Davidson County lawyer John Benneth Iwu received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court on Oct. 7. The court found that Iwu agreed to the setting of a criminal court hearing on a particular date and then failed to attend the hearing. He also failed to advise his client of the date, which led to his client failing to attend the hearing. Iwu agreed to a conditional guilty plea acknowledging that his conduct violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.4, 3.2, 3.4(c) and 8.4.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Oct. 7 suspended Knox County lawyer Loring Edwin Justice for one year. The court found that while he was representing a client in a workers’ compensation matter, Justice failed to communicate reasonably with his client and failed to act diligently to provide the legal services for which he was retained. His actions were determined to violate Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3 and 1.4.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated Davidson County lawyer Robert Redman Laser III to the practice of law on Oct. 7. He had been temporarily suspended on Nov. 1, 2023, for failing to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility concerning a complaint of misconduct. On Sept. 25, Laser filed a motion demonstrating he had responded to the complaint and complied with conditions imposed by the suspension.

A six-judge panel on Monday ruled that two bonding companies did not break local court rules after Bricen Rivers bonded out in Nashville and was later accused of killing his girlfriend, Lauren Johansen, in Mississippi. The Tennessean reports that a clerical error prevented full implementation of Rivers' bond conditions, which included restrictions on traveling outside the county. "Obviously a calamity of human and institutional errors occurred in the release process of (Rivers)," the panel of judges wrote. "Ultimately, however, the cause and responsibility for any violations of release conditions, including the commission of additional criminal acts, rests squarely with the Defendant himself."

The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued a corrected version of an order released on Sept. 23 reassigning justices to the state’s various judicial districts. Jeffrey S. Bivins has replaced recently retired Roger A. Page as the justice for Circuit No. 2, which consists of Judicial Districts 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 31. Mary L. Wagner has replaced Bivins as the justice for Circuit No. 4, which consists of Districts 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 and 32. The amended order clarifies that Circuit No. 4 includes the 32nd Judicial District.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has filed a motion in Tennessee's 20th Judicial District requesting the court provide remedies to address TikTok’s failure to preserve and produce relevant evidence in response to a state investigation into possible violations of Tennessee consumer protection laws. Skrmetti also asked the court to compel TikTok’s compliance with an order entered by the court on April 17, 2023. Tennessee’s investigation is part of a bipartisan, nationwide investigation by state attorneys general into whether TikTok engaged in unfair and deceptive conduct that harmed the mental health of Tennessee kids. In related news, Reuters reports that 13 states and the District of Columbia today filed new lawsuits accusing the popular social media platform of harming and failing to protect young people.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday reversed a May 2023 ruling by Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan, declaring that a law removing all postconviction death penalty proceedings from local district attorneys is constitutional. The Commercial Appeal reports that the court's ruling focused on who initiates an action during a case. For example, it found that locally elected district attorneys have broad discretion in cases they initiate, but because these collateral review proceedings are initiated by a defendant on death row, that discretion is narrowed. The paper also noted that prosecutorial discretion is vastly limited after a defendant has been indicted by a grand jury.

The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments is now accepting applications to fill a vacancy on the Western Section of the Court of Appeals, which will occur Jan. 4, 2025, with the retirement of Judge Arnold B. Goldin. Interested applicants must be licensed attorneys who are at least 30 years of age, a resident of the state for the past five years and a resident of the Western Grand Division of the state. The application is available on the Administrative Office of the Courts' website and is due by noon CDT on Oct. 25. The public hearing for this position will be Nov. 18 at 9 a.m. CST at the Tennessee Supreme Court Building in Jackson. Two other judicial openings were announced yesterday. Learn more about applying for the 4th Circuit Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals, Eastern Division.

Chattanooga-based law firm Summers, Rufolo & Rodgers made a $1 million pledge to the University of Tennessee College of Law to support scholarships for students interested in pursuing legal careers in advocacy and the Douglas A. Blaze Leadership Scholarship. “Robust scholarships are essential to attracting the best students nationwide," Dean Lonnie T. Brown Jr. said after the gift announcement. “We are deeply grateful for the firm’s continued support, which profoundly influences the lives of our graduates and the clients they represent.” Read more in a press release from the school.

The U.S. Supreme Court began a new nine-month term on Monday that will involve a case on guns, online pornography, federal regulatory powers concerning nuclear waste storage and vape products, job discrimination, disputes involving Nvidia and Facebook and more. Reuters has a preview. Today, the court declined to take up two reproductive cases, one regarding the Biden administration’s efforts to require Texas hospitals to perform abortions to stabilize a patient's emergency medical condition and a wrongful death claim against an Alabama fertility clinic that allegedly destroyed a couple's frozen embryo. On Friday, the court added more than a dozen cases to its docket, including a challenge to Mexico's lawsuit against American gun companies, a death row inmate's DNA testing case, a nuclear waste storage dispute and a case that will decide if white, straight workers face a higher bar in bias lawsuits.