocacy for lawyers working in the criminal justice system, with a focus on resources for those who represent low-income or vulnerable clients facing criminal charges. These organizations provide education and training, research, best practices, advocacy and other resources to help these professionals effectively advocate for their clients. Read past primer posts.

Estate planning and trust expert Al Secor will provide a legislative update at this month’s TBA Estate Planning & Probate Forum. He will report on 2024 legislative actions of the Tennessee Legislature and the U.S. Congress, proposed 2025 Tennessee Legislative actions and other interest items. Secor has over 50 years of practicing law and authored "Tennessee Probate," a guide for lawyers and legal assistants in the administering of probate estates and Tennessee. Other topics at the forum include community property trusts, AI developments, a probate panel, ethics and much more. Learn more and register here.

EP Wealth Advisors recently announced the acquisition of Nashville-based wealth management firm Criterion Capital Advisors. The acquisition adds over $500 million in assets to the $31 billion currently under management by EP Wealth. Criterion was led by co-founder Allan Horner, along with partners Mark Pierce and Scott Freeman, who will manage the Nashville office. EP Wealth is a fee-only registered investment adviser and financial planning firm with more than 45 offices across 16 states.

The TBA will present a live webcast focusing on professional transitions in the new year on Feb. 21. Whether you are seeking a new position, stepping into a leadership role or considering new practice areas, “New Year, New Career” will feature tips on a successful transitions from experienced legal professionals. Participants include Chattanooga lawyer Ariel Anthony with Unum Law Department, Nashville lawyer Jaz Boon with Bridgestone Americas Inc., LMU Duncan School of Law Professor Mohamed Faizer and Nashville lawyer Kathleen Stranch with Stranch, Jennings & Garvey. One hour of dual CLE credit is available. The webcast is being presented by the TBA Diversity Committee.

TBA Estate Planning & Probate Section member Barbara McGinnis joined News Channel 5 Nashville's Bill Hall for a discussion on common estate planning mistakes. In the interview she provides insight on wills, trusts and monetary disbursement. McGinnis is an attorney and partner at Johnson McGinnis Elder Care Law & Estate Planning in Hendersonville, and an executive council delegate of the TBA Elder Law Section. View the discussion here.

TBA member and Tennessee licensed-attorney Thomas West is suing the state of Tennessee over the professional privilege tax. West, who resides in Kansas, argues that the tax should be declared unconstitutional facially, or at least a violation of the Interstate Commerce Clause when applied to attorneys living outside the state. The tax, a flat $400, applies the same to attorneys regardless of where they live. But, he argues, attorneys outside the state will not have nearly as much Tennessee business and therefore the authorization to practice law in the state is not as valuable. He cites Amer. Trucking Assns. v. Scheiner, 483 U.S. 266, 296 (1987), in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that “… imposition of the flat taxes for a privilege that is several times more valuable to a local business than to its out-of-state competitors is unquestionably discriminatory, and thus offends the Commerce Clause … If each State imposed flat taxes for the privilege of making commercial entrances into its territory, there is no conceivable doubt that commerce among the States would be deterred.” West filed his suit with a three-judge panel constituted to hear challenges to state laws. That panel ruled on Feb. 4 that the tax is constitutional. Read the decision. He now has appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals and filed a motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court, asking it to assume jurisdiction.

MATHIS, Circuit Judge. A jury convicted Quincy Taylor of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. On appeal, Taylor challenges the district court’s limitation of his cross-examination of one of the government’s witnesses under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. Taylor also argues that the district court violated his due- process and jury-trial rights by not requiring the jury to find that Taylor committed certain prior offenses on different occasions for purposes of determining whether the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”) should have applied to him. Because the court’s cross-examination limitations violated Taylor’s constitutional right to confrontation and were not harmless, we reverse Taylor’s convictions and remand for a new trial.

BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judge. After the Social Security Administration denied her application for disability insurance benefits, Edna Napier challenged that decision in district court. She argued that the administrative law judge (ALJ) erred in denying her benefits by finding that her mental impairments were mild, rather than severe, and by failing to account for those mental impairments in assessing her residual functional capacity. The district court affirmed. Because the ALJ complied with the applicable procedures and his findings were supported by substantial evidence, we affirm.

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. In March 2020, Andrew Cooperrider expressed on social media his dissatisfaction with Kentucky Governor Andrew Beshear’s actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cooperrider, the owner of Brewed, a coffee shop and bar in Lexington, took specific offense to Governor Beshear’s executive orders requiring masks indoors and prohibiting indoor dining and drinking. Then, in November 2020, the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (“DABC”) suspended Brewed’s alcohol license. Upon DABC’s official revocation of Brewed’s license in March 2022, Cooperrider filed suit against the Governor, the DABC commissioner, and a number of other executive-branch officials alleging First Amendment and due-process violations. According to Cooperrider, his social media postings and the license-revocation action were connected: the Governor and DABC had allegedly revoked Brewed’s alcohol license in retaliation for Cooperrider’s protected speech criticizing Beshear and his COVID-19 policies. All defendants responded to the suit by moving to dismiss. The district court granted those motions and dismissed the case. Cooperrider and Brewed now appeal. We hold that the district court correctly determined that the vast majority of Cooperrider’s claims are barred by the doctrines of absolute, qualified, and sovereign immunity, and that it correctly determined that Cooperrider’s remaining substantive-due-process claim fails the Rule 12(b)(6) pleading standard. So we AFFIRM IN PART the dismissals. But because we hold that the district court improperly granted qualified immunity to Appellees Beshear, Perry, and Duke as to Cooperrider’s First Amendment retaliation claim, we REVERSE IN PART and REMAND for further proceedings.