Nashville attorney Thomas V. "Tom" White has been inducted as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

ACTL is widely considered to be premier professional trial organization in North America. Lawyers must have a minimum of 15 years' trial experience before they can be considered for a fellowship.

White is a founding partner of Nashville-based Tune, Entrekin & White and has been practicing law in Middle Tennessee for more than 40 years. He is an alumnus of the Vanderbilt University School of Law and past president of the Nashville Bar Association.

Fellowship in the ACTL is given to experienced trial lawyers who have “mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers are marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality.” Membership cannot exceed 1 per cent of the total lawyer population of any state or province.

There are currently ACTL 5,879 members in the United States and Canada. 

Leadership Middle Tennessee has announced a 34-person class for 2013 that includes business and civic leaders from 10 area counties. Among the people who will spend 15 days in the coming year immersing themselves in regional issues are Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce COO Nancy Eisenbrandt, Rutherford Chamber President Paul Latture, Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto and Assistant District Attorney Ray Crouch Jr.

On the business side, a number of community lenders — including Avenue Bank, First State Bank and Legends Bank — are represented, as are law firms Tune Entrekin & White and Wyatt Tarrant & Combs and commercial developer Duke Realty. Check out the full list here.

A big battle is brewing over three State House bills pitting backers of property rights against those looking to ensure the state doesn't stick its nose too deeply into municipal government. State Sen. Jim Gotto is sponsoring three pieces of legislation he says will restore some balance into development regulations by expanding various grandfather zoning protections. But some lawmakers and Mayor Karl Dean want nothing to do with the bills. Joey Garrison has the story.

“It basically guts out any existing overlay,” Councilman Phil Claiborne, who serves on the Metro Planning Commission, said of the state proposals, adding that provisions for these corridors “won’t be worth the paper they are written on.”

“The impact of these bills effectively makes it impossible for the [Metro] planning commission to move forward to work with communities to develop community plans that call for planned change to evolve,” Claiborne said.