The University of Tennessee Winston College of Law announced in its Fall 2025 newsletter that it will rename the Institute for Professional Leadership in honor of the late Judge Pamela L. Reeves. A 1979 graduate of the law school, Reeves was the first woman to serve as both district judge and chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Prior to joining the bench, she was respected mediator in private practice and served as TBA president from 1998-1999. According to the school, the renaming is being made possible through the generosity of the Larry Wilks Distinguished Practitioner in Residence George “Buck” T. Lewis and his wife Malinda. Lewis is a co-founder of the institute. A dedication ceremony will be held in the spring with support from Reeves’ husband and Knoxville lawyer Charles Swanson. Lewis and Swanson also are former TBA presidents.

The TBA's Year End CLE Event includes a six-hour "Rookie Series" package designed specifically for new lawyers or those looking to expand into new practice areas. Substantive law topics include introductions to personal injury, probate and civil and criminal contempt. Topical sessions look at compassionate lawyering, alternative career paths and combating burnout through mentorship. Check out the specific courses included in this package. Looking for something else? TBA also has six, eight, 10, 12 and 15-hour packages based on specific topics or practice areas, live webcasts and on-demand video all month long. Explore all the Year End options to complete your CLE requirement by Dec. 31.

Sessions from this fall’s 37th Annual Health Law Forum are now available on demand individually or in a 1-Click package, which features 15 hours of content including three hours of ethics credit. This year’s forum offered insights from health law providers, practitioners and regulators, providing the information lawyers need to stay on top of key advancements. Topics include AI in health care and contracting, regulatory fraud and abuse, legality of health equity programs, controlled substances enforcement, the rise of telehealth and compounded weight loss drugs, and the ever-popular legislative update and state case review. Sessions from the Health Law Primer also are available individually or as a 1-Click package. Topics include an introduction to the U.S. health care system, overview of fraud and abuse laws and reimbursement issues, and unique considerations in health care transactions.

An item in Tuesday's TBA Today attributed an Instagram post displaying a constituent's address to Metro Nashville Councilmember Rollin Horton. The post was anonymous and did not come from Horton. The original story has been corrected.

Tennessee state Rep. Greg Martin, R-Hixson is pushing legislation to expand the state’s death penalty law for child rapists, aiming to streamline the process and add clear “aggravating factors” that prosecutors can use when seeking capital punishment. Under current law, rapists of children under 12 may face the death penalty, but no one has yet been sentenced under that statute, in part because of vague definitions of aggravating circumstances, according to Fox 17. Martin’s bill would clarify factors such as abuse of a child under 4, positions of trust, prior convictions, incest, use of drugs or deadly weapons, filming the crime or other especially cruel actions. Advocates support harsher penalties, saying such crimes destroy a child’s spirit, while others, including some survivors and sexual assault experts, say that capital punishment is not always the preferred path, emphasizing lifetime incarceration and the complexities of abuse within families.

Former police officer Larry Bushart has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Perry County and its sheriff, alleging his constitutional rights were violated in retaliation for protected speech. Bushart spent 37 days in jail after sharing a meme following the assassination of political commentator Charlie Kirk. According to WBBJ-TV, Bushart was arrested in September and held on a $2 million bond after Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems claimed the meme amounted to a threat of mass violence, an allegation Bushart and his attorneys, with the assistance of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, dispute. Other lawsuits have also been filed involving state and university employees who say they were terminated for comments related to Kirk.

Baker Donelson announced its expansion across the Carolinas with the opening of a Winston-Salem, North Carolina, office and the addition of 14 attorneys, marking the firm’s fourth new location in the region in four years. Baker Donelson Chair and CEO Timothy M. Lupinacci said that the new attorneys "bring leading practices in securities and corporate law, commercial real estate, construction and commercial litigation, and tax law — establishing a strong foundation for our future growth in this market and the broader region." The firm has offices in Chattanooga, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville and across the Southeast. Read more in a press release.

Nashville’s Gordon Jewish Community Center (GJCC) is suing the Goyim Defense League (GDL) and several of its leaders, citing civil rights violations. According to the Nashville Post, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), along with Nashville attorney Benjamin K. Raybin, filed the complaint on GJCC’s behalf last week. The suit stems from a January incident in which a GDL member dressed in disguise allegedly illegally entered the center’s secured campus with the intent to intimidate the Jewish community. The complaint further claims the group violated a federal civil rights law.

A federal building in the heart of downtown Nashville leads the 2025 edition of the “Nashville Nine” list, the annual roundup of endangered historic properties assembled by the preservation nonprofit Historic Nashville Inc. According to the Tennessean, the Estes Kefauver Federal Building, a former federal courthouse approved this year for divestment, leads the list released Monday which also includes a former Music Row recording studio, two historic elementary schools slated for demolition, the home and studio of artist Alicia Henry, one of the region’s oldest log houses, historic stone walls and posts across the city, and a house believed to be a Trail of Tears witness structure. Historic Nashville President Ellen Dement Hurd said the list serves as the organization’s strongest advocacy tool, helping educate the public and decision-makers about preserving places significant to Nashville’s architectural, cultural and historical identity.

In this episode of BarBuzz, TBA Executive Director Sheree Wright sits down with TBA President Heidi Barcus, the association’s 145th president, for a thoughtful conversation on leadership, service and the legal profession. A Knoxville attorney and shareholder at Lewis Thomason, Barcus reflects on being sworn in at the TBA Annual Convention in Franklin in June, her path from in-house counsel to private practice and how years of involvement with the TBA have shaped her approach to leading the organization. The discussion also highlights her presidential priorities, including boosting member engagement, supporting first-generation lawyers and those who did not pass the bar exam on their first attempt, and promoting professionalism and civility in the practice of law. Listeners can catch past episodes anytime in the BarBuzz archive.