If you missed the TBA's Law Tech Lunch & Learn Series, one of the more popular programs on artificial intelligence (AI), "Harnessing ChatGPT and Generative AI in Your Law Practice," is now available on demand. The two-hour session features Memphis lawyers Greg Siskind and Zack Glaser, who provide an introduction to AI and how it can be incorporated into the practice of law. The second session features Siskind and fellow Memphis lawyer Lucian Pera discussing ethical considerations around AI.

The Tennessee Bar Association’s online renewal for 2024-2025 is now open! Renew your membership to continue your access to TBA Today, the Tennessee Bar Journal, three free hours of CLE, the TBA’s Practice Management Center and free legal research through Fastcase, as well as savings on a range of products and services. Be sure to check out TBA's Preventing Legal Malpractice providers and new pet insurance program, and watch for more information this fall about TBA’s Group Health Insurance enrollment. Attorneys not participating in the TBA's firm billing program can log in and renew through their MyTBA dashboard. The TBA membership team will be working with firm administrators for those participating in firm billing.

Launching a new firm, whether fresh out of law school or starting a new career stage, can be exhilarating and terrifying. You can do everything the “right” way, but a lot of factors go into launching a business, and you probably haven’t thought about all of them. Let us help! Get checklists, white papers and technology advice in the Opening a Firm section of TBA’s Law Practice Management Center.

Deans from 26 law schools, including three from Tennessee, are asking the American Bar Association (ABA) to pull back on a proposal to accredit fully online law schools, saying more employment and bar pass data for graduates of online and hybrid programs is needed before making the change. The public comment period on the proposal opened Jan. 23 and ended March 25. The deans of the University of Memphis School of Law and Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law signed on to the group letter, Reuters reports. Alberto Gonzales, dean of Belmont University College of Law and former U.S attorney general under President George W. Bush wrote in a separate comment that, “Despite offering a lesser educational experience, online schools would be able to out-compete traditional law schools on cost, convenience and scale.”

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands (LAS) has received a grant totaling $684,475 over three years from the U.S. Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) under its Legal Aid for Victims program. The grant will be used to fund the Survivors Immigrant Legal Project, which provides legal assistance to immigrant victims of domestic and/or sexual violence across the 48 counties in Middle Tennessee served by LAS. In addition to continuing its direct work with clients, LAS will produce two client-centered educational brochures that will be available in Spanish, Arabic, Burmese, Kurdish, Nepali, Somali, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese and Lao. Read more in a release from the organization.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd has resigned her position effective immediately, rather than wait until May 31, as she previously planned. According to the Daily Memphian, the resignation will stop a planned vote by the state legislature on Thursday to remove her from the bench. Boyd was recommended for removal in January by the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct, which oversees disciplinary proceedings for judges in the state. A joint committee of state legislators voted unanimously March 14 in favor of that recommendation. Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, who co-chaired the committee, told the news outlet Monday that if Boyd were to resign effective immediately, it would be accepted and there would be no need for a vote.

Coffee County Mayor Judd Matheny was found dead at his Tullahoma home Tuesday morning. He was 53 years old. WKRN reports that no cause of death was released and the investigation has since been handed over to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). Matheny had been mayor of Coffee County since September 2022. He served in the state House of Representatives from 2002 to 2018, representing Coffee and parts of Warren counties.

Russ McKamey, owner of Summertown attraction McKamey Manor, on Friday filed a lawsuit against Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and the State Fire Marshall Carter Lawrence. The Tennessean reports that McKamey is seeking a court order to ensure he will not have to testify in a state investigation he considers politically motivated. In late 2023, a Hulu documentary prompted Skrmetti's office to open an investigation into McKamey Manor's business practices. The lawsuit stems from that investigation, arguing that providing testimony is not necessary for Skrmetti’s office to conduct its probe. The suit also argues that information obtained under oath could lead to discovery of evidence that could be used to prosecute McKamey.

Two bills with the potential to affect foster children are on their way to Gov. Bill Lee's desk for his signature. HB2169/SB1738 would block the Department of Children's Services (DCS) from excluding potential adoptive or foster parents who hold anti-LGBTQ beliefs for "religious or moral" reasons. Another bill, SB2359/HB1726, would prohibit DCS from requiring foster parents to get the flu or whooping cough vaccine, regardless of the medical vulnerabilities of the child. Republicans have claimed that both bills will widen the pool of prospective foster families, while Democrats have voiced concerns over the mental and physical well-being of vulnerable children. The Tennessean has the story.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on March 22 suspended 20 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee; 12 of them also failed to file proof that client funds are held in an IOLTA-compliant account. View the fee suspension order and IOLTA suspension order. See the list of all lawyers suspended and reinstated for fee and IOLTA violations in 2024 or access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.