The TBA will host its 2025 Environmental Law Forum on Dec. 5 in Nashville. The annual program, a staple for Tennessee lawyers and environmental professionals, will run from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CST and include lunch. Attendees can expect timely updates on issues affecting the practice area, with discounted registration available for section members. Stay tuned for more information on the TBA website.

Davidson County lawyer James Broderick Johnson was reinstated to the practice of law on Oct. 22. He had been suspended by the Tennessee Supreme Court on Sept. 19 for three months with 30 days to be served on active suspension and the remainder on probation. The court conditioned reinstatement on completion of an additional six hours of continuing legal education on subjects related to client relations, the management of a law practice and/or Rules of Professional Conduct regarding the board’s disciplinary actions. Johnson filed a petition for reinstatement on Oct. 9. The Board of Professional Responsibility found it to be satisfactory.

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.

Amid an argument over jettisoning Memphis school board members, state Rep. Torrey Harris, D-Memphis, is sponsoring a measure that would allow voters to recall local elected leaders, based largely on discontent with an official. Harris filed HB1448 this week to create a process for the removal of officials such as mayors, county commissioners, school board members and other county officials based on voter discontent with an official. The bill has had mixed reaction. State Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis, said she would not support the bill, saying, “We already have a system for holding elected officials accountable. It’s called an election.” Tennessee Lookout has more on the proposal.

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.

Four nominees for the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) appeared before a U.S. Senate committee last week to answer questions ahead of their possible confirmation, WBIR reports. Arthur Graham, Mitch Graves, Jeff Hagood and Randall Jones went before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Tennessee’s U.S. senators, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, introduced both Graves and Hagood. The nominees were asked about the challenges they might face in providing both reliable and affordable energy, as well as the impacts of data centers popping up around the state. President Donald Trump previously announced the nomination of Nashville car dealer Lee Beaman, but he was not part of the hearing.