The University of Tennessee Winston College of Law advocacy teams capped a standout semester with national and regional victories, continuing their strong tradition of excellence in moot court, mock trial and transactional law.

Virginia Pirkle, Taylor Roswall and Alyssa Ward, all 2025 Winston Law graduates, captured the national championship at the 2025 L. Edward Bryant Jr. National Health Law Transactional Competition at Loyola University School of Law in April.

Competing against 20 schools from across the country, the team secured first place in what is widely regarded as the nation’s premier transactional health law competition. Winston Law had previously finished as national runner-up in 2021 and placed in the top five in 2023 and 2024. This marks the college’s first championship win.

Coached by Zack Buck, associate dean for faculty development and professor of law, the team developed a memorandum and presentation that proposed a sophisticated solution to a complex healthcare transactional problem.

Info and quotes from Winston College of Law website.

Impaired Motorist Driving Wrong Way on Interstate Kills Two Victims

DA Charme Allen has announced that prosecutors in the DUI Unit obtained convictions against a man who killed two people and seriously injured another while driving the wrong way down Pellissippi Parkway for over five miles. The 35-year-old male was convicted of two counts of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, aggravated assault and two counts of reckless endangerment. Judge Hector Sanchez revoked his bond, ordered him into custody, and set the case for sentencing on August 22, 2025.

The offense occurred on November 18, 2022, around 1:30 a.m. when city police were called to work a multi-vehicle wreck on Pellissippi Parkway. The wrong-way driver survived the crash and was taken to the hospital where analysis of his blood showed the presence of cocaine and a blood alcohol content of .212, more than twice the legal limit of .08. Details here.

KBA’s Brews for Backpacks supports Childhelp Tennessee

Holly Nehls and Dillon Zinsor won the raffle at Brews for Backpacks. The prize was tickets to Knoxville Ice Bears next season!

A social event generated funds and supplies for Childhelp Tennessee.

Brews for Backpacks featured Meghan Steele talked a bit about Childhelp, and the main sponsor was TCV Trust & Wealth Management .

Notes & Quotes

“Far From Home, the new memoir of Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, is the account of a seriously canny politician who insists she is anything but.” Quote from Alex Shephard in book review here.

It’s tricky to write about a 900-plus-page bill that changes like a kaleidoscope. But here is what historian Heather Cox Richardson wrote in her newsletter of June 28, 2025:

According to immigration scholar Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, the [GOP budget bill] also provides an additional $45 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain migrants, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion. It adds $14.4 billion for transportation and removal on top of the current annual budget of $750 million. It also adds $8 billion for new ICE hires and retention. Reichlin-Melnick notes that this budget will give ICE more money for detention than it gives the entire U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Remember, Homeland Security was created after 9/11/01 and it’s been growing ever since. Since the creation of DHS in 2003, ICE spending has nearly tripled from $3.3 billion to $9.6 billion in FY 2024. Much of this funding has gone to increasing the agency’s ability to hold immigrants in detention around the country, to electronically monitor noncitizens on “alternatives to detention” and to carry out deportations.

Since 2003, the budget of CBP, which includes both the Border Patrol and operations at ports of entry, has also more than tripled, rising from $5.9 billion in FY 2003 to a high of $19.6 billion in FY 2024. When adjusted for inflation, that is an increase of 144 percent. Source here.

In Memoriam

S. Todd Hastey

S. Todd Hastey, 49, of Knoxville, passed away on June 23, 2025. The eldest of three sons born to Joe and Carol Hensley Hastey, he grew up in Atlanta, where he graduated from Woodward Academy. He attended Wofford College where he played football and forged many lifelong friendships. He graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in business and from the Samford University Cumberland School of Law.

At the time of his death, he was a senior liability adjuster for Great West Casualty Company.

A memorial service will be held on July 28 at 11 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Fernandina Beach, Florida. His full obituary is here.