Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals announced Friday that he plans to take senior status beginning Oct. 1, Bloomberg Law reports. Sutton, who has served on the court since his 2003 appointment by President George W. Bush and became chief judge in 2021, has presided over major cases that later reached the U.S. Supreme Court and authored notable opinions addressing the Affordable Care Act and same-sex marriage bans. Before joining the bench, Sutton worked at Jones Day and served as Ohio’s solicitor general from 1995 to 1998. Trump now will have the opportunity to nominate a successor to the life-tenured seat, subject to Senate confirmation. The 6th Circuit covers the states of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee and is based in Cincinnati.

Knox County Chancellor Chris Heagerty on Friday denied a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by Joey Aguilar, the University of Tennessee’s starting quarterback. Aguilar was seeking an additional year of eligibility from the NCAA, Knox News reports. With the injunction denied, Aguilar is no longer eligible to play college football. Heagerty previously had granted Aguilar a 15-day restraining order against enforcement of NCAA rules and later extended it pending a ruling on the injunction. Aguilar initially joined Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia’s antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA in federal court in November 2025 but withdrew from that case in January to pursue his own claim in Knox County.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and the TBA Young Lawyers Division will host High School Pre-Law Day on March 21 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT. This free program will give an inside look at law school and legal careers. For more information and to register see the attached flyer or contact lawadmissions@memphis.edu.

Join the TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) for the next installment of The Rookie Series with "Family Law: Trends and Challenges" on March 5 at noon CST. The one-hour webcast will provide an overview of family law, covering key areas such as marriage, divorce, child custody and support, and property division. Participants will learn about the legal principles that govern family relationships and the role of the courts in resolving disputes. The session will include practical examples and a brief discussion of current trends and challenges in family law practice. For more information and to register visit the TBA CLE website.

Members of the Tennessee Alliance for Black Lawyers (TABL) and the TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) Diversity Committee recently held a networking mixer in Chattanooga. The event was sponsored by Geeter Law Office PLLC and was held at Blue Orleans Seafood Restaurant. See photos from the event. TABL and YLD members in Memphis should be on the lookout for a networking mixer coming to that city soon.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft will retire July 1, according to the Daily Memphian. In a letter notifying Gov. Bill Lee of the decision, Craft said, “It has been an honor to have been entrusted by the citizens of Shelby County with the responsibility of serving in this capacity for the last 32 years.” Craft first took the bench in 1994. Prior to that, he worked in private practice and as a prosecutor with the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. For more than 30 years he served on the Tennessee Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions Committee, including more than 20 years as chair. He also served as president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference and as chair of the state board responsible for handling ethics complaints against judges. Craft received the TBA’s Justice Frank F. Drowota III Award in 2025 for his leadership in judicial education, ethics and professional well-being.

TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast is new this week with attorneys and TBA lobbyists Berkley Schwarz with Pier Strategies and Brad Lampley of Adams & Reese. This week they discussed SB1958/HB1971, a sovereign immunity bill; SB1731/HB1791, an interlocutory appeals bill; and SB609/HB590, which covers parental contact rights. Tune in to the podcast on the TBA website or through this link.

On Feb. 20, the Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated Rutherford County lawyer Dalen L.P. Farmer to the active practice of law. Farmer was temporarily suspended on Jan. 22 for failing to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility concerning a misconduct complaint. Farmer filed a petition for dissolution of the suspension on Feb. 12, showing he had responded to the complaint. The board found the petition to be satisfactory.

Belmont University College of Law alumna Sarah Ingalls was admitted to the bar of the U.S Supreme Court last November, a rare early-career milestone achieved just six years after earning her law degree. Ingalls, now an associate at Thompson Burton in Nashville, worked on a case that reached the nation’s highest court, which agrees to review fewer than 1% of the roughly 8,000 petitions it receives each term. A former journalist who enrolled at Belmont Law in 2017, Ingalls gained experience through moot court and judicial clerkships before joining the firm after graduation, where she focuses on complex commercial and appellate litigation. She traveled to Washington, D.C. to observe veteran Supreme Court advocate Lisa Blatt present oral arguments in the case and was admitted to the Supreme Court bar under Blatt’s mentorship, allowing her to argue before the court in the future. Belmont University has more on Ingalls’ story.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee is asking a federal appeals court to revive a lawsuit filed on behalf of Blount Pride, alleging the group’s First Amendment rights were violated after the Blount County District Attorney’s Office warned organizers they could face prosecution over certain acts at the group’s 2023 festival. According to WBIR, District Attorney Ryan Desmond said his office would prosecute organizers if “adult cabaret” performances occurred, citing Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Act, which prohibits performances on public property or where minors can view them if they are deemed harmful to minors. The ACLU sued Desmond and Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp in federal court, and U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer issued a temporary order blocking enforcement of the law before later dismissing the case. On Feb. 19, the ACLU announced it had filed an appeal with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that Desmond and Crisp violated Blount Pride’s free speech rights by threatening enforcement tied to a drag performance advertised for the event.