The 2025 Southeast Complex Litigation Conference will be held Oct. 29 at the Tennessee Bankers Association in Nashville, offering updates on mass torts, class actions and whistleblower cases. National litigators will discuss emerging litigation involving medical devices, pharmaceutical drugs and consumer products, as well as best practices for identifying, prosecuting and defending complex cases. Session topics include class actions and multidistrict litigation basics, whistleblower claims under the False Claims Act and key trends in aggregate litigation. Speakers include Mark Chalos of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein and Tricia Herzfeld of Herzfeld, Suetholz, Gastel, Leniski & Wall, with additional speakers and content to be announced in the coming weeks. For more details, to register and to stay updated, visit the TBA website.

Federal courts across the country are preparing to furlough some staff and curb operations on Monday amid the ongoing government shutdown. Furlough notices will be handed out on Oct. 20 “and orderly shutdown activities will commence,” Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Director Robert Conrad said in a Thursday memo obtained by Bloomberg Law. Conrad said the judiciary “will have no funding to incur obligations or make payments for most activities” now that additional funds have run out. The U.S. Supreme Court says it will run out of money tomorrow, which means the court building will be closed to the public until further notice. It will remain open for official business, according to The Hill. In related news, thousands of lawyers who represent indigent defendants already have been working for over three months without pay. The judiciary expected to pay lawyers on the Criminal Justice Act panel once it received funds for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, but then the shutdown hit. Bloomberg has more on that story.

Mayor Lee Harris has declared a state of emergency in Shelby County, citing a strain on local resources caused by the increase in federal and state law enforcement deployed to Memphis by Gov. Bill Lee and President Donald Trump, according to the Tennessee Lookout. It notes pressures on the county’s overcrowded detention centers as a result of an estimated 200% increase in daily arrests made by members of the Memphis Safe Task Force. The emergency declaration loosens spending rules to respond to an increase in arrests, detentions and other costs incurred by law enforcement. The local state of emergency will continue “until the end of Memphis Safe Task Force operations or until detention facility populations are reduced to capacity level or below,” the declaration states. In related news, a group of state and local leaders reportedly have sued the state over deployment of the National Guard to Memphis. The group, which includes Harris, are seeking a preliminary injunction to block their involvement, the Daily Memphian reports.

Beginning Nov. 3, the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) will transition from physical mail to scanned, digitized personal mail for inmates at all department facilities. Mail from family and friends will be sent to an off-site facility, where it will be processed, scanned and delivered in digital format to inmates via their department-issued tablets. The new process aims to reduce contraband and increase security while providing faster, more reliable mail delivery to inmates, the Tennessee Tribune reports. Privileged mail from attorneys, court clerks, legal aid clinics, government officials or agencies will not be affected and will continue to be sent directly to the facility where the inmate is housed. Privileged mail sent to the scanning facility will be forwarded, and outgoing inmate mail will not be affected. TDOC implemented a pilot program of the new system in June at three facilities.

A Senate committee with jurisdiction over the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has scheduled a hearing on Oct. 22 to consider President Donald Trump’s nominations to the TVA Board, Knox News reports. The board of the nation’s largest public utility has been unable to conduct regular business for more than six months. The hearing will consider four of the five nominees: Arthur Graham, Mitch Graves, Jeff Hagood and Randall Jones. A fifth nominee, Lee Beaman, was not included in a Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works news release announcing the hearing. A favorable report from the committee would set the stage for a full Senate vote.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and the Harwood Center Inc. will host a parent education session Nov. 6 from 6 to 7 p.m. CST for parents of children with disabilities. The session will cover kindergarten readiness, parental rights and available services to help families prepare their children for school. Register online and view the flyer for more information.

The Nashville Arts and Business Council will host a Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts pro bono legal clinic on Nov. 5 from 6-8 p.m. CDT at the Country Music Association, 35 Music Square E. #201, Nashville 37203. The clinic will provide pro bono legal services to income-qualified artists, emerging arts nonprofit organizations, and creative businesses in drafting and reviewing contracts, protecting work with copyright and trademark and resolving arts-related disputes. Register here by Oct. 31 to participate. Attorneys interested in volunteering should contact vlpa@abcnashville.org.

The Knoxville Bar Association and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, in partnership with Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET), will hold a Debt Relief Clinic on Nov. 15 to provide pro bono legal services to income-eligible consumer debtors. The clinic will begin at 9 a.m. EDT at the Knox County Public Defender's Community Law Office, 1101 Liberty St., Knoxville 37919. Judge Suzanne Bauknight will present a short overview of the bankruptcy system and then volunteer lawyers will conduct initial meetings with the clients to discuss their situations and options. Those interested in helping should register online. Clients seeking advice should call 865-637-0484.

Five people have been nominated to fill the vacancy on the Davidson County General Sessions Court left by Judge Jim Todd, who recently was appointed to a seat on the Davidson County Criminal Court to replace Cheryl Blackburn. The nominees are: defense attorney Jodie Bell, former state lawyer Mark Andrew Cole Sr., Leroy Ellis, Davidson County District Attorney General Office attorney David Jones, and lawyer C. Michael Robinson. They now have three days to file their completed questionnaire with the metro clerk. Candidates will appear before the Metro Council’s Rules, Confirmations and Public Elections Committee on Nov. 14. The full Metro Council will vote on the appointment on Nov. 18. Read more about them from the Nashville Banner.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared ready to strike down a 2024 congressional map in Louisiana that a group of voters has challenged as the product of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering, Reuters reports. During nearly two-and-a-half hours of oral arguments, the court’s conservative justices signaled they are likely to limit Section 2, which bars voting maps that would result in diluting the clout of minorities, even without direct proof of racist intent.