The law firm of Baker Donelson has tapped two Tennessee lawyers to chair its practice areas. Nashville attorney Martha Boyd has been named new chair of the Labor & Employment Group, while Memphis attorney Mary Ann Jackson has ben named chair of the Tax Group. Boyd, a shareholder in the Nashville office, has been vice chair of the labor group since 2022. She is a certified fraud examiner and is trained in conducting workplace investigations of harassment or other misconduct, conducting numerous investigations in her 25 years of practicing law. Jackson is a shareholder in the Memphis office, a member of the firm’s board directors and previous chair of the Corporate Group. Her practice has focused on structuring businesses, nonprofit organizations and physician practices, as well as securities offerings, venture capital fund formation and real estate.

February is Black History Month and to commemorate the recognition, ABA President Mary Smith says the association honors “the work of Black legal trailblazers who have played pivotal roles in the advancement of civil rights” while also recognizing the need to address “significant racial disparities in the legal profession.” She highlights the gap between the percentage of Black Americans in the U.S. population — 14% — and those in the legal profession — 5% — saying that difference means there is an “urgent need for systemic change.” She also calls on legal professionals to reaffirm their commitment to diversity and inclusion objectives to achieve a more inclusive profession. Read the full statement.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Jan. 30 issued an order referring Anderson County lawyer Matthew Allen Birdwell to the Board of Professional Responsibility for whatever action the board deems warranted. The court took the action after Birdwell pleaded guilty to possession of a handgun while under the influence, a Class A misdemeanor, in the Criminal/Circuit Court for Anderson County. He received judicial diversion.

Members of the legal profession gathered last week at the Memphis office of Morgan & Morgan for the TBA Young Lawyers Division's (YLD) first Bar and Bench event. Under the leadership of YLD President Quinton Thompson, these networking events will occur across the state, giving young lawyers an opportunity to network with peers and sitting Tennessee judges. Watch for information about future locations and dates. See photos from the Memphis event.

A bill introduced last year that continues to be debated in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee would remove protections for more than half of the state’s wetlands. The Daily Memphian reports that currently, developers must get approval from the state environmental agency before disturbing wetlands, but Rep. Kevin Vaughan, R-Collierville — the bill's sponsor and a developer in West Tennessee — called that “bureaucratic overreach” that inflates construction costs for developers and landowners. In Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that a wetland isn’t federally protected unless it connects to a permanent body of water, such as a river, lake or ocean, on the surface. In other House action, WSMV reports that Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, has introduced a bill to allow certain members of the public — law enforcement officers, retired law enforcement officers, and active and retired members of the armed forces — to openly carry a gun on any school campus.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today transferred the law licenses of three attorneys to disability inactive status. They are: Hamilton County lawyers Jeffrey D. Boehm and Carol Anne Mutter and Williamson County lawyer William Howard Knapp. The lawyers may petition the court to be reinstated upon showing that the disability has been removed.

TBA's Executive Director Sheree Wright took part in a panel discussion at the National Conference of Bar Presidents (NCBP), held during the ABA Midyear Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. The panel discussed the importance of organizational stability and ensuring a smooth transition when a bar association hires a new chief staff executive. Wright was joined by David Blaner, executive director of the Allegheny County Bar Association/Bar Foundation in Pennsylvania, and moderators Rick Kaplan, past president of the Beverly Hills Bar Association, and Erica Laughlin, past president of the Allegheny County Bar Association. See photos from the event.

The Tennessee Supreme Court recently suspended 27 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee; 15 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.

Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, has introduced an amendment to the state constitution that would allow judges to deny bail to defendants accused of certain violent offenses. The Daily Memphian reports that the amendment prohibits the consideration of the defendant’s ability to pay in setting bail and expands the discretion judges currently have to approve or deny bail for the crimes covered by the 2022 “truth in sentencing” law, a mandatory-minimum law for violent offenses. It would require the judge to explain in the case record why they decided to grant or deny bail. The change would have to be approved by a simple majority of both chambers this year and by two-thirds of both chambers in 2025 before being placed on the November 2026 ballot as a yes/no question. “This is the extra added option judges need now,” House Majority William Lamberth, R-Portland, said. “Right now, a judge absolutely should not set a bond so high with the purpose of making sure somebody can’t get that. That is absolutely unconstitutional and wrong. If any judge is doing that, they’re going to get overturned.” The move comes after Sexton and other leaders announced a new effort in Memphis last week.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti published an opinion on Jan. 19 about a proposed bill that would prohibit the Tennessee National Guard from being released into federal active duty combat unless the U.S. Congress declares war. The Tennessean reports that HB1609, sponsored by Rep. Jay Reedy, R-Erin, would make exceptions to expressly execute the laws of the union, repel an invasion or suppress an insurrection. Skrmetti's opinion says the proposal is “constitutionally suspect” under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. “While the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution has been questioned, it remains controlling federal law ... Under the War Powers Resolution, Congress may authorize the president to use military force without a declaration of war, and even when Congress may decide to make a declaration of war, the War Powers Resolution allows the president to use military force before any such declaration is made.” Read the opinion.